PROJECT OBJECTIVE
To collect, construct and deliver an informative spectrum of a profession in transition; Graphic Design.
To explore the boundaries of new technology-based visual communications and their impact on the roles and opportunities of a graphic designer.
To contribute to the understanding of the essential functions of a graphic designer in a dominant world of social media.
DEVELOPMENT
The research exploration lead to an observation of the visual design world on digital media, from a bird's eye perspective. We simply observed the activities, projects and hashtags related to a visual designer. The first step demanded us to identify and separate the role of a graphic designer from a visual designer. We recognized that there was a lack of public interest and awareness in graphic design. We concluded that the paradox of the graphic culture is that while it is truly everywhere, it is often misinterpreted and considered unworthy of serious study.
Why is everyone suddenly interested in creating visual content and having a visually appealing social media page? What kind of design tools do people use for editing, aesthetics, social media and real-time content? We dived into bridging the gap between the understanding of two different kinds of users of 'professional' and 'non-professional' tools and applications available, and the boundaries of an authentic graphic design work. This further encouraged us to experiment with the tools of 9 different applications and websites available to make photo manipulation, logo making, website creation easier for amateurs.
With the advent of 'open tools for all', how has the role of graphic designers diverged? What are the new opportunities that social media created for the graphic designer? How are the graphic designers contributing to the successful functionality of social media? Can a graphic designers still be called just a graphic designer?
This book identifies 7 forms of new visual communication. In addition, we defined, date their history, and studied how small and big companies and agencies use them as a strategy, for of course better communication with their target. The identified new visual communications are:
GIF/Graphical Interchange Format
Memes
Infographics
Hashtags
Photo Editing
Iconography
Social Media Interface
