Name: Arylis, Katha, Kaylyn, and Emma Title: GRAPHIC DESIGN Introduction: Graphic design is an art form that

tries to limit interpretation and control its meaning as much as possible. The goal of this communication has a specific message to a certain group of people and the success of its design is measured by how well that message is conveyed. For example, often the way that success is measured in graphic design is by how well a product sells or how effective people interpret the intended information. Medium: Graphic designers play to the visual presentation of information as it is embodied in words and/or images. Items such as book covers, road signs, and corporate logos are a few of these embodiments. History: Graphic design has been around as long as civilization. The very idea of writing had to first have an agreed upon set of symbols to represent specific words or sounds. Over the centuries these symbols were refined, clarified, and standardized. The two major advancements were the printing press in the 15th century and the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, commerce, communication, and travel play major roles in the continued development of graphic design and technology greatly expands its possibilities. Signs and Symbols: Our most basic level of communication is through symbols. Graphic design relies heavily on symbols for visual communication. Symbols convey and embody specific information or ideas. Notice the pictures below. Almost immediately and without thought we know the principle idea behind the images.

Symbols are a part of our language and even our universal language. We use them everywhere and perhaps the most pervasive of these are logos and trademarks.

Logos and trademarks mean nothing by themselves they must be developed by their creators to present an images that persuades people to associate a meaning to it such as service, quality, and dependability. For example, No one had a clue what the trademarks for Superman or Batman meant until they developed them.

Typography and Layout: Throughout history people have appreciated the visual aspect of their respective written language. Around the year 1450 and the invention of movable type, it became necessary for designers to create a unified alphabet that could be produced as typeface. Albrecht Drer designed a set of letter forms based on a square, paying special attention to the visual aspect of each letter.

Back then the effort was laboriously done by carving images into wood but today designers can invent a wide array of fonts with computers. One of the most important tasks of a graphic designer is to devise visual presentations that make potentially confusing information easier to grasp. For example, have you ever read a menu that was not laid out well, making it more difficult to order? A well-laid out menu would make it easier to choose from. A layout is a designers blueprint. It includes such things as margins, headers, fonts and any other aspect of the design. Even the layout of this outline had to have a conceived design before it could come to fruition. Word and Image: Early printers of the 15th century were able to print out single sheets that were called broadsides. These were the first brochures or leaflets and were used much the same way as they are today. In the 19th century color lithography made it possible for a more eye-catching form of advertising.

In 2001 the iPod was launched but it wasnt until the silouette campaign that sales began to skyrocket. The immediate recognizability of the iPod demonstrating indivdual music freedom made the design a huge success. Today, people use their own computers to make their own versions of the campaign.

Motion and Interactivity: With the development of the film industry, graphic design was literally put into motion and combined with todays technology designers have made it possible for interactivity the possibility to interface between users and technology. Some of the first interactive designs were simply released on the internet relying solely on the users to share the design like a word of mouth advertisement more often referred to on the internet as a viral video.

Another style of interaction can be seen on the website Graffiti Archaeology. On this site a user can see how over time, artists have evolved a mural and even the change as other artists paint over the old. The layers can be virtually peeled back to reveal different times and artists.

Today, interactive design has limitless possibilities and is used in ways that help to make concepts clearer or to help illustrate difficult concepts. The medical industry uses an interactive anatomy that enables the user to peel away layers or zoom in on areas that would otherwise be time consuming and have less clarity.

Graphic Design and Art: One of the first Artists to acknowledge the power of graphic design to become part of our personal world was Andy Warhol. He made the common everyday image of a Campbells Soup can into art. Some criticized it as consumer culture while others celebrated it for the same reasons. Today, people still find inspiration in Campbells Soup.

Nathalie Miebach takes vast volumes of scientific data and creates sculptures to help people visualize or interpret otherwise boring information. She wants her sculptures to reveal the beauty of complexity and to inspire viewers to think about the differences between the visual vocabulary they associate with science and the visual vocabulary they associate with art.

In an ever expanding field, programmers, artists, musicians, animators, and architects work together to create digital artwork, influenced by sound, to create what is known as sound sculptures. The concept is to have a visual representation of the sound be expressed in harmony with the rhythms and dynamics of the music accompanying it.

Conclusion: Before modern times, art was usually done as a commission under contract or as a service. Often this work would be performed to convey a message, record a historical event, or even illustrate religious doctrine. Today, graphic designers continue to do the same but stretch the limits of creativity with modern technology while elegantly developing clarity in communicative graphic designs.