Conduct Critical Analysis

Issues that arise in graphic design

The field of graphic design has expanded multifold with the new dimension of digital media added to it in the last few decades. Initially, graphic design was focused more on print media. However, with the advent of social media, the volume of content generated and consumed has increased exponentially. Because of this, the work of graphic designers has not only become highly varied but also its demand has increased.

Visual issues

Learn to recognise visual problems when it comes to graphic design. You will often know it when you see it. Look through the images below and think about how you can recognise the poor design choices:

Clashing colours⁵

 

_{Albinagorta, C. (2019) Clashing colours, Bad Powerpoint Examples You Should Avoid At All Costs. 24 Slides. Available at https://24slides.com/presentbetter/bad-powerpoint-examples-you-should-avoid (Accessed: October 19 2022)}

This slide contains colours that clash or make the words hard to read. The image is also low-resolution and blurry.

Incorrect use of space

 

_{Albinagorta, C. (2019) Incorrect use of space, Bad Powerpoint Examples You Should Avoid At All Costs. 24 Slides. Available at https://24slides.com/presentbetter/bad-powerpoint-examples-you-should-avoid (Accessed: October 19 2022)}

This design is too cluttered.

Unsuitable typography

 

_{Gendelman, V. (2013) Unsuitable typography, Worst Fonts Ever! 11 Examples of Bad Typography in Print. Company Folders. Available at https://www.companyfolders.com/blog/worst-fonts-ever-11-examples-of-bad-typography-in-print (Accessed: October 19 2022)}

Comic Sans and Curlz look childish and unprofessional.

 

_{Gendelman, V. (2013) Brush script looks outdated, Worst Fonts Ever! 11 Examples of Bad Typography in Print. Company Folders. Available at https://www.companyfolders.com/blog/worst-fonts-ever-11-examples-of-bad-typography-in-print (Accessed: October 19 2022)}

Brush script looks outdated.

 

_{Gendelman, V. (2013) Vivaldi font, Worst Fonts Ever! 11 Examples of Bad Typography in Print. Company Folders. Available at https://www.companyfolders.com/blog/worst-fonts-ever-11-examples-of-bad-typography-in-print (Accessed: October 19 2022)}

The Vivaldi font is hard to read on the poster.

Not following the design brief

These are well-designed pet adoption posters, but if the company’s branding colours are blue and white, not mustard, then they haven’t met the brief. You can recognise these graphic design issues visually. They are simple to fix. There are other non-visual, more logistical issues you will recognise as well – such as not enough hours or budget, or unrealistic requests.

Finding solutions to graphic design issues

Listed here are some of the common problems graphic designers face.⁵ Read through them and then decide what you think is a good solution to these issues:

Graphic designers regularly face the problems detailed above, but these strategies should help you overcome them.

Ideas and problem-solving strategies in design

Sometimes, solving a problem or fulfilling a brief is more of a complex process. It can be useful to adopt a methodical approach and work in stages to accomplish what you need to. Here we will look at different strategies to work through issues and generate ideas.

Branching vs linear approach

Four basic problem-solving phases are learning, identifying, generating, and implementing.⁶

_{Adapted from Bowers, J., 2011. Introduction to graphic design methodologies and processes. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, p.xiii-xix.}

Branching approach

• A solution is found by revisiting a problem’s conditions.

_{Adapted from Bowers, J., 2011. Introduction to graphic design methodologies and processes. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, p.xiii-xix.}

Linear approach

• A solution is created through sequential development.

These phases can branch in different directions or be linear or branching—or a combination. Most graphic design activity moves in a branching manner; rarely is the path linear. Reflection, analysis, and evaluation occur at every step. The four problem-solving phases overlap and may be repeated. Moving backwards is as common as moving forward. The goal is to carefully consider the problem at hand and not reach a solution prematurely.⁶

Divergent and convergent thinking and problem solving

_{Adapted from Bowers, J., 2011. Introduction to graphic design methodologies and processes. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, p.xiii-xix.}

Divergent thinking (discovering, predicting, identifying, and considering) blends with convergent thinking (prioritising, generating, refining, and making) during the design process.

The problem-solving process diverges and converges, expands, and contracts. Divergence is the process of identifying, creating, and developing multiple ways of solving a problem. Convergence is the process of selecting and developing concepts from the previous step’s multiple pursuits.⁶

_{Adapted from Bowers, J., 2011. Introduction to graphic design methodologies and processes. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, p.xiii-xix.}

In the learning phase, the process diverges and expands as information is gathered, then contracts as information is analysed in the identifying phase. The process then again expands in the generating phase as multiple concepts are developed, and contracts in the evaluating phase, in which a single concept is refined, chosen, and implemented. Although each phase has its unique aspects, they can overlap.

