Graphic Communication an alphabet.
Deconstruction Essay The philosophical world was first introduced to the term ‘deconstruction’ by the French philosopher Jaques Derrida in the late 1970’s. This critical theory evolved from Derrida’s study of the written language versus the spoken word and was heavily influenced by the works of Husserl and Heidegger, to name but a couple. In its time, this mode of literary critique proved to be extremely controversial as it challenged western philosophical traditions and the western culture as a whole, which until then had been unquestioned and widely accepted. It was these challenges to the assumptions of western culture that Derrida has been known to refer to as deconstruction. In this essay I will provide a brief overview of deconstruction in Derrida’s work and then relate this philosophical theory to graphic design and argue its relevance and influence within this field in the present day. In order to even try to understand what deconstruction means we must begin with Derrida. The ideas which influenced the birth of the term deconstruction can be found in Of Grammatology (1967). Prior to this Derrida explores the theory of ‘originary complexity’, which itself cannot be defined. It is the idea that every structure must have a history, and in order to understand the structure, its origin/genesis must be understood. In parallel, for there to be movement of the structure it must be complex rather than simple so that a “diachronic” process can take place. This theory plays a pivotal role in providing the basis of all of Derrida’s terms including that of “deconstruction” (Wikipedia, 2011). From his research of western philosophy, Derrida took issue with the way in which western tradition continued to view language as a metaphysical system of referents and meaning. His argument was that the way in which language functioned did not conform to the traditional view that a word had a meaning according to its direct relationship to something real. He highlighted that according to tradition, the spoken word had always been given superiority over the written word as most believed that it was speech which made a language evolve. It was this suppression of the origin and status of writing by logocentric metaphysics that lead Derrida to believe that contrary to tradition; writing was in fact the precondition of language and that the written word must be developed in the mind prior to speech. “The system of language associated with phonetic-alphabet writing is that within which logocentric metaphysics, determining the sense of being as presence, has been produced. This logocentrism, this epoch of the full speech, has always placed in parenthesis, suspended, and suppressed for essential reasons, all free reflection on the origin and status of writing.” (Norris C, 2002, p.29) Derrida argues that our own thoughts which become speech are heavily influenced by our culture and surroundings through a written system that we are not in complete control of as thinkers of our own thoughts. If then our own thoughts are influenced, so must be the translation and interpretation of them. From this, it can be deduced that the written word is therefore far superior than the spoken word. Another key concept in Derrida’s work is that of Différance. The purposeful anomalous spelling of this word, which lies between the two French verbs ‘to differ’ and ‘to defer’, allows it the freedom to interplay between them and so giving it no real meaning as its own entity. Derrida uses this concept to explain that since a word is not inherently given a meaning, it must therefore be first deferred to something else and then given a meaning by differing from what it is not. This does make use of the traditional theory that language depends on ‘difference’ since its basis lies in the structure of distinctive oppositions. The Derridian concept comes into presence when we look at the extent to which ‘differ’ shads into ‘defer’, where meaning is always deferred (Norris C, 2002, p.32). These ideas are the fuel for Derrida’s iconic notion that there is ‘nothing outside the text’. By this he explains that every word must be considered within a context, as there is never a word without meaning that has not been influenced by external constructs, be they social, political or even graphical.
