INTRODUCTION - FIELD OF STUDY visual communication, graphic design and art direction.
The role of the graphic designer deals with creating images working with typography, layout and other forms of visual communication in order to communicate a concept or message to a specific group through the use of visuals. Graphic design however “now embraces what used to be a dozen different professions” Adrian Shaughnessy 2005, becoming a diverse profession with a host of different platforms and references to communicate from.
With the message often having cultural social significance or being a visual interpreter for the ideas of the client. The role in the field of graphic design is multi faceted and works largely with the other specialisations of multi media and copywriting, with regard to their individual functions in industry and with some overlapping between the role of the art director and copywriter.
PURPOSE AND KEY FUNCTIONS
According to Avril Joffe and Monica Newton (2007), the design industry in South Africa leads to growth in economic competitiveness,overseas investment, growth in gdp,and cultural identity, whilst bolstering high prices on certain goods and improving the standard of the goods for the end user through the use of “design”.
The function of field also draws large acclaim and international interest through design specific events, the Cape Town 2014 design capital of the world, the Design Indaba the Loeries and other events. the industry has a high competitive industry with the potential for growth loeries (2013).
CHARACTERISTICS OF EMPLOYEES IN THIS FIELD
A designer needs to be able to identify with the client, group and be able to understand their target market as people. they need to be able to rapidly shift, cha...
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...ansive due to the multifaceted nature of the job.
The function of the art director is to direct a group of creatives, the director creates the concept and direction of the design along side the copywriter coming up with the concept for the project/ brief however the art director usually has a background in graphic design opposed to copywriting.
CONCLUSION
The career opportunities for visual communications within South Africa and Cape Town are established and still growing. A career in graphic design or art direction is a viable, interesting and productive career. the creative industry in South Africa is recognised at an international level and has space to grow. the creative industry works in a commercially productive way for the benefit of the economy. graphic design and art direction allow for a diverse set of skills and job functions across the industry.
Lawson, Bryan. How Designers Think: The Design Process Demystified. 4th ed. Oxford: Architectural Press, 2006.
Lawson, Bryan. How Designers Think: The Design Process Demystified. NY: Architectural Press, 1980, 2007. Massachusetts: NECSI Knowledge Press, 2004.
A good design begins with a creation or plan for the making of an object or service. It is a strategic approach towards a person’s (usually a client or target audience) required unique expectations. A design generally defines the specifications and parameters in achieving its main objectives. Often there are no key attributes as to what would make a design successful and interesting. Products and peoples needs and wants or taste often change and revolve around time. This brings a definite change in the market and its emerging’s trends. This cycle of evolution will always exist, but finally it is the factor of emotional response with the customer that will determine whether a product is successful or not. Whether the design is an object or it is a concept, the design that we see is an accumulation of various concepts and decisions that have been brought together from a variety of disciplines. In order for a consumer to view the design as something that is good it takes a unique combination of aesthetics, quality and ergonomics to make a design successful. Often we recognize a bad design at its first glance and a bad design often forces one to take in many confusing and conflicted content. So what makes our design/ product fail?
Design is one of the elements of today’s environment. We can see it everywhere as ideas and messages find their visual appearance in communication, identification and navigation. It transmits meanings and imparts know...
The development of design in the trend of globalization is urging designer performing their works in the more standard and professional processes, but the variety of inspirations in the design world still playing their crucial roles. The globalization of design has created a more complicated situation for both domestic and international designer. The application of international design thinking also could help designer to trim their design method and design thinking to approach the more intricate market, to conquer the gaps of different cognizes that effected by different cultures or even the human nature.
Many do not consider where images they see daily come from. A person can see thousands of different designs in their daily lives; these designs vary on where they are placed. A design on a shirt, an image on a billboard, or even the cover of a magazine all share something in common with one another. These items all had once been on the computer screen or on a piece of paper, designed by an artist known as a graphic designer. Graphic design is a steadily growing occupation in this day as the media has a need for original and creative designs on things like packaging or the covers of magazines. This occupation has grown over the years but still shares the basic components it once started with. Despite these tremendous amounts of growth,
in today's society and is important to have in life. Graphic design is used in media, the
Yates D, Price J. Communication Design, Insights from the Creative Industries. London: Bloomsbury Pub;
Art and design are huge aspects of life today, and it influences everyone. Whether we realize it or not, there are signs all around us of trained professionals from art-related industries (Hennessey). Art and design careers can take forms that many people may not have thought about: people with art and design degrees find work in nearly every industry imaginable, in roles that didn’t even exist ten or fifteen years ago (“Art and Design Careers”). Industries and related careers are constantly expanding, providing art and design students with new opportunities. Possibilities for art and design careers are nearly infinite, and and they’re always growing.
Client(s) may be in the first stage of our design thinking sequences (Archer, 1984, p. 67), and then the designer job is to explore what is the problem, what do we want, what do they need: to produce a design to meet the requirements. The initial design problem presented to the designer may be poorly and incompletely described (McDonnell, 1997, p. 45...
Design has major impact with concerns to environmental qualities. This field is a direct study of the relationship between behaviouristic actions of its inhabitants. Designers constantly interact with people and communicate to solve the needs of their clients regardless of large or small scale projects. Analysis is key in combining creativity with managerial design solutions. These outside-of-the-box designers have the ability to create beautiful, safe and functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces using common factors, designing for communities as well as,
‘Creative without strategy is called “art”. Creative with strategy is called ‘advertising’. Creativity grabs attention. People are flooded with millions of ads each day, but screens most of them out. Creativity allows advertisements to get past the filtering process and appeal to the intended audience. (Altstiel & Grow 2012) Advertising agencies nowadays are forced to think outside the box, by looking at the bigger picture and constantly discovering new ideas and ways to grab people’s attention. A successful creative advertisement results from the ability to incorporate strategic concepts in order to draw the line between plain art and advertising. There are no rules, no patterns to creating highly creative advertising. (Lee 2000)
‘You cannot hold a design in your hand. It is not a thing. It is a process. A system. A way of thinking.’ Bob Gill, Graphic Design as a Second Language.
During my whole life and experience I have been interested in the Art, Creativity, and I have been traveling around Graphics Designing. When I go out to centres, supermarkets, the high streets around Kingston anywhere in London, Germany and other parts of Europe which I have seen. I have seen lots of Graphics designs in advertising, Billboards companies for example in electronical products or any type of product the graphics advertising companies running around the world, just because of that I was inspired in the graphics designing and I was influence by the subject.
A new product on the market may look all shiny and new and be appealing to customers but what is the story behind the product and what is the underlying future for this product. Where were the original materials from? Is it all legalised? Where did the manufacturing take place? How was the product manufactured? These are all questions that are never properly addressed in the design industry and are just simply overlooked. They are the aspects of designing and producing a new product that need to be carefully looked at to make a good design, and to make sustainable products.