Brief: Identify at least 10 examples of type driven work and critically analyse and evaluate the success of the appropriateness of the work in relation to the problem it is trying to solve, the function that it is trying to perform, and/or the context in which it is intended to be received.
What is graphic design for? What function does it perform or what problem is it trying to solve?
Who is graphic design for? Who is the potential audience? Who is meant to 'get it' and who isn't?
Where is graphic design found? Where is it meant to be seen? In what situation or at what scale? How is the audience supposed to receive it and are they meant to interact with it?
This is an info graphics piece from the book 'Visual Aid: You can never know enough stuff'. A world map is made up using only text, this text being the web suffixes and dialling codes for each country. I like how this is small (each page is a6), but useful, containing a lot of information. This piece is in a book full or random information and instructions displayed in a visually pleasing way. I think this is a much more interesting way of displaying information and so the viewer is more likely to take notice and remember things, because of the easy to understand way it is set out. The book is more of a jokey gift book which is nice to look at rather than an information book, so I think anybody could be the potential audience for this piece of graphic design, and I think that the way the audience interact with this book will be just appreciating the designs and finding humour in the random facts.
Graphic design is for changing opinions. This answer is for a competition brief for H. Samuel, where a campaign to challenge the perception of them as a traditional retailer and to encourage younger customers was needed. This answer plays with that challenge by using vintage style traditional letterpress typography, and being similar to early graphic design posters, but at the same time, looks modern. This is due to the choice of colours and phrases and that this style of vintage text is now quite cool, so I think they would appeal to a younger audience as intended.
Graphic design is for promotion. These very modern type focused designs are to promote a traditional village green festival. The problem is that an event needs advertising but the organisers and designers wanted the promotion to be environmentally friendly in fitting with the event. To solve this problem, the designers used 100% recycled materials, including the t-shirts, which are old T's with the new logo printed over them. The potential audience are those in Southend-on-sea, but the new modern design of bold typography and simple imagery representing bunting will also draw in younger crowds as they are 'cool' designs. The audience will interact with the pieces by using them, visiting the event and then re-cycling the designs.
Graphic design is for projects. This project, dailydropcap, by Jessica Hische, is a website, where every day, the designer adds another drop cap letter. Visitors can check back at the website everyday, and they are allowed to use the drop cap for on their own blogs, for non-commercial use. The only problem it is trying to solve was a personal one for the designer, to keep her motivated in between clients. I think this is a really good idea having personal aims that you don't have to have, but help your work improve. The type has worked in regard to its function of keeping the designer motivated, and even better, she has gained a lot of fans and attention from it. The potential audience is bloggers and web users who may search around design blogs to find this kind of thing, like myself. The letters are found on the internet, and the audience react with it by using them as a gift to decorate their blogs.
Graphic design is for stating the obvious. These designs by MASH collective can be found in the designmuseumshop. The function of these designs is to label obvious products, which look good and have a purpose, to make items that customers will want to buy. There are lots of different objects available to buy, from pens to USB sticks. They have been influenced by the international typographical style, and seem quite simple. I think its quite a good idea and they do look quite stylish and cool, but I personally wouldn't buy these products because the design looks so simple I could have done it myself, so I'm not that impressed. The target audience, as stated by the designers, are type and design lovers. However, in regards to how much the design works in terms of the function, I am not sure how many designers would buy these products as they don't contain breath-taking examples of typography.
Graphic design is for research. The function of these posters, found on behance, are to display the result of information gathered after a poll asking designers to vote which font was their favourite. No surprise, the 'love affair' of designers was with Helvetica. This piece of graphic design's potential audience was graphic designers, in particular, typographers. Others wouldn't have understood this design, or the sense of humour behind the phrases, or even what is going on. This project was found on the internet, as users voted on a website, choosing between fonts such as universe, helvetica and gotham. I think that this design does work as it is supposed to, it informs the viewer which fonts are the general favourite, as well as entertaining the viewer with the humour, with lines such as "the type that makes us moist."