A to Z Another age old theme that deconstruction takes apart is that of opposition; Derrida argues that western culture is governed by such oppositions as mind/body, original/copy, inside/outside to name but a few, which have existed since the time of Plato. This idea gives one side of the two oppositions authority and preference whilst devaluing the other. Deconstruction, however attempts to show that the less valued opposition is in fact part of the more superior, that one influences the other and that our acceptance of the traditional approach is purely blind following. For the purpose of deconstruction, the opposition that is crucial is speech/writing; where writing has always been presented as the inferior copy of the spoken word, deconstruction elevates its status to an active form of representation rather than merely a passive one. As noted by Poynor, deconstruction does not aim to do away with these oppositions, but to give them a different perception: “These oppositions are not natural and inevitable, as we tend to assume, but cultural constructions produced by discourses that depend on our taking them for granted. Deconstruction’s purpose is not to destroy these categories but to dismantle and ‘reinscribe’ them – to change their structure and to make them function differently”. (Poynor, 2003, p.46) The use of deconstruction in graphic design is best illustrated through its use in the subject area of typography and specifically at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, USA. Under the care of Katherine and Micheal McCoy in the 1970’s, their graphic designers were introduced to the practice of literary criticism which provided them with the tools to explore the theory and produce a publication which reflected their understanding of the concepts proposed. Their piece served to draw the attention of the reader to the gaps between the lines wherein lie expanses of structures and systems which should be identified and questioned. It served well to demonstrate Derrida’s theories and concepts however at the time, evoked an outrage amongst more traditional designers. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that texts about innovative and thought provoking ideas were more generally discussed amongst the academics. As time progressed, there was a growing interest in critical theory and one of the many prominent students involved in the movement was Edward Fella. Fella described deconstruction as a way of exposing the glue that held together the western culture as space held typography together (Poynor, 2003, p. 55). The ideas of deconstruction spread wider amongst the professional communities throughout the 1980’s and into the 1990’s. The concept engulfed the worlds of architecture, fashion and even technology with the launch of the Macintosh in 1984. The idea behind the Mac was to deconstruct the PC and make available a tool that brought about an evolution in typography and therefore was catered more towards the design community. It also aimed to introduce something onto the market that wasn’t a representation of a faceless technology as was the PC at the time. In the design world, Derrida’s concepts brought about the birth of design expression and designers reveled in their freedom. In 1988 ‘deconstructivism’ was brought into the limelight with the MoMA’s exhibition, Deconstructive Architecture, curated by Philip Johnson and Mark Wigley. Wigley wrote in his catalogue essay: ‘A deconstructive architect is…not one who dismantles buildings, but one who locates the inherent dilemmas within buildings. The deconstructive architect puts the pure forms of the architectural tradition on the couch and identifies the symptoms of a repressed impurity. The impurity is drawn to the surface by a combination of gentle coaxing and violent torture: the form is interrogated’ (Lupton Ellen, 1998). According to Wigley, architecture encompassed deconstruction as a means of reflecting on the processes and systems with which it worked. By the mid-1990’s, deconstruction became a term used to casually label any work that favored complexity over simplicity.
Since its advent in the 1960’s, the term deconstruction has remained undefinable to this day and will remain so as it is used in a wide array of professional fields in different ways. It should be seen more as a critical theory which can be adapted to suit a purpose as it has no real definition. Perhaps this is the real success story of Derrida in that he has succeeded, through much controversy, in creating a new avenue of thought for a population who in his opinion were bound by the rigid systems and structures of western tradition. He has encouraged the questioning of theories and provoked an argument about the relationship between the written and spoken word. Deconstruction as a concept has made its mark and its use in graphic design has in no way been saturated by this evolving theory.
References Lupton, E (1998). Deconstruction and Graphic Design: History meets theory. Retrieved on 10/6/11 from http:graphicdesigntheory.net/essaysLupton3.html Norris, C (2002). Deconstruction, 3rd edition. Routledge publishing: Cornwall, UK Poynor, R (2003). No more rules. Laurence King Publishing Ltd: London, UK Wikipedia (2011). Jaques Derrida. Retrieved on 11/6/11 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wki/jaques_ Derrida.
A to Z
Graphic communication is a language used by designers, typographers and illustrators to communicate a message in a highly designed amd often inovative way. This A-Z is a guide to a few of the most important aspects of graphic design.
ADVERTISING
Frequent exposure to the ever changing styles of the advertising industry makes great use of graphic design strategies to ultimately sell their product or service. Street bilboards and signage, T V commercials and magazines or newspapers are the three major ways of displaying adverts for products.
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This VW advert shows how simplicity was as effective in the 1950’s as it is today.
BOOK
Books are a fundamental source of reference and the hard copys of what we use to and have in the past used to educate ourselves with. They contain images and text both with and without colour and are usually printed on paper which is bound and contained within a thicker jacket for protection.
Book covers are a great selling point and graphic design plays a major role in designing book coverers as well as their layout to gaurantee good sales and present a preview of what may be contained inside. The book cover on the left presents a duality in text language and uses the english language to write the books title but spelt in the home language of urdu, and on the reverse is the exact wording but spelt using english letters, both front and back are creatively laid out.
