Before reading the passage by Helen Armstrong, âIntroduction: Revisiting the Avant-Garde from Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Fieldâ I told myself, what is the point in theory in graphic design anyway? I mean isnât 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, âHey, this is such and such work!â 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 donât think itâs true. Often times whenever Iâm 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 Lissitzkyâs 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, âDesigners read about design in order to stimulate growth and change in their own work.â I can relate to that 100%. When I first started drawing my art style was out of proportion. I didnât necessarily just read about design to change my art style but mainly looked at other designerâs art style for inspiration. My art work has improved over the years because of that method.
Now that I have read âCounting Sheep, Period Styles, Language of Dreams and Language of Vision from Design Writing Research: Writing on Graphic Designâ 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 wasnât 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.
