January 13th, 2005

Better Graphic Design by Maria Acosta

by Joshua Porter  |   3 Comments

The article “Better Graphic Design” by Maria Acosta is a refreshing heads-up to graphic designers who live clinging to the idea that their work is in any significant way about them.

She suggests, in a pleasant and unconfrontational style, that the graphic design ship is sinking and that designers who cling to their old methods are sure to drown.

Acosta points to two problems that lie at the root of this significant change in the design industry:

  1. The first is that graphic designers are often expected to produce original and creative works by clients who think that these admirable traits alone will solve their problems. She points out that these traits are nice to have in any design, but they are not a guarantee that the design solves the business problem that the designer was hired for: communicating a specific message.
  2. The second, she suggests, is that there is not enough distinction between “artists” and “graphic designers”. She claims this results because too many graphic designers consider themselves as artists, when “nothing could be further from reality”. She likens artists to “problem tellers” and graphic designers to “problem solvers”.

It’s not every day that you hear a graphic designer talking like this. Her view–I tend to agree with it–is that the primary job of the graphic designer is not to instill the design with their own expression, but to visually express the message of the project. Though Acosta didn’t suggest it explicitly, I think that this goes for design on the Web as well.

Read her article: Better Graphic Design

Comments ( 3 Responses so far )

1.  Circus Royale on January 13th, 2005 (Comment) #

Often times designers are asked to produce totally unique but efficient designs.
Many clients don’t understand that it is impossible, most “graphic designers” borrow ideas, and very few of them are actually “artists” that can create from scratch.
I agree with Maria Acosta.

2.  Jared Spool on January 15th, 2005 (Comment) #

There’s one more element of art that I think works against graphic designers:

Artists, in many schools, are taught to avoid the functional. They are scolded when something is functional and told to make it more existential. This conditioning pushes many of these conventionally trained artists into habits that reinforce poor graphic design behavior.

Many talented graphic designers have somehow reprogrammed themselves (or avoided the conditioning in the first place), but I still see it as a force to contend with, especially with the young artists coming into the field.

Hopefully, the drive to create graphic design curriculai, that is separate from traditional art studies, will avoid the conditioning in the first place and create a new focus on functional and useful.

3.  Web Design Dustin on January 18th, 2005 (Comment) #

I agree with Maria too, excellent post about graphic design!!

Web Design Dustin
Web Design Company Jacksonville Florida

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Bokardo is the blog of Joshua Porter, a web designer/developer, researcher, and writer. I live in Newburyport, MA, USA.

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