The Author in Graphic Design
Should we be expressive and creative or follow the rules that were thought in design school of how to be a good graphic designer? Should we be an author in your own right or just followers? “Authorship may suggest new approaches to the issue of the design process in a profession traditionally associated more with the communication rather than the origination of messages.”1 As a designer I am conflicted with the border lines of following the roles of what I learnt in design school. It comes down to weather I communicate to the audience effectively or design work that I would like because its appealing to me and it is art. Authorship is thinking outside the box, adding your style and being creative with that approach. It can lead to your inventing your own style, “the person who originates or gives existence to anything.” “the father of all life,” “any inventor, constructor or founder,” “one who begets,” and “a director, commander, or ruler.”2
Muller Brockmann believed, “the designer submits to the will of the system, forgoes personality, withholds interpretation. On the surface, at least, it would seem that designers were moving away from authorless texts.”3 In today’s society I do believe it is still possible to be an author. We might not be encouraged to do so in design school or in work places that push the fact that as a designer you have to suppress your creativity for the what the client wants. What I am seeing with the new generation of millenniums, we believe in creating and then the audience will follow. Millenniums are the generation that are creating new and innovative work and now you see the audience coming to us. We are still being thought in design school to work for the client and the money but I do see authors as people that can continue to grow because they prefer being creative, having their own style and their freedom over money most times. So now clients will more likely follow the author’s style and creativity over roles. This can even be the cause if we were not thought in design school how to play by the roles and encourage creative freedom.
Marian Bantjies became an author in her own right when she gave up on the rules of being an effective graphic designer and choose to be a graphic artist. She wanted to add her own personal approach to her work, getting emotions involved. Her personal work included surprise, structure, puzzles, typography and objects. To her surprise even though being thought all her life this approach to design was against the rules, people were drawn to her work. When you choose to be an author it may not appeal to the masses but those who are interested are drawn to you. Adding an extra bonus is you are already doing a style of work that is true to you and what you enjoy.
I personally might not be a fan of all of Bantjies’ work because I believe with type I really don’t want to have to figure out what you are trying to communicate. And if I was one of her friends and she sent that valentines letter to me I would have thrown it away because I would not have the patience to figure it out the text. Some of her work is too distracting in my opinion. I can appreciate her creative work with objects. What I took away from her Ted Talk was that you can not always focus on the money. She believed staying true to her personal design can make an impact on others, help plant that seed of creativity. She did do that for me. As a graphic designer I thought I was not good because I was trying so hard to follow the other graphic designers and use the same software and styles they did. If I were to to use my own personal style to approach my work such as abstract paintings, colleges and just playing around with random objects my work would also have it’s own personal style.
Someone I believe to be an author in the field of Graphic Design is Jessica Walsh. She is Stefan Segmeister’s partner and together they own the art studio Sagmeister & Walsh. Walsh’s personal style in incorporated into her work. She works in branding, typography and website designs. Her work style is bold, emotional and sexy at times. Looking through her body of work and I see surrealism too. She is interesting and fearless and it shows in here work. She approaches the solution differently while still attracting big companies to her work.
“The idea of communication is being challenged by young graphic designers who have turned to a new word: expression. Graphic designers are generating content based on personal interests and beliefs. No longer waiting for the right client to say what they want, this new breed of designers engages with social and political issues and creates emotionally expressive graphic design pieces. These designers are taking advantage of access to video, photography, inexpensive reproduction methods, alternative media and social media. This expression may be a visual rebellion against the perfectionist styling of contemporary graphic design, a discipline full of typographic rules, software etiquette and client reliance on good, safe work that doesn’t risk public shaming.”4 And this is why authorship will continue to live on.
