(republished from 2005)

Audience interpretation of the meaning of design (visual communication) has only recently begun to be researched. Most of the theory has therefore been based on literature and communication research, as these theories can be applied to visual communication as well as written communication.

As designers, is what we consider ‘good’ design really that good, and is what we consider ‘bad’ design really that bad? As an exploration of this idea I recently examined magazine design, looking at examples from the down-market that break the traditional rules of design aesthetics, and from the up-market that usually reflect a traditional educated designed approach.

I wrote a 5500 word research essay on the topic but here is the general conclusion I’ve drawn from it: In recent times the mass consumption of products has stretched to include the consumption of information. With the rise of digital technology, this abundance of information has even more ways to reach consumers, with magazines being only one of these mediums. All of this information competes for consumer attention, and because there is so much available, the information needs to communicate with consumers quickly in order to be successful.

The fastest way to attract consumer attention is through the use of aesthetic codes. Design needs to make use of codes in order to communicate; whether it follows traditional codes or breaks them, it is still making an association with certain values, attitudes, beliefs, assumptions and practices held by the reader. A lot of these values are not controlled by the reader, but rather by social and cultural beliefs. Because there is so much information competing for consumer attention, these codes need to be tailored to the demographic, and this is why there is such a variety in the style of magazine design: because they appeal to completely different audiences.

This is the new trend in design in the post-modern era. Design has to identify with its demographic through the use of these codes that are common among certain sectors of society. Magazines seem to have a specific aesthetic defined for a specific demographic, be that a class or sub-culture. Due to the amount of magazines produced now, one magazine cannot reach a wide demographic because too many specialised magazines already exist targeting a specific market and successfully reaching them. It’s interesting to consider how true this is in other design mediums, where once a certain saturation point is reached, they need to zone in on one particular type of reader and therefore lose the ability to appeal to a mass market.

Each magazine analysed, whether from the down or up-market, reflects modern theory on post-modern design and has proven its design works through figures reflected in sales. So while many designers would consider magazines such as That’s Life! poorly designed according to traditional theories, current post-modern theory suggests otherwise. In fact, all of the magazines analysed are successfully designed in order to meet financial targets. However, if design is responsible for helping to shape and change society then perhaps magazines such as That’s Life! are not so well designed?

(republished from 2005)

The evolution of graphic design from purely aesthetics to meeting functional, cultural, social and production requirements, helped to develop the change and growth in consumerism. Even in its early days graphic design helped advertise and separate products from one another, benefiting consumerism. Graphic design then brought in product innovation so more products could be produced and sold.

Recently graphic design is being renamed to communication design to reflect another evolution of design, one where it is now concerned with speaking to the consumer to address their personal needs and expectations. Research in to visual communication and behavioural studies have also helped evolve design and made it more effective at targeting consumers. This evolution is furthering consumerism because now products can build emotional connections with consumers by targeting basic human needs and acting as ways in which consumers can reflect their personal style and tastes under an illusion that they differ from others around them.

The media marketplace was created to help companies reach consumers. It uses a variety of mediums and provides information and entertainment as well as advertising other consumables. The media marketplace is currently expanding to include digital mediums; digital/interactive television, computers, internet, DVDs, PDAs etc. Consumers demand for news and information has dramatically risen of the past two decades, and now not only do the public consume products but also content. Consumers are used to products being customized to suit their needs and they want that with their information too —they want to chose and customize how they read content and communication designers have been assigned the task of shaping this content.

Media plays such a large role in shaping consumers beliefs of the outside world and designers are largely responsible for shaping this content, they also inherit the responsible for shaping culture to an extent as well.

Commodification takes actions that don’t rely on products, such a social or personal interactions, and associates a product with the action. Graphic design is responsible for this process in advertising, although it tries not to allude to that fact.

(republished from 2005)

Here is a great chapter on codes from the book Semiotics for Beginners. The article on NASA’s golden plaque is great and a good example of what happens when you don’t think about your audience and how they are going to read the communication. Further in to the chapter it goes on to explain how different shapes and colours are read and translated, with examples.