- To Inform. To convey some information clearly to the 'end user'. Often graphic designers will have or be given huge amounts of data that they will try to present in a simple way. Info-graphics like these are designed to do exactly that, by displaying in clear colours and composition, the viewer can easily see a great deal of information very quickly but also look at the finer text to understand the subject further. Infographics grew from the need to display otherwise boring statistics in a much more accessible way, think of the standard pie chart but on steroids.
- Warnings! Probably one of the most overlooked aspects of graphic design. Very simple and dull to look at, but warning signs are international life savers. Anyone in the world will look at this sign and know that they may be in danger or precaution is needed. This is a massively importation function of graphic design.
- To sell a product quickly. The most public facing arm of graphic design is advertising. People come into contact with graphic design this way many many times a day, at home, on the street and at work. It is also function of graphic design that is not sought out or found but shoved in the face of the public as many times as possible. Its objective is to sell, to inform, to get people talking. Advertisements in poster form have to be quick and to the point, people will not stand around and read reams of text but can be persuaded to by a product by even the slightest hint of suggestion.
- To guide. Graphic Designers have to always come up with new ways of making a message more clear. Maps have always been objects that have needed close attention and time to study and understand. As a result making a map with people can just glance at to understand is very difficult but they problem was solved with the invention of the London underground map. As the tube network became almost impossible to map conventionally graphic designer Harry Beck's redesign was introduced. Not geographically accurate, but it didn't need to e when everything was underground! A true example of good modernist design.
-To Communicate!! Graphic Designs' principle function is to communicate a message. This message could be literally anything, and a good graphic designer will try and communicate it in a suitable way. Using graphic design to communicate it something that has been done since humans began to write. Here are some examples of a pictogram from 1510 (describing the arrival of Spanish missionaries) and one from the modern era.
No comments:
Post a Comment