Client questions

Your design brief should contain the information you need to get started on the client solution, however sometimes there might be some extra information you need. If the following points are not covered, make sure you ask your client:

What are some questions you should be asking your client?⁷

• Is there a brand style guide available?
• Are there any fonts, colours, or styles that we should avoid?
• What previous design or marketing materials can you share?
• How would you describe the style you want?
• Do you want high-end or down-to-earth?
• Do you want to be bold and dominant or easily approachable?
• What styles would you prefer to avoid?
• What is the size of the design?
• Where is the design going to be used; e.g. web, business cards, stationery?

People have been using visual symbols and markings to communicate messages for a long time. Primitive drawings have been found all over the world and have influenced how we communicate visually throughout history up until today.⁸

Prehistoric visual communications

_{Meggs, P. and Purvis, A., 2016. Meggs' history of graphic design. 6th ed. Wiley.}

Abstract geometric signs, including dots, squares, and other configurations, are intermingled with the animals in many cave paintings. Whether they represent fabricated objects or are protowriting is not known, and never will be, because they were made before the beginning of recorded history.

_{Meggs, P. and Purvis, A., 2016. Meggs' history of graphic design. 6th ed. Wiley.}

The animals painted in the caves are pictographs—elementary pictures or sketches that represent the things depicted. A high level of observation and memory is evidenced in many prehistoric drawings.

_{Meggs, P. and Purvis, A., 2016. Meggs' history of graphic design. 6th ed. Wiley.}

In an engraved reindeer antler found in the cave of Lorthet in southern France, the scratched drawings of deer and salmon are remarkably accurate. Even more important, however, are two diamond-shaped forms with interior marks, which imply an early symbol-making ability. The early pictographs evolved in two ways: first, they were the beginning of pictorial art—the objects and events of the world were recorded with increasing fidelity and exactitude as the centuries passed; second, they formed the basis of writing. The images, regardless of whether the original pictorial form was retained, ultimately became symbols for spoken-language sounds.

Greek symbolism

Greek culture received much of its knowledge from the Egyptians. Our use of visual symbols originated with the Egyptians; from them we inherited the zodiac, the scales of justice, and the use of animals to represent concepts, cities, and people. In Greece, the owl symbolised Athena, and the image of an owl on a Greek coin indicates that it was minted in Athens. Today we have the American eagle, the Atlanta Falcons, the Carolina Gamecocks, and the dove symbolising peace.⁸

_{Owl of Athena depicted on a Greek coin}

Symbolism in politics

Symbolism can be a very powerful way of communicating messages, often more so than words. One American man found that his talent gave him powerful influence over the public, especially considering most people could not read at this time.

Thomas Nast (1840-1902) was a talented artist, hired by Harper’s Weekly magazine during the Civil War. The power of his work was such that President Abraham Lincoln called Nast “the best recruiting sergeant” and General Ulysses S. Grant declared that Nast had done as much as anyone to bring the conflict to a close.

Public response to Nast’s work was a major factor in propelling Harper’s Weekly’s circulation from one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand copies per issue. After the war, Nast remained with Harper’s Weekly, where he drew his images directly on the woodblock in reverse for the craftsmen to cut.

 

_{Meggs, P. and Purvis, A., 2016. Meggs' history of graphic design. 6th ed. Wiley.}

His deep social and political concerns led him to strip away detail and introduce symbols and labels for increased communicative effectiveness in his work. He has been called the father of American political cartooning. The graphic symbols Nast popularised and focused include a number of important images: Santa Claus, John Bull (as a symbol for England), the Democratic donkey, the Republican elephant, Uncle Sam, and Columbia (a symbolic female signifying democracy that became the prototype for the Statue of Liberty).

Nast also took on the governmental corruption of the political boss William Magear Tweed, who controlled New York politics from infamous Tammany Hall. Tweed claimed that he did not care what the papers wrote because voters couldn’t read, but “they could sure see them damn pictures.” Nast’s relentless graphic attack culminated on election day in a double-page cartoon of the “Tammany tiger” loose in the Roman Colosseum, devouring liberty, while Tweed as the Roman emperor surrounded by his elected officials presided over the slaughter. The opposition won the election.⁸

 

_{Meggs, P. and Purvis, A., 2016. Meggs' history of graphic design. 6th ed. Wiley.}

