Link Winter 2008

Page 1

Link WINTER 2008

Founded in 1882, The Cleveland Institute of Art is an independent college of art and design committed to leadership and vision in all forms of visual arts education. For the past 125 years, the Institute has made enduring contributions to art and education and connects to the community through gallery exhibitions, talks and lectures, an extended studies program and The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque.

NEWS FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF THE CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART

THE MEDIUM ISN’T THE MESSAGE One of Mari Hulick’s first decisions as a newly appointed department head in 2004 was to change the name of her department. Out went Graphic Design; in came Communication Design and with it, a new approach to the discipline. “I’m very passionate about this. We need to clarify what our profession is about. It is about communicating ideas,” said Hulick. “The word ‘graphic’ limits the field to print and we do so much more than design for print. We’re rooted in print and print will never go away, but we also design for the web, cell phones and all sorts of PDAs (personal digital assistants); we design trailers and title sequences for movies and television; we design signage and way-finding systems. . . Anywhere you see words and symbols, you’ve got communication design.” For Hulick and her faculty colleagues, design is strategy, independent of the medium used. “I tell my students that if The New York Times said tomorrow ‘Forget print, forget the web; information is going to be conveyed through holograms,’ we would teach communication design for holograms. Design is not about media; it’s about a strategic approach to a problem.” That said, the Communication Design Department still offers a design production class, which includes field trips nearly every other week to printing companies, photography labs and design studios. And students still learn to use a traditional letterpress, offset press and bindery, so they will appreciate the tactility of print on paper and the tradition from which their field evolved.

“Design is not about media; it’s about a strategic approach to a problem.”

Thinking First

TOP: A BOOK DESIGNED BY COMMUNICATION DESIGN GRADUATE BOBBIE FOX ’07

ABOVE: COMMUNICATION DESIGN DEPARTMENT HEAD MARI HULICK DISCUSSES A PROJECT WITH ANTHONY ZART ’08

RIGHT: A SELF PROMOTIONAL PIECE BY ALEX JUNG ’09

Hulick likes to nudge students to think far outside the box — or off the page — about ways to communicate ideas. For instance, last fall her Contemporary Design Studio class experimented publicly with non-traditional means of graphic communication. One student spelled out the word HUNGER in pieces of Wonder Bread™ on a campus lawn; another suspended clear plastic letters Continued on page 2

Communication Design at CIA: Strategy First, Media Second


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