Anthony Delbrun for February 4th

Before reading the passage by Helen Armstrong, “Introduction: Revisiting the Avant-Garde from Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field” I told myself, what is the point in theory in graphic design anyway? I mean isn’t the whole point of graphic design creating things about communication messages? So, what theories are there to make in graphic design and why some people make them? After reading the passage I could see what they were talking about. The part where they explain that design is a social activity is true. When we create our designs I think we want to gain recognition from the public eye such as, “Hey, this is such and such work!” Other times well-known publishers might want to use your designs as inspiration or showing-off in their exhibitions or what have you. I know if I create a design I want to share with others to see. However, the part where it says design is visible yet invisible, unacknowledged and unnoticeable I don’t think it’s true. Often times whenever I’m outside going somewhere some people take time out of their day and notice and acknowledge the designs that are out in public. For example, people going to museums or exhibitions it shows design is not invisible, unacknowledged and unnoticeable.

Another part I loved about the passage is when they mentioned El Lissitzky had an influence on people in the 20th century. Here in the 21st century his designs have influenced some people I know. My high school art teacher became an art teacher due to being inspired by El Lissitzky’s work. She read his books, visit museums that show cased his art and she even once tried imitating his art style. One part that got me most was, “Designers read about design in order to stimulate growth and change in their own work.” I can relate to that 100%. When I first started drawing my art style was out of proportion. I didn’t necessarily just read about design to change my art style but mainly looked at other designer’s art style for inspiration. My art work has improved over the years because of that method.

Now that I have read “Counting Sheep, Period Styles, Language of Dreams and Language of Vision from Design Writing Research: Writing on Graphic Design” by Ellen Lupton & J. Abbott Miller my head hurts after reading period styles. I like how they explain there are numerous ways to count and write down numbers. Another thing that interested me was the way they executed symbols for some words such as showing foot prints instead of saying the word footprint. For the Period Styles the way the wording wasn’t spaced out and all capitals made my brain hurt. For Modern Hieroglyphs, like with the beginning part of this passage I love how they executed symbols for some words. What facts or details from these texts provoke ideas for developing new design strategies? Well, this is a theory but I think it comes down to how people do certain things differently and study each other is how developing new design strategies come to play.

Author: Anthony D

My name is Anthony Delbrun. I got my name from the biblical Saint of Padua Anthony. I was born on April 26th, 1999 at Kings County Hospital at approximately 5:27pm. I lived in Brooklyn, NY, USA for all my life but as for my parents they were born in Haiti. I come from a Haiti background but I barely speak the language. As a young boy growing in East Flatbush, I was a shy boy who didn't speak up for myself until the age of 7. What made me enroll in the Communication Design field is my passion for videogames and drawing. While growing I never really had a career decided for myself. The fact that there were so many jobs out there to my liking I couldn't choose. First I wanted to work at a pizzeria since I love to eat pizza. Second, I wanted to be a scientist because I wanted to make a time machine and take a blast from the past. Now we ALL know that's not possible. Lastly, I made up a fantasy career of becoming a “Bus-Driver-Crasher” meaning I'd drive a bus and crash into many objects and people. That had to be one of the dumbest ideas for a career ever! But since I was a little boy at that time I made it up, that's fine. It wasn't until my cousin from my dad's side who introduced me to videogames and drawing. From there on I experienced a passion for them, thus motivated me to become a Graphic Designer in videogames. Plus I wanted some excitement in my life. My skills are average but I’m still learning some techniques here and there so they will be useful in this field. A tagline to remember me is this: “Hard-work beats natural talent!” Also, I have an addiction to Japanese Anime! Look at my profile picture for example. View all posts by Anthony D