Have trends affected the validity of graphic design?
Introduction
This essay will focus on how the modern graphic designer is becoming
increasingly concerned with creating work that is more informed by what is
considered on trend, rather than what relevancy it serves to the given brief.
More specifically, how does this alter the effectiveness of visual
communication when the public is concerned, or are design trends merely a way
for other designers to critique the relevancy of other designers’ work based on
how aware they are of current visual styles that are making the rounds, or in
other words, seeking approval amongst peers through designing for one’s ego.
To elaborate on the above, certain aspects of graphic design will be
analysed, namely labels like “trendy”, “hipster” and “ugly” design that are
executed to be aesthetically pleasing rather than make a considerable impact on
how the design process is utilised to provide the most valuable and informed
outcome with the target audience in mind — in other words — using form over
function and essentially reproducing work through the over use of ill-informed
‘inspiration’ blogs. These examples will also be compared to design that has
been considered as long-lasting and impressionable, that in same cases has been
active for decades.
Main Body
Graphic Design is constantly changing, especially in the digital age,
work can be shared instantly and often out of context through the use of blogs
and similar online resources. Like music, fashion and any other popular
culture, graphic design has trends that continuously evolve (TOOR, Marcelle Lapow, 1998, p.8) this statement
couldn’t be more true, and Toor uses fashion as a means to compare with graphic
design, as fashion is a much more well-known subject when attempting to relate
with the ‘non-designer’ to define whether there is a noticeable trend within popular
culture. The word trend has a rather broad meaning within graphic design, what
is and isn’t considered as on trend is purely subjective, so websites like
trendlist.org try to make more sense of what elements should be seen as a trend
by disregarding the context of the design and focusing purely on the visual
aesthetic. Putting emphasis on the domain of Trend List, they consider
themselves an organisation, sifting through designs and categorising them under
certain elements and characteristics such as; ‘Hyphens’, ‘Centre aligned’ and some
become as vague as ‘Left, Right, Up & Down’. The about section of Trend List
sheds some more light on the purpose of the website and their objective in a
similar way to how Toor describes it;
‘Graphic
design, like fashion or music, is influenced by contemporary tendencies. This
is intensified in a world where digital information is transmitted at speed of
light. Trend List’s task is to search, name and sorts these graphic design
tendencies. Trend List tries to spot where and when they rise, which countries
they’re popular in and how they evolve over time.’ (TREND LIST)
It is needless to say that the purpose of Trend List is to inform those
who are in the industry or those who may take an active interest in design and
like to make themselves aware of its current influences. However, it states
nowhere that it exists to provide inspiration, and this is where the confusion
begins, this will be explained in more detail later in the essay.
In addition to the above statements, it would be relevant to say that
trends have a large impression on what can or cannot be defined as well
informed design. To elaborate on this statement, the television network,
Channel 4 have very recently rebranded their whole image (September, 2015).
This rebrand sparked debate amongst many, as Channel 4’s previous ident/brand by
Lambie Nairn was so successful, as told in Transforming Type by Barbara
Brownie;
‘Though
other idents such as this employ fluidity, Channel 4’s is arguably the most
significant. This innovation was acknowledged by others in the branding and
graphic design industry, as Lambie Nairn’s work was seen as heralding a new era
in television branding, and won numerous awards (Brownie 2014 p.69-70 cited Fanthome, 2007, p. 258) (BROWNIE, Barbara, 2015, pp.69-70) .
This ident held strong for many years — 11 years to be precise
(2004-2015). In comparison, the branding before this lasted only 5 years
(1999-2004), and the prior to this, it was a mere 4 years (LOGOPEDIA) .
The current brand is straying from the old way of representing the 4 brand,
Nairn’s logo is nowhere to be seen — instead it is a deconstructed, abstract
piece that runs through the idents and announcer screens in the form of small
crystals and computer animated 3D ‘segments’.