Australian Graphic design in the 20th century

During the rise of advertising in the 1950s, then primarily print-based, the creative who visualised ideas to appear as advertisements in newspapers or magazines was called a ‘commercial artist’. This term described individuals with art-based training in drawing and painting who could apply their skills in the commercial service of advertisers and their customers. The commercial artist’s additional graphic design skills included an understanding of typography and lettering, technical print processes and image technologies such as illustration and photography.⁹

_{Australia Boomerang. Gert Sellheim was born in Estonia and migrated to Australia in 1926. Sellheim designed the famous flying kangaroo symbol for Qantas, as well as the two-shilling ‘Aboriginal Art’ stamp in 1948. Designer GERT SELLHEIM 1901 1970 Client TOURISM AUSTRALIA}

It was during the 1950s that the term ‘graphic designer’ earned currency, as designers began to apply their skills to the new frontiers of ‘corporate identity’. To build such an identity for their client, designers employed symbols and logotypes in a broadly distributed system of colour and typography; continued usage created a memorable signpost to a company’s ‘brand’ values.

The audience of graphic design in the years after World War II was mainly in advertising, corporate identity and packaging. This equated to newspapers and magazines, corporate communications and supermarkets and neighbourhood stores. Companies were creating and marketing products for the growing ‘mass market’ that was a hallmark of advanced consumer societies in the 1950s and 1960s.⁹

_{The cover illustration of the book Symbols of Australia, an overview of iconic symbols and images of products from Australia's earliest history. Designer MIMMO COZZOLINO Client PENGUIN BOOKS}

In Australia, the late 1970s and early 1980s was a breakthrough period for the recognition of ‘local’ graphic designers in Sydney and Melbourne. The use of symbols and marks to identify leading companies and events became a hallmark of commercial culture in the 1980s and placed Australian design within an international graphic design culture.

While traditionally, the roots of graphic design were primarily print-based, today the discipline has been radically expanded into a range of digital extensions and expressions. The key elements of graphic design apply as much to animation, video games and numerous digital media applications as they do to the world of print.

Graphic design sectors in the modern world

Take a look at some of the many sectors of graphic design in today’s world:

^{Adapted from Barnum, A., Haddock, S., Hicks, A. and Oppen, F., 2013. Graphic design: Australian Style Guide. NSW: McGraw-Hill Education Australia, pp.10-40.}

A professional shift has taken place in graphic design. With the growth of the creative industries, design practitioners need to broaden and diversify their practice: they are no longer the lone craftsperson working in a production line. Rather, theirs is a networked, collaborative process.

The creative industries idea embodies a shift from a purely crafted, product-driven industry to a knowledge-based economy where the true currency and value is the idea, as well as the product. Ideas and innovation are where the currency lies today. New products and production will only flow out of these innovative approaches and their resulting breakthroughs. As a young designer, it is fundamentally crucial that you are able to respond to these fast-emerging conditions.⁹

Your audience

The audiences of design exist in traditional markets like neighbourhood shops, supermarkets and shopping malls where people like to interact both socially and as consumers.

Then there are community and political spheres, where communication of policy messages and initiatives are generated and distributed. These communication campaigns tend to be deeply personal and require specific sensitivity and appropriate media choices.

Finally, there is the broad area of arts and entertainment, where design can bridge the gap between consumer audiences and the cultural work of artists.

All these audiences now interact with design work made for:

• Print: advertising, newspapers, magazines, brochures, books, posters, flyers, stationery
• Packaging: packages, labels, containers, display, point-of-sale
• Branded environment: events, signage, way-finding, pop-up stores, retail, exhibition
• Electronic media: radio, television, cable networks
• Internet: websites, email, interactive animation, e-commerce
• Interactive game design: PlayStation, Xbox, Wii.

The designer’s role today is to act as a conduit of ideas and strategies to achieve the objectives of a client; to work closely with a client to speak with imagination to a clearly identified audience.

^{Adapted from Barnum, A., Haddock, S., Hicks, A. and Oppen, F., 2013. Graphic design: Australian Style Guide. NSW: McGraw-Hill Education Australia, pp.10-40.}

The client’s audience might be:

• Commercial (products or services for sale to the public)
• Social (community service, religion, public or personal initiatives)
• Political (government, public health, the environment)
• Arts-related (promotion and awareness of artists and their communities).⁹

Great Contemporary Graphic Designs

To understand how messages can be communicated visually in a contemporary context, we can learn a lot from looking at examples of meaningful or successful designs.

Graphic design’s purpose is to convey some sort of communication visually and there are many creative and iconic examples of these. You will be able to recognise several characters in these graphic designs that help you understand the context of the design.

