AUGUST 31, 2022 / KATHERINE ALAS / 1 COMMENT
Revisiting the Avant-Garde
Armstrong, Helen. Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Field, Princeton Architectural Press, 2009. Pages 9-15
According to the reading “Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field by Helen Armstrong, design plays many roles in society because it impacts our views in corporations, ideals, and social issues. In this reading Armstrong talks about the fact that design is constantly evolving with time and how past design movements affect the way people design as a response to them. For example, on page 10 “Out of this recent push toward authorship, new collective voices hearkening back to the avant-garde are emerging. As a result of technology, content generation by individuals has never been easier. (Consider the popularity of DIY and the “Free Culture” movements.) 3 As more and more designers, along with the rest of the general population, become initiators….” This was a direct response to the fact that some designers desired more neutrality and were inspired by machines, and some people wanted to separate from corporations. Graphic design for a long time has been tied to brands and corporations because they believed that graphic design should stay neutral and that you should not immerse your ideas and beliefs. They believed in universality in design, which is making a design that could be enjoyed by anyone and sometimes despite language barrios. However, the advancements in technology and some influence of the DIY movement and push for authorship have made designers rethink their roles and how their work stands in the world.
Technology has allowed more freedom for designers to be able to use graphic design outside their jobs which in turn has allowed people to use graphic design as a form to express their beliefs or ideals and to move away from brands. Since graphic design is so important to our lives, some designers think that they should have a level of social responsibility to use their skills to speak about important issues and bring awareness. Therefore, designers should concern themselves with solving theoretical questions because through looking at these examples of how design has changed and continues to change, we can see that the things that happened in the past influence the way we do design and the advancements in technology. Being able to understand what happened in history not just by knowing the events but understanding why past designers made the choices they made with their work helps inspire current and future designers.
I think some of the problems current designers are regarding copy content issues because there are cases where big businesses stole from smaller designers, and they cannot fight back because it is hard to go against big business. Due to social media, there is more accessible for people to share content, but this also makes it difficult for some designers to stand out and this also allows people to report someone else’s design without giving proper credit. Unlike previous eras, there is a lot more content that is being produced and this would make it hard for people in the future to be able to understand what happened in designs. I think designers should concern themselves with these problems because it affects how we produce content and what will happen to that content after it is out in the world.Â
I edited this post based on the notes and I had to republish this post.