Graphic Communications Open Textbook Collective - Graphic Design and Print Production Fundamentals

Figure I.3 Johannes Itten was a designer associated with the Bauhaus school

We now work in an age where the computer has had an influence on the era of Post Modernism. Is this a new age? Are we ushering in an era unseen before? Or are modern-day designs simply a retelling of the same tropes we have seen for hundreds of years?

follows with a discussion about the design process. Contrary to what we tend to see in popular television shows and movies where advertising executives are struck with instant, usable, and bold ideas, design strategies are seldom insights gained through such a sudden outburst of inspiration. The design process is a deliberate, constructive, and prescriptive process that is guided by specific strategies. For example, before any piece of designed communication can be started, some very detailed research needs to be performed. This happens well before any graphic design or layout software is opened on a computer. Designing is a form of problem solving, where a system is created to communicate a specific and targeted message. The design process is the way that a designer breaks the problem into discrete creative activities. First is an exploration of what is trying to be achieved. Facts are gathered about the problem, and the problem itself is often defined very specifically. The idea phase is where brainstorming and ideation occurs, often without judgment, as a way to gather as many different ideas and directions as possible. From this, solutions are evaluated, both for their perceived impact on the target audience and for their perceived effectiveness in portraying the desired message. Finally, all of this information is distilled into an accepted solution. Designers do not sit around waiting for ideas to just happen; they follow a process in order to make it happen.