Use these images and designers to inspire your own creations to express the messages that you are trying to communicate.¹⁰

1. Shepard Fairey: Obama-Hope

 

^{Fairey, S., 2008. Barack Obama "Hope" Poster | The Art Institute of Chicago. [online] The Art Institute of Chicago. Available at: [Accessed 4 October 2022].}

Street artist, graphic designer, and activist Shepard Fairey created this visionary portrait of then Senator Barack Obama in 2008 as a form of grassroots activism to support Obama’s first presidential campaign. Fairey based the work on an Associated Press photograph by Mannie Garcia, which he transformed with his signature high-contrast stencil technique, inspired by the political message and bold graphics of Soviet Socialist Realism. First disseminated as a street poster, the image was later used to create thousands of stickers and T-shirts and was widely circulated online.

Emblazoned with the word “Hope” and featuring reds and blues that complement the campaign logo designed by Sol Sender, Fairey’s portrait was quickly adopted as an official image of Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl called the poster “the most efficacious American political illustration since ‘Uncle Sam Wants You.’”¹¹

2. Milton Glaser

 

^{Tenekedjieva, S., 2020. Famous Graphic Designers Who Turned Contemporary Design into Art. [online] Manypixels.co. Available at: https://www.manypixels.co/blog/post/famous-graphic-designers [Accessed 4 October 2022.}

We are all used to using the heart symbol instead of writing “love”, but before Milton Glaser’s “I Love New York” design, that was inconceivable. This legendary graphic designer who passed away earlier this year has made his name designing popular logos, such as the DC Comics and Brooklyn Brewery, as well as creating eye-catching, psychedelic inspired poster designs like the famous ones with Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin.¹²

 

^{Tenekedjieva, S., 2020. Famous Graphic Designers Who Turned Contemporary Design into Art. [online] Manypixels.co. Available at: https://www.manypixels.co/blog/post/famous-graphic-designers [Accessed 4 October 2022}

He co-founded and wrote for the New York magazine in 1968, which still exists and comes out biweekly to this day. Glaser has made some of his typography elements available for free by publishing the Glaser Stencil typeface in 1970.

3. Peter Saville¹³

^{The Guardian. 2019. Graphic artist Peter Saville on creating Burberry's new logo. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/feb/14/graphic-artist-peter-saville-on-creating-burberrys-new-logo [Accessed 4 October 2022].}

From the Burberry logo to one of the most beautiful album cover designs—Joy Division’s “Unknown Pleasures”, Peter Saville is well known for his role in spreading graphic design across mediums and closer to pop culture. He co-founded Factory Records in 1978 with Alan Erasmus and Tony Wilson, and they went on to create hundreds of album covers. Apart from designing for cult bands like Joy Division and New Order, he has created album covers for David Byrne, Pulp, Brian Eno, King Crimson, Peter Gabriel and many others. ¹²

 

^{Tenekedjieva, S., 2020. Famous Graphic Designers Who Turned Contemporary Design into Art. [online] Manypixels.co. Available at: https://www.manypixels.co/blog/post/famous-graphic-designers [Accessed 4 October 2022}

He is also famous for re-contextualising and adapting other visual arts examples into his works, like using “Roses”, a painting by Henri Fantin-Latour combined with a color-coded alphabet to create New Order’s “Power, Corruption and Lies” album cover.

Keeping up to date with industry trends

It is also vitally important to keep well-informed of what is occurring in the industry. Since the 21st century, when technology rapidly advanced, so too did trends and developments, making it difficult to identify specific movements of this era. It is important that you can update and maintain your knowledge of design trends or developments in industry, so they are not left behind. You need to stay relevant, skilful, and knowledgeable.

To stay up to date and maintain knowledge of trends and developments, you must use opportunities such as:

• Collecting sources of information on both historical and current trends and/or movements
• Networking and professional associations
• Using those skills and attributes to during a design process for example.

Researching materials and findings from the past movements and trends is one way to inform the current design being worked on. Another is to consider researching current trends. Researching both past and current movements or trends will also add value in expanding and updating knowledge of how design is being used and developed today, these trends can then be adapted to your design work.

The following video explains how trends can be used in design. The video also indicates sources you in your creative practice.

There are a few tools you can use to keep up to date with design trends and the design industry; such as:

Design blogs

Follow blogs that highlight trends. These can inspire new ideas or inform you on other designers’ opinions.

