Communication design. It’s been around for decades. Yet the emphasis on visual communication is greater than it has ever been before. Generation-Y’ers, born and raised on the internet, know how to operate computer programs in their sleep. The images and designs you can create with programs such as InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop are so saturated with color and precision, they appear to be real-life, tangible objects.
Inge Druckrey’s work
You want to touch it. To have it. Oh wait, to buy it! The goal of any advertiser, or design artist is to create images that affect people’s way of thinking. That’s what effective marketing does. It persuades people to believe in your product, your mission, your organization – and you can’t do that without a sharp graphic designer behind it all.
If you’re interested in learning more about communication design, watch this video on Swiss design artist, Inge Druckrey. Druckrey says that the most valuable skill an art degree teaches you, is to see. She explains the difference of looking, and seeing, really seeing, the world around you.
Druckrey encourages her students to begin with simple objects, and study them in ways they had never before. One of her students remembers her specifically telling him to study a safety pin. She then questioned him to begin thinking deeply about the object. How does the safety pin reflect what you have on paper? What about the coolness and texture of its metal? It’s eye opening to consider the types of questions Druckrey asked her student. They help to get you in the mindset of looking at objects in a more critical way way.
The only hiccup with falling in love with communication design is the costliness of the products. To get your feet wet and to see how much you truly enjoy design, consider purchasing a one month free trial version of Adobe InDesign to get started. Have fun!