Reflection 5

17 April 2018

Reflection 5 – Graphic Design vs Advertising

In communication design, there are different specialties you can go in such as advertising and graphic design. From my knowledge, advertising is a form of marketing communication used to persuade consumers to take interest in a company’s product, idea, or service. Whereas design is a process of thinking creatively and critically about a problem and how to create a solution that makes sense to people. What I can keep in mind going forward in this field is to keep being curious, to develop more of an effective communication in communicating my ideas, to stay inspired, to keep motivating yourself, to learn new things, and to keep sharing my thoughts and ideas.

An advertisement agency is a system that includes public relations, marketing, research, and creative services. These agencies usually comprise of a large staff of professional and creative personnel and offer a “one stop shop” deal. They either provide many or all types of services. On the other hand, a design firm comprises of more employees on staff. Though, the studio may consist of only the designer or a small company (two or three partners). They usually specialize in a certain niche market or talent. As oppose to ad agencies, design firms take on smaller projects. In a design firm, it seems like you’re always moving, you’re not necessarily just stuck at your desk at the office. That is something that suits me, I want to be very hands on and active in my work.

My takeaway from the Bureau Gesamt post, Define the difference: Design vs Advertising is that although both design firms and advertising agencies use the same tools and resources, their values are different. Designers create the value while advertising agencies sell that value, it is the simplest way to differentiate the two. Another would be how Michael Bierut put it, “graphic designers do work that informs, and that advertising agencies do work that persuades.” I think both design and advertising go hand in hand because without the value designers create, advertisement agencies can’t sell that value.

However, nowadays anyone can sell anything without good design. At the end of the day, profit is still being made from those poor designs. Ever since I decided to go into this field, I have a different outlook on design. Things I used to see every day that I didn’t pay much mind to, I look at more critically. I don’t know if that is necessarily a good or bad thing but it makes me wonder who was responsible for those design choices. It does cost more to hire a team to create good design, but I think the outcome is even more beneficial for a company/brand. Good design shows how much you value your brand’s identity and how well you want others to see your brand.