Graphic Design Discourse

If the aim of graphic design is to communicate meaning clearly, there’s an irony that the field itself has struggled between two contradictory opposites: rote design resulting from a rigorous, fixed set of rules, and eccentric design that expresses the hand of the artist but fails to communicate with its audience. But what if designers focused on process and critical analysis over visual outcome? Through a carefully selected collection of more than seventy-five seminal texts spanning centuries and bridging the disciplines of art, architecture, design history, philosophy, and cultural theory, Graphic Design Discourse: Evolving Theories, Ideologies, and Processes of Visual Communication establishes a new paradigm for graphic design methodologies for the twenty-first century. This illuminating anthology is essential reading for practicing designers, educators, and students trying to understand how to design in a singular, expressive way without forgoing clear and concise visual communication.
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Review
“More than 75 of the greatest texts on art, philosophy, sociology, and design history gather to form a topically expansive, culturally rich anthology of graphic design theory and methodology. From Aristotle to Michel Foucault, Walter Gropius, Paul Rand and many more, this collection weaves centuries of design commentary and criticism into a discourse that chronologically traces the evolution of visual communication. Graphic Design Discourse is an excellently curated resource for designers and educators fascinated by the transformation of the industry’s theories and ideologies.”
– Design Observer

“Imagine that someone decided not only to list in a bibliography the books and articles that were important to his/her work, but actually assembled them all in an anthology. Now graphic designers don’t have to imagine such an anthology-they can acquire it. Kim manages to include texts by Aristotle, Herbert Bayer, Victor Papanek, Milton Glaser, Alfred North Whitehead, Emil Ruder, Roland Barthes, Walter Gropius, Katherine McCoy, René Descartes, and … you get the picture. Part of the excitement of the book is seeing so many disparate names and their thoughts lying in such close proximity. Summing Up: Essential.”
– Choice magazine

“Kim and his collaborators have assembled an impressive anthology of texts that span the millennia and form the dialogue that has shaped and informed design over time. Graphic Design Discourse will undoubtedly find its way into graduate-level visual communication courses and into the hands of designers who have an interest in theory and design philosophy.”
ISBN No. 9781616895587