No Sandwiches Allowed.

Design serves an often overlooked function in society – simple, straightforward pictures can portray important messages to people everyday. Street signs portray symbols called pictograms (e.g., a picture of a dog) and/or ideograms (e.g., a red slash that symbolizes the meaning “no”) that are universally recognized in most cultures, even if they appear slightly different visually. Even signs that portray particular instructions or rules can be accomplished through design across different cultures, but still serve the same purpose. For example, a “no eating” sign in America may be presented as a pictogram of a knife and fork with the red slash ideogram through it [left picture below]. However, in another country, like the Czech Republic, a “no eating” sign may be presented as a more specific pictogram of a sandwich with the red slash ideogram through it [right picture below].

(Personal photo)

However, this other foreign sign would still be universally recognized as a general “no eating” instruction, not as a strictly “no eating sandwiches” instruction. This example of a universally accepted and recognized pictogram and ideogram shows how implemented the concept of design has become in everyday life.

A Softer World.

Something as familiar as a Garfield comic strip in the Sunday newspaper may not initially seem to hold the same amount of grandeur when it comes to design, as let’s say, the classic “Mona Lisa” masterpiece. Although comics are often looked down upon in today’s society as being unsophisticated entertainment for youngsters, there is actually an entire art form behind the makings of comics. Visual communication is the main focus when it comes to producing comics – allowing readers to not only appreciate the comic’s art, but to also allow them to easily follow the comic’s story.

Despite the natural assumption that comics are referring to the Sunday funnies, or the Marvel comic book heroes like Spiderman and Captain America, the design of comics can also be found in forms other than the standard cartoon. On the website, www.asofterworld.com, the two creators, Emily Horne and Joey Comeau, produce a webcomic that consists of photographs and linguistic twists and wits.

(Picture from www.asofterworld.com)

The square framings that split the single photograph into sections give the project a typical comic feel. Horne’s and Comeau’s common use of faded photographs and typewritten font in their projects allow their webcomics to appear aesthetically pleasing. Even if scrolling through the archives of the webcomics results in discovering creations that don’t always seem to make sense, like all other comics, however, A Softer World’s comics also portray a type of story through visual communication.

The Convoluted and the Contemporary at the Crocker.

Considering that design is a form of communication, one would assume that design should be able to effectively portray its intended message to its viewers. In the Crocker Art Gallery in Sacramento, California, visitors can view a plethora of European and California artwork on the second floor. However, prospective visitors should be aware of the slightly overwhelming layout of this particular exhibit. Set up in the design of the “salon style,” the collection of paintings – ranging from landscapes to portraits – adorns the walls of the room from ground to ceiling in a randomized fashion [picture below].

(Personal photo)

This “salon style” hanging of artwork was commonly used in Paris Salon exhibits up until the late nineteenth century. Believe it or not, there is actually an underlying strategy behind the chaos of the Salon style layout – the key artworks of the collection hang at eye level, while the less significant works fill up the remaining space. Although the design behind this setup is not obvious to viewers, its strategic format affects how viewers perceive the artwork.

In a museum, not only is the layout of a museum exhibit important, but the design of the artworks themselves is significant as well. Any type of design portrays a message/meaning, which can be successfully represented to viewers. For example, in the Crocker Art Gallery, there is a work by Richard Notkin called “All Nations Have Their Moments of Foolishness" [picture below].

(Personal photo)

The theme of humanity’s doomed fate is portrayed through Notkin’s careful utilization of skulls and the domino effect in the numerous tiles of the overall mural of George W. Bush. Compelling political messages such as the one lying in Notkin’s tiled mural of President Bush are portrayed to the public through the design technique of visual literacy.

What is Design?

A textbook could simply define “design” as a planned arrangement of visual elements to construct an organized visual pattern, but in reality, there is much more to design than this. Design is everywhere: in the obvious forms – in art displayed in galleries or in intricate patterns of clothing, as well as in the not-so-obvious forms – in the planned construction of a dining chair or even in the graffiti found scrawled across public walls. With design being present in everything one encounters on a day-to-day basis, exactly how functional or beneficial does design prove to be to people in society? Just because design exists, this does not necessarily mean that it is useful for functional or practical purposes. However, for the most part, design is often highly useful – fulfilling a particular purpose that it had been originally designed for. The street layouts of cities are designed in a manner where drivers will not be facing head-on collisions every five minutes; winter coats are designed to not only look fashionable, but also to act as insulators to keep its wearers warm; billboards and advertisements are designed in ways to successfully convince audiences to purchase a certain product. As the ideals of the art nouveau (“new art”) state: design does not have to be restricted solely to artwork displayed in museums – it can be a part of anything and everything. Just as the saying claims, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” the concept of design also lies in the eye of the beholder. Whether a particular design is applauded as an aesthetically pleasing masterpiece or is rejected as a distasteful cluttered mess is determined solely by the individual. In any case, however, design has served, and continues to serve, a significant purpose in society: to give meaning to something and to serve as a form of communication – thus, connecting the artwork behind the design to the people of society.