Graphic design is for motivation. We looked at a series of these posters for inspiration for our 'communication is a virus' brief, and were really inspired by these designs, which lead on to us creating our own. The function of this poster is a quote to motivate and inspire the person who reads it. It is designed to be hung in a frame on the wall, so that the viewer can be reminded of the message every time they look at it. There is a limit to how much a poster can actually motivate you to do something, so it could be argued that this poster does not fully work. Because it is aesthetically pleasing, this simple quote could actually be more motivating than a load of written information which could get over looked. If this poster was placed in a frame, or screen printed, or even digitally printed at a high quality, it has a 'special' quality, which makes people want to display it.
Graphic design is for humour. The function of this print, found on ilovetypography, is just to make someone smile I think. I was drawn to this piece because its how I feel a lot of the time! I think the bold, large typography, with all uppercase letters, makes this statement a confident, stubborn one, as if it is not to be argued with. The red also relates to this boldness, and really catches your attention. I think the potential audience could be a busy, stressed person who would appreciate this and laugh a bit. It is meant to be seen in the form of a print, so it has more of an aesthetic quality than actually having a purpose.
Graphic design is for beauty. Once again, not all pieces of graphic design have to have a purpose, other than being aesthetically pleasing and maybe making the person who sees it impressed. I think this is a beautiful piece of typography found on ilovetypography, and if you look close, the type is actually made up of lots of stars, relating to the quote. The design is meant to be seen as a print, as then the gold foil that is used for the text can be seen a lot better than it can be on screen. This is just a nice print to have, so the audience only really respond to it by being impressed with it. It may also have another purpose, to inspire the audience if they are interested in typography, as it does for me, to try out some designs containing beautiful typography and quotes.
Graphic design is for admiring. This is another piece of beautiful typography by Cameron Moll. This poster, of Salt Lake temple, was made with a letterpress with handcrafted characters. This piece really takes your breath away as you imagine how difficult it must have been to design this. It is not trying to solve a problem, it is just trying to look good. A function for this piece could be to prove that pieces of graphic design can be appreciated as beautiful and special, in the way that fine art can be. Graphic design can be seen as quite throw-away as pieces are mass-produced, but this design is actually a limited edition poster, making it special and exclusive. So this piece could be for anyone, but I think those interested in typography would be most impressed.
Graphic design is for collaborations. This image was created by graphicthoughtfacility to advertise an exhibition called Wonderful: Visions of the near future which was an exhibition containing collaborations between artists and scientists. The signage therefore needs to appeal to both those interested in art and those interested in science, to get as many people as possible to visit the exhibition. The typeface that has been created relates to theme of science, (it reminds me of constellations in the sky), and I think it looks really beautiful in the dark with the lights shining through. And, this would attract an artist I think as they want to see more of the designs inside. This sign is found outside of the exhibition, to draw people in, and the way it is meant to be seen, at night, with the lights shining through definitely makes this design stand out a lot more than the printed version, used in promotional material for the exhibition does.
Graphic designs is for honesty. This is an internet viral, found on logodesignlove.com. It reminds me of ad spoofs I have seen on adbusters. It is making a joke out of youtube, by changing their logo to 'cat videos', as this seems to be what it is used for a lot of the time, funny videos of animals, particularly cats. I think this is true and this logo design change certainly made me laugh. That is the function of it, just to make people laugh and think that its true, there isn't actually a purpose. It shows the power of a logo, as everyone recognises that this is the youtube logo, due to the font and colours used. The target audience is people who use youtube, as only they would understand that a lot of what is on there is videos of funny cats. This spoof logo is meant to be seen on the internet, it is a viral so may be passed around on blogs, emails and such, along with other logo spoofs.
Graphic design is for entertainment. This videos function is to entertain and impress the viewer; it is part of a project of a few animated font videos. However, there is another purpose of the project, and that is to get people to go to the handmadefont website, and buy one of their fonts, to be used in animations, for commercials or videos, inspired by the example videos already available. While anyone can watch these videos, the potential audience is actually experienced professional designers, who have a knowledge of software such as after effect, and so would be able to create their own video. This video can be found on the website, or design blogs, to spread the message and to get people interested in their project. I found a link to this video from behance.
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