Steven Heller: It’s sometimes embarrassing the way that designers prostrate themselves—and the English language—in their promotional material describing in words what they do, as though their designs alone aren’t enough to tell the story. It may be true that some clients (or prospective clients) don’t have a good grasp of what design is, but most have eyes and can intuit. During the nascent period of graphic design (somewhere around the mid-1920s) all that a commercial artist advertising in one of the many promotional annuals had to say was “Jeanne Doe, calligraphy, layout, illustration,” and the point was made (in part because the services were being bought by agencies or art directors, not directly by clients). Today, with non-design clients being more active in the hiring process, something called design philosophy has become the basis of a new patois. Philosophy is not pejorative, but when it turns to sophistry—beware!
For at least the past decade designers have tried to position themselves as legitimate professionals. Inherent in this quest is an attempt to squelch the myth that visual people are ostensibly illiterate. Where the myth started is anyone’s guess. After all, the first, what one might call, literate people—those who developed the earliest codified languages—were image makers. The first alphabets were comprised of images. Early scripture was illuminated by scribes who made pictures as well as words. The first typefaces were designed by artists. The first books were designed by artist/writers. So, traditionally, designers have been a very literate people. Then, where and when did the distinction begin? Maybe it came with the onset of commercial printing, when publicity was churned out, not designed—when its makers began providing service, not art. Not all commercial printers or commercial artists were enemies of the word, yet the impact of those who were has had a detrimental effect, ultimately leading in the early 20th century to the schism between copywriters and designers.
2008.05.18 at 8:41 pm
Related:
