What is graphic design?

What is graphic design?

During the discussions of our ’10 designs that illustrate our fields of creative interests’, we listed the elements that each person on our group was interested in.

Paper cutting

LIFE photographers

Painting

Wood

Packaging

Urban culture

Layout

Traditional printing

Illustration

Info-graphics

Stitch/thread

Collage

Geometrical typography

Logos/symbols

Lino print

Pixels

Stefan Sagmeister

Branding

Varying materials

Colour

Print

Interesting use of type

Digital media

Information is beautiful

Editorial

Digital art

Animated film

Type and image

Awareness campaigns

Photo-manipulation

Portraits

Web layout

Innovation

Clean aesthetic

Simple/effective

Album covers

Witty element

Contrast

Controversial

Publishing

Hidden meanings

From this very broad selection we discussed the ones that were most common 

through our chosen pieces of work.

Creative use of type – innovative use of language

(Stefan Sagmeister)

Layout – book/web/publications

Illustration

Colour – bright/bold and their meanings

Print – paper cutting, wood/laser cutting and texture

Info-graphics – information made attractive

Editorial – magazines/book covers

Photography

Music – album covers, artists

Message – wit, awareness, meaning, communication and tone of voice

Digital – digital media, digital art and web design

All groups the contributed to a list of what we decided were some of the fundamental elements to graphic design.

Creative use of type

Visual Quality

Tone of Voice

Detail

Simplicity

Meanings/Messages

Visual Content

Audience Engagement & Interaction

Style & Aesthetic Quality

Media & Production

Form & Format

(Personal) Interest

Language

Structure & Layout