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B
COLOUR
The use of colour in graphic design is a skill that if well used can communicate effectively to the viewer. The fruitful use of colour can also distract from the message being conveyed, this is why the absence of colour is sometimes a better strategy.
The collection of coloured squares on the left may look to be just a simple patterned arrangement. It is in fact a close-up section of a much larger colour image showing the tiny pixels that make up the whole image. This set of sqaures can also form part of the colour chart for this image.
This color circle is an abstract illustrative organization of color hues around a circle, which shows the relationship between primary colors, secondary colors and complementary colors. This is Boutet’s 7-colour and 12-colour circle from 1708.
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The coloured bars above are the colour charts or pallets for the image in the center, this shows a break-down of the colours used for that image.
DROP-SHADOW
A drop shadow is a visual effect consisting of drawing that looks like the shadow of an object, giving the impression that the object is raised above the objects behind it. Drop shadows are not just give the illusion of raising an object, but also to imply there is a source of light somwhere in its context, and so making the object look more tangible.
Drop shadow text produced by hand
Drop shadows can be used to give 2d objects created in digital form some depth and as the same object is coppied or repeated elswhere, its shadow remains in the same direction. This gives the light source a constant position where all objects are placed in the same location.
Fixed drop shadow font
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A household logo such asa google is simply transformed by adding colour and depth
These two images show an example of the affect a drop shadow and a little transforming of an object can do to its overall impression.
D
E THNOGR APHY
Graphic design is surely an international language, in other parts of the world methods and styles may not always be the same. To an extent some methods do work, but what communicates clearly to the public across different cultures will always vary. Designers need to have compassion and empathy for their audiences, they need to understand the relationship between what they produce and the meaning their product has for others. Ethnography informs design by revealing a deep understanding of people and how they make sense of their world.
There are various books written on the subject of Ethnography in design, on the left is one example and a sample of its content on the right.
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FRENCH FOLD
A popular and neat way of creating a book which allow images and text to bleed right to the end. I like to use it for my own work as a simplistic alternative to single sheet binding. This technique adds weight to the ends of the pages as opposed to a weighty spine giving the book a different feel.
This is an image of instructions for the french fold technique for two separate pages of paper or fabric. The simplicity of this type of fold produces pages which can be joined at both ends of and when unfolded can become continuous banner style book.
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GRID
A popular and neat way of creating a book which allow images and text to bleed right to the end. I like to use it for my own work as a simplistic alternative to single sheet binding. This technique adds weight to the ends of the pages as opposed to a weighty spine giving the book a different weight distribution.
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HYBRIDIT Y
This is a process of combining two ways of thinking to create something which takes only the most similar aspects of the two, to produce a language that both ways of thinking can relate to. It is widely used in globalisation to relate a foreign products to a new culture.
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Artist Laurent Craste has combined two juxtaposing materials to create a dynamic sculpture which is described as being “at the crossroads of two mediums“. Hybridity can also be used to great effect in graphic design. Takashi Okada AKA Hybrid Graphic has used his typographic skills and painting skills to create a nature inspired display type face.
H H
INSTRUCTIONS
Instructions, particularly those using pictures as well as words should communicate the stage of assembly or a given process clearly, so that the next stage can be executed correctly. Furniture items are the most common pictorial instructions, all pieces required as well as tools are clearly drawn using simple black line drawings.
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JUSTIFICATION
justification is the typographic alignment setting of text or images within a column or “measure” to align along both the left and right margins. Text set this way is said to be “justified”. In justified text, the spaces between words are stretched or sometimes compressed (kerning) in order to make the text align with both the left and right margins. When using justification, it is customary to treat the last line of a paragraph separately by left or right aligning it, depending on the language direction. This text box is justified
Illustrated below are examples of finished design which have used the justification method to form shapes using text in an effective and visually striking manner. On the left is a text box of justified text in inverted colour. Justification minimises the need for adding a dash inbetween a long word at the end of a line and visually has a more orderly appeal.