Some blogs that may be useful are:

• https://creativemarket.com/blog/graphic-design-trends-for-2022
• https://99designs.com.au/blog/trends/graphic-design-trends/

Websites

Follow design websites that create their own collections and trend reports. You can use these for inspiration in your own work:

• https://patternbank.com/
• https://www.patterncurator.com/

Trend forecasting sources

While these were previously printed sources, digital trend sources are now available. These will showcase predictions for the design trends that are likely to take off in the near future:

• https://wersm.com/8-graphic-design-trend-predictions-for-2022/
• https://www.thedrum.com/profile/depositphotos/news/what-visual-trends-will-dominate-communication-in-2021
• https://creativemarket.com/blog/graphic-design-trends-for-2022

Community of practice

This is a community of other industry professionals where discussion can take place, ideas can be shared, even job opportunities can be found. Build your own community of practice:

• https://www.printmag.com/
• https://www.commarts.com/

What is design feedback?

Design feedback opens the door for team members, clients, and stakeholders to review and analyze a design idea. It’s a crucial part of the design process because it lets you know what’s working, what’s not working, and how things can be improved.

Good feedback makes you a better creative because it helps you learn from your experiences as you hone your craft. It can also help you identify pitfalls of a design solution and give you a more focused sense of direction. When you’re aware of how to optimize your product early on, it results in a better experience for your users.

Good design feedback is a product of good collaboration. But it’s not enough to get people together in a room or on a Slack channel and ask for feedback. It’s an intentional and thoughtful process that requires that your team members, clients, and stakeholders have a basic working knowledge of how to review and critique creative solutions.¹⁴

Who should you seek feedback from?

There are many stakeholders you should seek feedback from; depending on the project and how far along you are in it.

Colleagues

Colleagues can provide knowledgeable, honest feedback, since they are in the same industry (and perhaps project) as you, and being on the same reporting level as you they might find themselves more comfortable being honest than if they were critiquing their manager. Aim to have a conversation face-to-face as well as a follow up email asking exactly what you are looking for.

Managers/mentors/tutors

Your manager should be in a great position to provide feedback as well. This may be an ongoing process as they coach you through a project, or you may like to ask to set aside some time with them. They likely have many years of experience with design and should be able to provide a broad, well-informed perspective and further suggestions. They will probably really appreciate being asked their opinion on your work.

Clients

Clients should be asked for feedback at certain points of a project. Their feedback is the most important, since they are paying for the product, and if your project goes well this could lead to further future projects with them and recommendations to other potential clients.

At what point in the design process should you gather client feedback?

The process of producing a printed project initially requires a designer to analyse the brief or client’s requirements and research the competitors and environment of the product or service. The designer then uses their imagination to brainstorm as many ideas as possible that relate to their research and analysis. These ideas need to be refined and developed until there are three possibilities that can be presented to a client. The design process includes creating a structure, often a grid, deciding on the format of the publication and selecting the paper and print techniques to be specified for a quote from the printer.⁹

^{Adapted from Barnum, A., Haddock, S., Hicks, A. and Oppen, F., 2013. Graphic design: Australian Style Guide. NSW: McGraw-Hill Education Australia, pp.10-40.}

Although client presentations can be quite stressful to designers, they are essential in providing the client with the visual, verbal and written results of the designer’s work so far. Once the designer has client approval to proceed, final images and copy needs to be formatted using a style sheet for large documents. The designer sends the final client-approved designs to the printer who will produce a proof which should be checked and signed off by the client. Final printing and finishing can then proceed.⁹

Why should you seek feedback?

Here are some of the most important ways that you’ll benefit:

1. Good feedback can provide you with fresh insights. These ‘ah ha’ moments can reveal performance improvement opportunities that you wouldn’t have realized through self-reflection.
2. The simple act of asking for feedback from stakeholders helps to build closer working relationships. Most of your coworkers will appreciate being asked for feedback and if you follow the guidance below they’ll feel positive about the experience of giving you feedback.
3. The feedback can accelerate and focus your development. Feedback is a great self-development tool, it provides both quick fixes to improve your performance as well as more profound development opportunities that will take time to work on. Combined with your own career and development planning it will help accelerate your career.
4. You’ll feel more satisfied with the work you are doing. Research shows that seeking feedback from coworkers also has an impact on how you feel about your work. It cultivates a sense of satisfaction because you have other people’s perspective on your work too.¹⁵
5. The best way to improve the effectiveness of your designs is to always be seeking quality design feedback. I say quality design feedback, specifically, because not all feedback is created equal.¹⁶

Here are some tips to help you to gather high-quality feedback for your designs:

Key Takeouts:

• There are many issues you may encounter as a designer. Build up your skillset and use methodical problem-solving strategies.
• Symbols and markings have conveyed messages for nearly if humans have existed. Over time, they have allowed primitive communication, influenced politics, and put Australia on the map for modern graphic design.
• Use contemporary graphic design to inspire your work and express the messages you are communicating with creativity.
• Build a thorough process for seeking feedback from multiple sources.