Introduction
To
GRAPHIC DESIGN
2018
, Introduction
Graphic design can be defined as the art and profession
of selecting and arranging visual elements, such as types,
images, symbols, and colors, to convey a message to a
recipient. Sometimes graphic design is called visual
communications, a term that emphasizes its function of
giving form, e.g. the design of a book, advertisement, logo or
web site, to information.
An important part of the designer’s task is to combine visual
and verbal elements into an ordered and effective whole.
Graphic design is therefore a collaborative discipline –
writers produce words and photographers and illustrators
create images that the designer incorporates into a complete
visual communication.
Common uses of graphic design include:
• identity (logos and
branding)web sites
• publications (magazines, newspapers, and
books)advertisements and product
packaging
A product package, for example, might include a logo or
other artwork, organized text and pure design elements such
as shapes and color which unify the piece. Composition is
one of the most important features of graphic design,
especially when using pre-existing materials or diverse
elements.
, History of graphic design
The evolution of graphic design as a practice and
profession has been closely bound to technological
innovations, societal needs and the visual imagination of its
practitioners. Graphic design has been practiced in various
forms throughout history.
Strong examples of graphic design date back to
manuscripts in ancient China, Egypt and Greece. As printing
and book production developed in the 15th century, advances
in graphic design developed alongside it over subsequent
centuries, with compositors or typesetters often designing
pages in addition to setting the type.
In the late 19th century graphic design emerged as a
distinct profession in the West, in part because of the job
specialization process that occurred there, and in part because
of the new technologies and commercial possibilities brought
about by the Industrial Revolution. New production methods
led to the separation of the design of a communication
medium (e.g., a poster) from its actual production.
Increasingly, over the course of the late 19th and the early
20th centuries, advertising agencies, book publishers and
magazines hired art directors who organized all visual
elements of the communication and brought them into a
harmonious whole, creating an expression appropriate to the
content. In 1922 typographer William A. Dwiggins coined
the term ‘graphic design’ to identify this emerging field.
Throughout the 20th century the technology available
to designers continued to advance rapidly as did the artistic
and commercial possibilities for design. The profession
expanded enormously and graphic designers created, among
other things, magazine pages, book jackets, posters, compact-
disc covers, postage stamps, packaging, trademarks, signs,
To
GRAPHIC DESIGN
2018
, Introduction
Graphic design can be defined as the art and profession
of selecting and arranging visual elements, such as types,
images, symbols, and colors, to convey a message to a
recipient. Sometimes graphic design is called visual
communications, a term that emphasizes its function of
giving form, e.g. the design of a book, advertisement, logo or
web site, to information.
An important part of the designer’s task is to combine visual
and verbal elements into an ordered and effective whole.
Graphic design is therefore a collaborative discipline –
writers produce words and photographers and illustrators
create images that the designer incorporates into a complete
visual communication.
Common uses of graphic design include:
• identity (logos and
branding)web sites
• publications (magazines, newspapers, and
books)advertisements and product
packaging
A product package, for example, might include a logo or
other artwork, organized text and pure design elements such
as shapes and color which unify the piece. Composition is
one of the most important features of graphic design,
especially when using pre-existing materials or diverse
elements.
, History of graphic design
The evolution of graphic design as a practice and
profession has been closely bound to technological
innovations, societal needs and the visual imagination of its
practitioners. Graphic design has been practiced in various
forms throughout history.
Strong examples of graphic design date back to
manuscripts in ancient China, Egypt and Greece. As printing
and book production developed in the 15th century, advances
in graphic design developed alongside it over subsequent
centuries, with compositors or typesetters often designing
pages in addition to setting the type.
In the late 19th century graphic design emerged as a
distinct profession in the West, in part because of the job
specialization process that occurred there, and in part because
of the new technologies and commercial possibilities brought
about by the Industrial Revolution. New production methods
led to the separation of the design of a communication
medium (e.g., a poster) from its actual production.
Increasingly, over the course of the late 19th and the early
20th centuries, advertising agencies, book publishers and
magazines hired art directors who organized all visual
elements of the communication and brought them into a
harmonious whole, creating an expression appropriate to the
content. In 1922 typographer William A. Dwiggins coined
the term ‘graphic design’ to identify this emerging field.
Throughout the 20th century the technology available
to designers continued to advance rapidly as did the artistic
and commercial possibilities for design. The profession
expanded enormously and graphic designers created, among
other things, magazine pages, book jackets, posters, compact-
disc covers, postage stamps, packaging, trademarks, signs,
