Designer as Author

Michael Rock

What does it mean to call a graphic designer an author?

Authorship, in one form or another, has been a popular term in graphic design circles, especially those at the edge of the profession, the design academies and the murky territories that exist between design and art. The word authorship has a ring of importance: it connotes seductive ideas of origination and agency. But the question of how designers become authors is a difficult one, and exactly who the designer/authors are and what authored design looks like depends entirely on how you define the term and the criteria you choose to grant entrance into the pantheon...

What has writing got to do with design?

Anne Burdick

‘I don’t have to design in my English class, so why should I write in my design class?’ It was as though I had asked my students grow Streptococcus in a Petri dish in lieu of specifying type. Translating verbal messages into visual forms is the essence of graphic design, I argued. The manipulation of language and typography is the primary ingredient that distinguishes our work from that of illustrators, who deal exclusively with imagery. So why the intense resistance, both in the classroom and in the profession? Graphic design is neither strictly visual nor strictly verbal. It is the marriage of the two: fused, bonded, inseparable...

Words as Material

Nicole Fenton

I want to start with a quote from writer, activist, and teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh. In Being Peace, he writes:

"If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in every sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist." Thich Nhat Hanh calls this concept interbeing. He goes on to say that the sun is also in the sheet of paper; and the lumberjack who cut down the tree; and his parents; and the wheat that made his morning bread; and so on. All of these things make it possible for the paper to exist......

Intro

The three articles in this Binding project explore how designers navigate the relationship between design, text, and writing, as well as how to treat text as both visual and conceptual material. These works discuss the designer's responsibility as creators and communicators, shaping how words are presented and experienced.

Inspired by these themes, I used a design aesthetic influenced by the visuals of newspapers and sticky notes, combined with the vibrant colors of Riso ink to complete this project.

Colophon

Designed and developed by Iris Chang , this site explores the designer's role and the use of text as a material, drawing directly from the ideas presented in the following articles:

Words as Materials by Nicole Fenton
What has writing got to do with design? by Anne Burdick
Designer as Author by Michael Rock

Fonts in this website:
Primary: Mencken #Head Compress
Secondary: Minion 3
Narrow: Mencken #Head Narrow
Quotes: Typeka
Built with HTML, CSS.

Last updated: December 2024