Reading Graphic Design in Cultural Context

Reading Graphic Design in Cultural Context
Author: Grace Lees-Maffei
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2019-02-07
Genre: Design
ISBN: 0857858025

Reading Graphic Design in Cultural Context explains key ways of understanding and interpreting the graphic designs we see all around us, in advertising, branding, packaging and fashion. It situates these designs in their cultural and social contexts. Drawing examples from a range of design genres, leading design historians Grace Lees-Maffei and Nicolas P. Maffei explain theories of semiotics, postmodernism and globalisation, and consider issues and debates within visual communication theory such as legibility, the relationship of word and image, gender and identity, and the impact of digital forms on design. Their discussion takes in well-known brands like Alessi, Nike, Unilever and Tate, and everyday designed things including slogan t-shirts, car advertising, ebooks, corporate logos, posters and music packaging.

Reading Graphic Design History

Reading Graphic Design History
Author: David Raizman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2021-03-11
Genre: Design
ISBN: 1474299393

Reading Graphic Design History uses a series of key artifacts from the history of print culture in light of their specific historical contexts. It encourages the reader to look carefully and critically at print advertising, illustration, posters, magazine art direction and typography, often addressing issues of class, race and gender. David Raizman's innovative approach intentionally challenges the canon of graphic design history and various traditional understandings of graphic design. He re-examines 'icons' of graphic design in light of their local contexts, avoiding generalisation to explore underlying attitudes about various social issues. He encourages new ways of reading graphic design that take into account a broader context for graphic design activity, rather than broad views that discourage the understanding of difference and the means by which graphic design communicates cultural values. With a foreword by Steven Heller.

Graphic Design Theory

Graphic Design Theory
Author: Helen Armstrong
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Total Pages: 153
Release: 2012-08-10
Genre: Design
ISBN: 1616891238

Graphic Design Theory is organized in three sections: "Creating the Field" traces the evolution of graphic design over the course of the early 1900s, including influential avant-garde ideas of futurism, constructivism, and the Bauhaus; "Building on Success" covers the mid- to late twentieth century and considers the International Style, modernism, and postmodernism; and "Mapping the Future" opens at the end of the last century and includes current discussions on legibility, social responsibility, and new media. Striking color images illustrate each of the movements discussed and demonstrate the ongoing relationship between theory and practice. A brief commentary prefaces each text, providing a cultural and historical framework through which the work can be evaluated. Authors include such influential designers as Herbert Bayer, L'szlo Moholy-Nagy, Karl Gerstner, Katherine McCoy, Michael Rock, Lev Manovich, Ellen Lupton, and Lorraine Wild. Additional features include a timeline, glossary, and bibliography for further reading. A must-have survey for graduate and undergraduate courses in design history, theory, and contemporary issues, Graphic Design Theory invites designers and interested readers of all levels to plunge into the world of design discourse.

Graphic Design Theory

Graphic Design Theory
Author: Meredith Davis
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012
Genre: Commercial art
ISBN: 9780500290491

Meredith Davis draws on her many years' experience teaching graphic design students to explain complex theories with total clarity, encouraging readers to evaluate existing design work critically, and to use theoretical frameworks to enhance their own studio practice.

Visual Research: An Introduction to Research Methodologies in Graphic Design

Visual Research: An Introduction to Research Methodologies in Graphic Design
Author: Ian Noble
Publisher: AVA Publishing
Total Pages: 195
Release: 2005
Genre: Art
ISBN: 2940373205

Visual Research explains the key terms and theories that underlie design research, examining the importance of audience, communication theory, semiotics and semantics. It features a range of case studies which demonstrate how the use of rigorous research methods can form the basis of effective visual communication and design problem solving, eschewing end product analysis for a discussion of the way research feeds into the design process.

The Politics of Design

The Politics of Design
Author: Ruben Pater
Publisher: BIS Publishers
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2016-07-07
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9789063694227

Many designs that appear in today's society will circulate and encounter audiences of many different cultures and languages. With communication comes responsibility; are designers aware of the meaning and impact of their work? An image or symbol that is acceptable in one culture can be offensive or even harmful in the next. A typeface or colour in a design might appear to be neutral, but its meaning is always culturally dependent. If designers learn to be aware of global cultural contexts, we can avoid stereotyping and help improve mutual understanding between people. Politics of Design is a collection of visual examples from around the world. Using ideas from anthropology and sociology, it creates surprising and educational insight in contemporary visual communication. The examples relate to the daily practice of both online and offline visual communication: typography, images, colour, symbols, and information. Politics of Design shows the importance of visual literacy when communicating beyond borders and cultures. It explores the cultural meaning behind the symbols, maps, photography, typography, and colours that are used every day. It is a practical guide for design and communication professionals and students to create more effective and responsible visual communication.

Writing Design

Writing Design
Author: Grace Lees-Maffei
Publisher: Berg
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2013-09-12
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1847889573

How do we learn about the objects that surround us? As well as gathering sensory information by viewing and using objects, we also learn about objects through the written and spoken word - from shop labels to friends' recommendations and from magazines to patents. But, even as design commentators have become increasingly preoccupied with issues of mediation, the intersection of design and language remains under-explored.Writing Design provides a unique examination of what is at stake when we convert the material properties of designed goods into verbal or textual description. Issues discussed include the role of text in informing design consumption, designing with and through language, and the challenges and opportunities raised by design without language. Bringing together a wide range of scholars and practitioners, Writing Design reveals the difficulties, ethics and politics of writing about design.

Graphic Design Reader

Graphic Design Reader
Author: Steven Heller
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 450
Release: 2012-02-01
Genre: Design
ISBN: 1581159749

From the lost art of show-card writing and the tumultuous days of guerrilla magazine publishing to the latest in electronic leaflet design and hot magazine covers, acclaimed graphic designer and author Steven Heller provides dozens of stunning examples of how graphic design has transformed from a subset of pop culture to a cultural driving force on its own.

Design and Heritage

Design and Heritage
Author: Grace Lees-Maffei
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2021-12-29
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1000528790

Design and Heritage provides the first extended study of heritage from the point of view of design history. Exploring the material objects and spaces that contribute to our experience of heritage, the volume also examines the processes and practices that shape them. Bringing together 18 case studies, written by authors from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, Norway, India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, the book questions how design functions to produce heritage. Including provocative case studies of objects that reinterpret visual symbols of cultural identity and buildings and monuments that evoke feelings of national pride and historical memory, as well as landscapes embedded with trauma, contributors consider how we can work to develop adequate shared conceptual models of heritage and apply them to design and its histories. Exploring the distinction between tangible and intangible heritages, the chapters consider what these categories mean for design history and heritage. Finally, the book questions whether it might be possible to promote a truly equitable understanding of heritage that illuminates the social, cultural and economic roles of design. Design and Heritage demonstrates that design historical methods of inquiry contribute significantly to critical heritage studies. Academics, researchers and students engaged in the study of heritage, design history, material culture, folklore, art history, architectural history and social and cultural history will find much to interest them within the pages of the book.