So, what have I learnt?

It’s time to look back at my original question and think about what I’ve discovered around it. So, ‘How can theory of practice inform our working practices?’ Throughout this process I’ve actually been thinking of my question in a slightly different sense, and that is ‘How does the theory of graphic design inform my working practice, as a designer?’ It’s this, I’ve come to realise, that has actually done me no favours at all, which I’ll come to shortly.

My first hurdle for this unit has simply been getting to grips with the meaning of ‘theory’. To be really honest I’ve never really thought about specific theories much. For example, I have learnt the principles of gestalt and I knew about the importance of semiotics, but I suppose I didn’t clearly recognise them as definitive theories. They were just things I’ve learnt along my journey as a designer and unconsciously applied to my practice.

It took me a long time to differentiate between a theory and a method. I realise now that it was because it’s not easy to find a theory truly based on graphic design, or written by a professional in the field. There are many historic designers who have shared their methods, but they don’t truly delve into why they do it that way. I actually don’t think there is a specific graphic design theory written by a designer, not that I could find anyway. I considered trying to write one myself, but decided that might be ‘slightly’ out of my league!

For example, I got bogged down for a while thinking Josef Muller-Brockmann’s grid systems was a great theory to look into, especially as I feel his work hugely impacted me in my personal practice and gives me the answers for why I lay my work out in such an organised way. However, as I eagerly started reading his book again, Grid Systems in Graphic Design, I sadly came to the realisation that this was not really a theory, it was simply another elaborate ‘how to’ guide.

I eventually came to the realisation that I needed to take a step back and go deeper, I needed to start questioning why I do the things I do, instead of how. I knew ‘how’ to design, but I needed to think ‘why’. I started thinking of further questions such as:

• Why do I choose certain typefaces for different clients and different types of jobs? 
• Why do I set up a clear hierarchy of content and why do I order it within clearly defined columns? Perhaps it’s because I know it's easy for the viewer to read and navigate, but why is that? 
• Why do I choose certain colours and create contrast and depth in my work? 
• Why do I create logos from particular forms and shapes and colours, and arrange them with certain rules in mind? 
• Why do I decide on particular images for different industries and audiences?

As soon as I stopped myself asking ‘how’ I soon started to come across the more relevant theories to answer these questions. Also these theories weren’t specifically written by designers, they weren’t regarded as ‘design theories’ they are written by psychologists, linguists and semioticians and adopted by designers to give them reason and expand their knowledge to develop their practice further.

Once I begun looking into theories that had influenced designers I came across gestalt theory and semiology. It was only when I researched these and read into them further that I realised how much of the theories I already knew, and how I put these ideas into practice everyday in my work. They gave me all the answers to my questions.

Gestalt theory in particular gave me all the reasoning for why I use a particular hierarchy when laying out copy in large documents, and give headings and subheadings different colour schemes to differentiate them. It relates back to the ideals of similarity, proximity and even symmetry, in order to help the reader navigate around documents and ensure they can read the information as easily as possible.

I also demonstrated how gestalt influences logo design, and took a look back at my past logos and branding projects. It made me realise that the laws of the theory give designers the opportunity to create different compositions with shapes, type and colour to create a unified whole logo that becomes a strong, creative, recognisable mark. The theory gives us evidence for our design decisions in order to make our work clearer, connected and more coherent.

Carrying out the typographic experiment on film posters proved interesting and showed how the idea of semiotics is applied in all forms of graphic design, from selecting a typeface, adjusting colour, saturation and hue and choosing the right image for the job. It demonstrated that making these different choices can have a profound effect on what on the viewer takes away from your work, and what message they read from it.

I feel I have clearly demonstrated the importance of learning theory as a graphic designer. However, we must look outside of our practice to find these theories, which add knowledge and inform our work. I should have really been thinking of my given question as “How can different theories from various practices inform my working practice?” If we stay stuck inside our design bubble we can’t develop and stimulate growth in our work. Much like Lupton said, learning different theories could open up new lines of questioning and inspire us to think differently.

Bowers, J. (2011). Introduction to graphic design methodologies and processes: Understanding theory and application. Hoboken: Wiley.

This task has reinforced Bowers idea that as designers we must learn theory alongside the methods to create effective work (see previous blog post). It’s important to develop our practical skills and swat up on the latest software updates, but if we don’t recap on theory then we will only know how to make things look aesthetically pleasing, rather than produce effective forms of visual communication.

Barthes connotation theory has taught me that we must consider our cultural experiences to help strengthen messages in our work.

What I also think learning about semiotics has taught me, particularly Barthes model, is that added to the theory and methods are our life experiences, in different cultures with different audiences. It’s these experiences that help us strengthen the messages in our work and make the right visual choices, whether its a carefully selected typeface, a powerful image or a complimenting colour scheme. We’ve learnt what meaning or connotation is held within these elements. It’s these careful, well thought out choices that help us communicate effectively with the viewer.