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LE VIDE
KERNING
The process of choosing the right spacing between letters in a word is called kerning, the purpous of kerning is to make it more visually pleasing. In some cases it can be used to make the words more or less legable. The spaces between each letter are not always the same, the relationship between two different letters will sometimes change.
These two record sleeves and record stickers have used kerning to reflect the image or theme of the image they are placed over. Kerning is more noticeable when single words are placed alone rather than in a text box that has been justified with kerning.
ÉCRIVEZ LE
ÉCRIVEZ
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KKK
LAYERS
This word is most common in graphics software where the separation of shapes and textures being created are placed on non visible layers which can make editing a much easier task.
Layers are also used for 3D visual design and bear some similarity to the layers within an onion.
A to Z Some layers are purposely revieled to tie in with the effect of the image, and some images are created to look like a complete single flat image where the layers are hidden, below are examples of both.
LL
MATERIALS
Materials are essential for creating and experimenting with media to record and invent new ideas. The norm of using only shop based graphical materials can also be replaced by found objects and natural material to reach more unique results.
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N E W S PA P E R
This form of media is a powerful tool for presenting, displaying and writing facts, ideas and information. An old and still very popular medium for the media is the humble newspaper. An oversized book of pictures and words printed on thin cheap paper that is easily transported in bulk and is also seen as a cheaply produced magazine. It is a versatile material that has many unofficial uses and is 100% recyclable.
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O PA C I T Y
The ability to make images and text varying in transparency allows designers to merge colour and different textures to create new ones. Opacity is also a useful barrier to display something as being ambiguous or just its fuzzy form and no detail.
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O
PHOTOGRAM
Exposing light sensitive paper to the sun with an object placed on top creates a light coloured silhouette of that object, the exposed spaces turn much darker. Photogram’s are not only limited to photographic paper, other relatively sensitive paper like sugar paper can be used to make subtle photogram’s.
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QUOTES
Quotes are a useful way of finding inspiration and encouraging designers with new thoughts of wisdom that they may look at a task in a different way or try solving a problem with a new angle or attitude. Below are some quotes i have found useful.
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REPETITION
A method of producing large patterned spreads of identical shapes, colours or forms, or simply by repeating the same process of producing a form but maybe with slightly different proportions or colours. Repetition on a macro reveals a different story to that on a micro scale.
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R
SIGNAGE
Signs are used to inform people and allow easy navigation. They must be visually clear, bold, readable, minimise confusion and to some extent be pleasing to the eyes. A sign could also be targeted at a wider audience by displaying different languages under the primary language, depending on where it is placed.
A to Z
TYPOGRAPHY
It is the art of choosing and arranging type as a means to making a maximum visual impact of the text being displayed and giving greater meaning to it. The designing of different type is also sometimes considered to be part of this, but a greater skill by far is knowing how to present text in the most inventive, creative and clear way.
A to Z
UNDERLINE
When we underline something it is to give it prominence or importance over other text or type on the page. It can also be a hand written alternative for writing words in Bold type. If changing the form of the same font to a bold or italic form is not an option, simply placing a line under it raises the hierarchy of the text automatically. It can also be placed further below a text line acting as a devider between other lines of text spaced out in a similar arrangement.
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U
VECTOR
Vector based images use points, lines and shapes which are placed using mathematical equations, this is completely contrary to images that use pixels, which are very tiny square dots shaded and arranged over a grid formation. Vector images hold to much better resolution, but are usually converted to pixels if editing on different media is required. Below are examples of vector based patterns made using adobe illustrator.
A to Z
W H I T E S PA C E
The space left over in an image is not necessarily a waste of space. Among text, a good use of white space creates room for the reader to breathe visually. The arrangement of text around images and visa versa requires an affective use of white spaces to make visually clear what is being said.
A to Z
X-RAY
A unique method of photographing through a medium such as the skin and flesh to reveal transparent like layers of each separate substance. The output viewing of the non-visible is printed and viewed on translucent paper over a light box, which reveals the hidden layers and stronger outlines of harder material such as bone.
