A paragraph that shows the ability to triangulate between the four texts.
Ideas put forward by Tibor Kalman in Fuck Committees also correlate with mindsets of other graphic designers. He states that graphic design is being swallowed up by corporations, and true creativity is being lost in the process. “By now, virtually all media, architecture, product and graphic design have been freed from ideas, individual passion, and have been relegated to a role of corporate servitude, carrying out corporate strategies and increasing stock prices.” (Kalman, T). Ad busters, in their manifesto; First Things First 2000 agree with Kalman, stating the skills of graphic designers are being lost on commercial projects that do not benefit society. “The profession’s time and energy is used up manufacturing demand for things that are inessential at best.” (Ad Busters).
Ken Garland is in agreement with the aforementioned manifesto’s, stating that the consumer has been saturated with low-quality advertising, just to sell a product. “In common with an increasing number of the general public, we have reached a saturation opine at which the high pitched scream of consumer selling is no more than sheer noise.” (Garland, K). A similar view is also proposed by Experimental Jetset. Their manifesto, Disrepresentation Now! explains that the designer has lost their true role, and has been forced into creating work that doesn’t represent the practice. “Other representative tendencies in graphic design include the fact that nowadays more and more designers refer to their profession in (immaterial) terms such as ‘visual communication’, ‘information architecture’, etc. These particular notions painfully show the shift in graphic design towards the denial and neglect of its own physical dimensions.” (Experimental Jetset).
A paragraph that shows close analysis of an image which relates to one of the texts.
Tibor Kalman - Fuck Committees
This image is advertising a new Burger King sandwich. It represents what society responds to, and what they need to persuade them to purchase something. Kalman feels this type of graphic design is unacceptable, “Creative people are now working for the bottom line.”.
Creating work for face-less corporations and churning out the same deliverables, portraying the same message is something Kalman tries to combat. “All cars look the same. Architectural decisions are made by accountants. Ads are stupid. Theater is dead.” He states that the solution to this is to find cracks in the wall, and find a rich person who actually wants to make a change in the world. “There are a very few lunatic entrepreneurs who will understand that culture and design are not about fatter wallets, but about creating a future.”
A paragraph that shows evaluation of one of the texts.
Ad Busters - First Things First 2000
This text is representing the struggles that face graphic design from the view of the designer. Ad Busters state that designers in the industry are being forced into creating dull, unimportant work as a means to put food on the table. “Commercial work has always paid the bills, but many graphic designers have now let it become, in large measure, what graphic designers do. This, in turn, is how the world perceives design.” Ad Busters believe that design is much more than creating to sell a product, and that we should turn our attention to other, more worthy causes. “There are pursuits more worthy of our problem-solving skills.” Designers need to challenge consumerism, and create something more worthwhile and essential to societies development. “We propose a reversal of priorities in favor of more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication – a mindshift away from product marketing and toward the exploration and production of a new kind of meaning.”
A paragraph that shows your ability to paraphrase, summarise, or produce a ‘précis’ of one of the texts.
Ken Garland - First Things First
Ken Garland proposes that the most time designers put into work is for trivial purposes that will not contribute to our society. He proposes that we need to change our attitude towards design, and focus on other projects as we as a society have become saturated with the sheer noise of modern day advertising. Garland hopes that society will tire of gimmicks and techniques used in many ads today and in the past, and would propose a reversal of priorities for designers.
