01
IAT 102 Graphic Design
01
General Info
Break
Brief intro to Graphic Design
Prehistory of Visual Communication
Intro: Lab Activity and Project #1
What is Graphic Design?
As a practice, it has
been around for
thousands of years…
Dictionary Definition
graph·ic |ˈgra-fik|
adjective
1: of or relating to the pictorial esp. involving drawing, engraving, or lettering
2: of or relating to the art of printing
3: formed by writing, drawing, or engraving
de·sign |di-ˈzīn|
verb
1: to conceive or execute a plan
2: to draw, lay out, or prepare a design
Applications of Graphic Design
Logotype
Logotype
Logotype
“Los Logos”, Gestalten, 2002
Logotype
Logotype
Posters
Shepard Fairy
Armin Hofmann, Switzerland
Jan Lenica, Poland
Books
Fonts
Fonts
Information
Information Design
Harry Beck, London Tube Map, 1931
Movie titles
Interfaces
... and many more:
... and many more:
- Webdesign
- Package Design
- Magazine Design
- Game Design
Why is Graphic Design important?
Graphic designers use visual means
to lead users through information.
Why is Graphic Design important?
Graphic designers help humans
better understand information in the
world.
…while making it pleasurable during the process!
Graphic Design has a “Function”
Zur Anzeige wird der QuickTime™
Dekompressor „TIFF (Unkomprimiert)“
benötigt.
Graphic Design is “Form”
Old thinking
“Typically, graphic designers provide
the spit and polish but not the shoe.”
(Form)
Old thinking
Graphic designer often served as the ‘lubricant’ for other disciplines:
 product design
 architecture
 fashion
and as the ‘gloss and glitter’ of the media industries:
 publishing
 film
 television
 internet
New thinking
Graphic designers today have become
producers, creating products, furniture,
garments, textiles, typefaces, databases,
magazines, novels, music, critical essays,
films and videos.
(Form and Function)
How Graphic Designers Think
Design Principles
Graphic Design is grounded in fundamental principles that
underpin good and efficient design.
Design Process
Involves thinking and creative process related to idea
generation and informed design decision-making.
Understanding basic principles of cognitive psychology
Human perception: most humans - those with normally functioning
eyes and brains - perceive and comprehend information similarly.
“Building Blocks” essential to good graphic design:
 Shape and Form
 Spatial Awareness (layout and grid systems)
 Typography: understanding what type is and how to work with it
 Dynamics, Emphasis and Contrast
 Using Colour for emphasis, orientation or decoration
Graphic design’s relation to technological change
 As technology changes, the way design is produced,
reproduced, distributed and understood also changes.
 Historically, designers are employed to represent technological
change & to make it understandable to non-specialists.
 Design (style) reflects changing cultural values in relation to
technological change.
 The formal aspects such as character, idea & quality of design
changes as technology changes.
Prehistory
Images taken from: Megg’s History of Graphic Design and Jubert’s Typography and Graphic Design
Zur Anzeige wird der QuickTime™
Dekompressor „TIFF (Unkomprimiert)“
benötigt.
Early Calendar (30,000 - 20,000 B.C.) found in Dordogne, France
A sequence of incisions on animal bone.
The incisions are believed to have been used to record phases
of the moon (interpretation is open to debate).
1st Writing Tools? - over 200,000 years ago
Above: Paleolithic bones incised with a series of lines.
Below: Pieces (churinga) of carved stone and wood
with abstract patterns, Australia.
1st Animation - Grotte de Lascaux
(means “Cave of Lascaux” in French)
Cave painting from Lascaux (c. 15,000 - 10,000 B.C.)
Random placement and shifting scale signify prehistoric people’s
lack of structure and sequence in recording experience.
Cradle of Civilization (c. 6000 B.C.) - current day Iraq
1st Writing (c. 3100 B.C.) - pictographic pre-cuneiform tablet (clay)
Early accountants: shows number of cows (“V” with curve on top) and
sheep (cross within a circle)
Early Grids (c. 3100 B.C.) - early Sumerian pictographic tablets
The archaic pictographic script contained the seeds for the
development of writing. Information is structured into grid zones
by horizontal and vertical division.
Better Writing, Better Grids (c. 2360 B.C.) - cuneiforms
Cuneiform writing contains phonetic + syllabic elements which
provided a flexible way of communication. This led to marked
improvements in agricultural production + science advancement.
Cuneiform tablets (c. 2700 B.C.) - detail
approx. 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches.
Egyptian stone relief hieroglyphs (c. 1450 B.C.) - detail
Written hieroglyphics were simplified, but they maintained
their pictographic origin.
Samples of Egyptian Hieroglyphs
Egyptian writing systems - a visual evolutionary history
Hieroglyph for “scribe” - depicted the Old Kingdom palette,
the drawstring sack for dried ink cakes, and a reed brush holder.
Evolution from hieroglyph to script
c. 2700 B.C. hieroglyphic
c. 1500 B.C. hieroglyphic manuscript hand
c. 1300 B.C. hieratic script
c. 400 B.C. demotic script
Egyptian papyrus sample (c. 1400 B.C.)
Chart of Ancient Alphabets
Early writing systems - evolution of form
Arabic
The Koran (Muslim)
East Indian Sanskrit
Chinese writing of prescription formulas (1108 A.D.)
metal type
Gutenberg’s moveable Type in Europe (1453-1455 A.D.)
fin