Rudimentary communication methods are the basic principles of communication design. The basic foundation of design as we know today was much different years ago but it still has traces of the past. Contemporary design is a more modern design post 20th century and is closer to the design we know today. Design as we know today is hardly completely original and it almost always has a small trace of something that design has implemented in the past. I mean this in an almost literal way as well as contemporary design being different than older design-as in, if it wasn’t working before, what’s popular now is different now because of how badly it did before.
Contemporary designers are often so wrapped up in trying to create something new, be something new, and make a name for themselves that they often forget to go back to the basics for foundation. As an artist, I often hear that people stray from observing from life because it “isn’t their style” which is a grave mistake. In order to have a grasp on things like anatomy, depth, perspective, etc you need to observe from life. Only when you’ve mastered the basics, you can stylize and make your work fit your style for the work you’re trying to do. Even concerning obsolete writing, counting, and/or printing techniques, they’re still the basics and should be looked at as the foundation of contemporary design. Everyone and everything has come from something and in order to move forward, it sometimes helps to reference back to the basics.
“Designers are actively engaging their societies politically and culturally, increasingly thinking globally inside a tightly networked world. As more and more designers, enabled by technology, produce both form and content, issues like sustainability and social justice are moving to the forefront. Designers are looking beyond successful business and aesthetic practices to the broader effects of the culture they help create.” This text is relevant because I’ve grown up alongside a lot of artists either trying to please social justice or go against it and it has created a divide between the social climate of peoples moralities. It’s often seen through political cartoons and artists who use their platform to either create safe spaces or go against people seeking those safe spaces. Technology has become something that has made our world interconnected on such a level that people have even become numb to world issues that affect so many people in negative ways like wars, fires, shootings, etc because they see it so often around social media. Despite this, it has also become so much more freeing to create art, give and make yourself a platform to share your art and obtain a massive following as an artist. Meanwhile, it becomes harder and harder to sustain your following because anything you say or do can “cancel” you and your entire career can be flushed down the drain. Technology has made this outlet incredibly sustaining while still being unstable as a career.
