ABOUT
I AM A VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGNER. MY FOREMOST AMBITION IS TO DESIGN THE MOST EFFECTIVE VISUALS BY CRAFTING THOUGHT-PROVOKING MESSAGES FOCUSED ON THE TARGET AUDIENCE.
THE PROFESSION
SINCE THE TERM GRAPHIC DESIGNER HAS BECOME POPULAR, THERE HAS BEEN A HUGE MISUNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE PROFESSION IS. JORGE FRASCARA FORGES A NEW DEFINITION OF THE ROLE OF DESIGNER IN OUR SOCIETY, AS VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGNER, SO VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGN EMERGES AS A DISCIPLINE.
THE DEFINITION INCLUDES THREE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROFESSION (AS HE DESCRIBES IT):
A METHOD (DESIGN)
AN OBJECTIVE (COMMUNICATION)
A MEDIUM (VISION)
“VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGN […] IS THE ACTION OF CONCEIVING, PROGRAMMING, PROJECTING, AND REALIZING VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS […] THAT ARE AIMED AT BROADCASTING SPECIFIC MESSAGES TO SPECIFIC SECTORS OF THE PUBLIC.” (FRASCARA 4).
METHODS
VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGN IS IN EXTREME NEEDS OF THEORY AND METHODS TO DEVELOP NEW FOUNDATIONS FOR THIS ORIGINAL SENSE OF INTERPRETING THE DISCIPLINE.
I DEVOTE MY RESEARCH TO THE ACQUISITION OF INFORMATION AND FOSTERING OF METHODS IN DESIGN PRACTICE. MY WORK, MY PASSION AND MY INTELLECTUAL EFFORTS ARE DEVOTED TO CREATING METHODS AND THEORY TO FOSTER THE NEW CONCEPT OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGN AS A DISCIPLINE.
ETHICS
AS FRASCARA WROTE: “THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE IS THE IMPACT THAT THIS [VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGN] HAS ON THE KNOWLEDGE, THE ATTITUDES, AND THE BEHAVIOUR OF PEOPLE.” ETHICS IN THE CREATION OF TRANSFORMATIVE DESIGN IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MATTERS. I STRIVE FOR A VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGN THAT ALWAYS CONSIDERS THE ETHICAL ASPECTS OF INFLUENCING PEOPLE, AND THE CHANGES PRODUCED BY THE DESIGN PRODUCT ON SOCIETY.
MEDIA
VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGN AS A DISCIPLINE WORKS WITH A LARGE VARIETY OF MEDIA. AS MARSHALL MCLUHAN WROTE “THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE,” (UNDERSTANDING MEDIA 7) SO THE MEDIUM IS ABLE TO MASSAGE/MANIPULATE REALITY (MCLUHAN AND FIORE).
I STRIVE FOR A VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGN THAT CONSIDERS THE MEDIUM AS AN INTRINSIC AND INSEPARABLE ELEMENT OF THE MESSAGE ITSELF. THE MESSAGE AND THE MEDIA MUST BE CONSIDERED AT ONCE IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS AND THE DESIGN MUST BE DEVELOPED WITH THE AWARENESS OF THIS UNITY.
DIVERSE RANGE OF DESIGN PRODUCTS
VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGN CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD, AND ITS EFFECTS EVALUATED, IN CONSIDERATION OF THE DIVERSE RANGE OF DESIGN PRODUCTS ENCOMPASSED BY THE DISCIPLINE.
I STRIVE FOR A VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGN THAT MAKES THE MOST OF EACH DESIGN PRODUCTS AND ITS DELIVERY METHOD. I DEVOTE MY RESEARCH TO FOSTERING KNOWLEDGE ON THE TYPOLOGIES OF VISUAL MEDIA AND THEIR FINEST USE TO INCREASE THE POWER OF VISUAL MESSAGES REACHING DIVERSE AUDIENCES.
Works Cited
Frascara, Jorge. Communication Design. Principles, Methods, and Practice. Allworth Press, 2004.
McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media. The Extension of Man. McGraw-Hill, 1964.
McLuhan, Marshall, and Quentin Fiore. The Medium is the Massage. Co-ordinated by Jerome Angel, Random House, 1967.