Design

Design is the creation of a convention or plan for the construction of an object or a system. The person designing and the people working professionally in one of the various design areas is called a designer. The scientific study of design is called design science. A designer’s sequence of activities is called a design process. Design is a route or a step-by-step approach for a designer to achieve a unique product.

Design process is of the Action-Centric Perspective and The Rational model.

1.     Action-Centric Model: This posits that design is improvised. The use of emotion and creativity. Research and knowledge are brought into the design process through the judgment and common sense of designers. Action-Centric model is less intuitive than The Rational Model.

2.     The Rational Model: This is based on a rationalist philosophy (design is communicated by research and knowledge in a predictable form). Typical stages of the rational model includes; pre-production design, design during production, post-production design and Redesign. Rational method makes unrealistic assumptions and designers do not act as rational model suggests.

Methods of designing

1.     Exploring possibilities and constraints to research and define problem for existing products or the creation of a new design.

2.     Redefining the specifications of design solutions for traditional design activities(example, graphic, industrial, architectural)

3.     Managing the process of exploring, defining and creation.

4.     Making prototypes of possible solutions that improve the inherited situation.

5.     Understanding the trend process.

Graphic design

Graphic design is the act of communication, stylizing and problem solving through the use of image and type. Graphic design is mistakenly referred to as visual communication or communication design due to inter-woven skills employed. Graphic design in other words is the process by which communication is created with words, symbols and images to create a visual representation (product design).

History

The term “graphic design” was first coined by William Addison Dwiggins in 1922. The essence of graphic design is to give order to information, form to ideas, expression and feeling to artifacts that documents human experience. Before the emergence of the design industry (late 19^th Century, UK), wood blocks were cut to print on textiles to produce “Buddhist texts”. A Buddhist scripture is the earliest known printed book since 868 AD. The 20^th century grew in parallel with the rise of consumerism.

Applications

Design is used as aids in selling a product or idea through effective visual communication. Examples are logos, colors, packaging and text, branding, textbooks, entertainment industry (decoration, scenery, visual storytelling, novels, comic books, DVD covers, to mention but a few.