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What is Graphic Design for? - Written research


I was pretty confused by the question 'what is graphic design for' not because I couldn't think of anything but because I didn't know where to start, having read through some of 'What is graphic Design for' - Alice Twemlow I got some interesting quotes and a much better idea of what I was writing about. I will get stuck into some of the other books while I am at home for easter to hopefully inform my analysis on the pieces of design I explore through my context blogging. -

This post is a few quotes from the book and designers that I think are a good starting point for this task. The bottom image is a double page spread from the book which is an infographic of all the different answers people gave to the question 'What is graphic design for' - could be a nice way to conclude my own  analysis of this research.

Quotes from 'What is graphic Design for' - Alice Twemlow
"You might begin by considering the question in broad terms. Graphic design is a type of language used for communicating. You use it to tell someone about something that they want, or that you think they want, or that someone else thinks they want. But things soon spiral into complexity."

"You could begin to list things more specifically, like this: it's for selling things and ideas to make money or to further political agendas. But then you realise it's also for making things clear - saving lives even - but it's also for enriching out everyday lives through the addition of layers of complexity, nuance, and subtlety. Its for helping people find their way and to comprehend data, but its also for helping them get lost in new ideas, fantastical narratives, or landscapes, and to question and contest what information is presented. Graphic design is enmeshed within all aspects of social life."

"Graphic design is for communicating with people: audiences, viewers, readers, users, receivers, visitors, participants, interacters, players, passers-by, experiencers, members of the public, communities, inhabitants, consumers, customers, subscribers and clients"