A to Z
X
YOUTH
The youth possess skills and abilities that the older generations fail to recognise. Recognising these skills and helping to direct them towards more constructive design can help the youth achieve better results. Teaching graphical skills to adolescent children before they reach higher education is a great way of raising the threshold of today’s designs. Street grafiti is a way in which a lot of youth like to experiment with most aspects of graphic design.
A to Z
ZINES
Zines are a customized way of producing short reading or graphical material for a local or small-scale audience. They are usually self published and mostly distributed as photocopies of the original to their target audience. It is a great way of publishing short stories or graphical documents, mainly produced by much younger designers, to build up skills of graphic design.
A to Z
A
Reflection
My A to Z of graphic language is now complete, I hope it has visually stimulated your thoughts about graphic design. My choice of words chosen for each letter of the alphabet proved to be a challenging experience. A long list of words were compiled for each letter first and after a process of elimination only two or three words would remain. Sketches and images were collected for a group of words and the image that communicated the word best would remain and be used. This was certainly the hardest part of this task, finding the right image or pair of images that conveyed the word chosen graphically. I initially chose to merge the text with the images, but later found that this was distracting and crowding each image. Most images needed an entire spread to be understood I found. The last decision was to use the word of each spread to use as the theme for each large image of that letter. The type for each letter was also chosen to best match the word on the spread and then using Adobe Photoshop was edited to produce a themed image of the letter. The layout chosen to arrange each spread was created with simplicity in mind. Some spread layouts are the same, and some are arranged with minor diferences. I chose the text for each alphabet word on the spread to be placed vertically, reading from bottom to top. This was so that the viewer would be forced to adjust their gazing angle and briefly see each image differently. The simplicity of some spreads, for example the O for Opacity, M for Materials and P for Photogram was chosen to show only one image covering the whole spread, as these words are quite well known and a clutter of images describing them would not have worked so well. Each of the images were taken by myself and adjusted if needed in Adobe Photoshop. The photogram was produced using sunlight and sugar paper illustrating a famous designers’ quote. When initially signing up to the workshops for research methods (A to Z workshop) I was a little unsure as to how this would help me to produce each of the tasks. I therefore took it upon myself to visit the library and find further reading that would help me understand the workshop titles. The subjects I looked into ranged from strictly graphic design aspects for example, typography, subversive advertising, design innovation through to deconstruction, reconstruction and language of colour. Although each of these subjects were very interesting I found it hard to link the knowledge of these with the construction of my A to Z. I was however excited by the thought of expressing the ideas in these new topics into my own work using various software like Adobe photoshop and Illustrator, this was taken over from the fear of not being able to visualise each idea as an outcome printed on a page. My initial idea was to construct a backwards A to Z becoming a Z to A and having each spread follow this same revesed theme. I also thought each aspect of graphic design chosen would be non-typical ones using disjointed words giving the impression from the outcome that designers go through a lot of time being confused and not knowing what direction to take always. After having discussions with various fellow students I decided this idea was not strong enough and so I went back to the drawing board. My second idea for the A to Z was to have it based on sign language. I found an interesting theme as it would bring an awareness to young designers that graphic design is not just for the able bodied person with all senses intact, but can be as essential for those with hearing, sight and speech deficiencies. Although this was a clear route to take for my A to Z I found it was too ambitious within the time constraints given as a major part of the task would involve research, interacting and educating myself about the this side of graphic design and the limitations that mainstream designers create for the disabled.
A to Z Finally I decided to use the fundamental aspects of graphic design, as this was an introduction to the subject for myself and others who have a limited understanding of the field. There are only a few minor changes I would have made if I were to do this exercise again. Minimising the text further and adding more images for each letter with greater emphasis on current and new designers’ work, and maybe have the word for each letter hidden in the images to first make the viewer find the word before realising what it could be. I would also have liked to experiment with different themes for my A to Z, this could add a more personal touch to the PDF and maybe target a younger audience like the youth up to the ages of sixteen to inform them of how graphic design is used in society and how their abilities and skills can be used to evolve its outlook for the future. The main lesson I have learnt about graphic design during this project is: Graphic design isn’t easy; when thinking of a design strategy to implement in your design you underestimate the time it takes to do the finishing touches for example, finalizing type and arrangement of images and choosing colours, which are to me the most important aspects of graphic design.
End