Furthermore, the print campaign for the recent changes holds strong
influences from trend-list style composition, the use of hyphenated typography
(see fig. 1.) strongly mimics that of the examples of posters from the
trend-list hyphen category (see fig. 2.). In addition to this point it is
mentioned in an article by Ian Haughton on Drum critiquing how the print
campaign doesn’t work effectively in conjunction with the on-screen ident, also,
Haughton states in regards to the previous identity, ‘it brought in the Channel
4 typeface that became synonymous with the brand’ and that the newer typeface
Horseferry by Neville Brody (see fig. 3.), commissioned by Channel 4 ceases to
have the ‘strength of conviction of the previous brand type’ (HAUGHTON, Ian, 2015) . When you compare
the older print campaign with the recent one, this becomes much more evident
that it is aspiring to be considered trendy, as said on an article from
Creative Review— ‘it serves as a reminder of the bold, creative decisions that
run through the channel’s history’ (WILLIAMS, Eliza, 2015) . As the two contrasting
points prove, trends do in fact serve a purpose when it comes to executing
design to convey a deeper meaning such as the Channel 4 explanation;
‘The refreshed identity reflects Channel 4’s public service remit focused
on innovation, diversity and taking creative risks and is the latest
evolution of a brand that has existed in its current form for over a decade.’ (CHANNEL 4, 2015)
This has never been more apparent in recent events with the rebrand of
the American Airlines identity in the early stages of 2013. With the previous
identity being active for an enormous 47 years and utilising the rules that
modernism evoked, it is relevant to question whether the rebrand was really necessary. Massimo Vignelli, the
designer of the original brand, puts this in much better words in ‘Vignelli
Canon’ to validate that the use of a simplistic approach can be well informed
and still convey the company’s identity;
‘We
like the use of primary shapes and primary colours because their formal values
are timeless. We like a typography that transcends subjectivity and searches
for objective values, a typography that is beyond time—that doesn’t follow
trends, that reflects its content in an appropriate manner. We like economy of
design because it avoids wasteful exercises, it respects investment and lasts
longer. We strive for a design that is centered on the message rather than
visual titillation. We like design that is clear, simple and enduring. And that
is what timelessness means in design.’ (VIGNELLI, Massimo, 2010, pp.30-31)
As much as this statement is subjective and purely down to Vignelli’s
opinion, it is clear that these values reflects a genuine ambition to create a
logical and therefore longer lasting outcome by utilising Modernism, a renowned
movement of the mid-to-late 20th Century. Ironically, this quote is
taken from the same spread that the American Airlines identity is showcased,
with the title ‘Timelessness’ (see fig. 4.) — it is clear that with the
identity being active for over 47 years as stated previously, simply further
validates this title. However, this does not imply that more current trends are
going to be just as long lasting as this example, and it also by no means
enables this particular design to be considered as timeless, due to the techniques
of which is used within the design process in the current digital age means
everything comes and goes at a much faster pace. When taking this into
consideration, the modernist movement harnessed fundamental rules that would be
abided by throughout the whole design process, but these designs always had
clear and concise concepts that were appropriate to the solution as there was
no way the designers could simply log onto a computer and browsing the internet
for ‘inspiration’. In spite of this older, clearly more successful process — more
and more ‘inspiration’ blogs crop up everyday in this current, fast paced age
of the internet;
‘Artistic
movements that until thirty years ago still lasted some ten to fifteen years
are now reduced to trends and exhibition concepts that follow each other in
rapid succession. Art production and presentation have, in other words, become
instantaneous.’ (GIELEN, Pascal, 2009, p.143)
This is because of the rise of the digital age, and namely the internet,
accessibility of which you can see an art discipline evolve and effectively teach
yourself the basics without knowing how to generate original ideas is causing
mimicry and reproduction where only originality is required.
The main issue with these inspiration blogs is they often rely on simply
imagery and feature no text, examples of this include http://graphic-porn.com and http://anothergraphic.tumblr.com — this removes the context even further
and creates confusion amongst the younger demographic these blogs attract. Services
like dribbble try to create a more stable platform for designers to gain a more
comprehensive feedback experience rather than the creator and the concept of
the work being stripped for the purpose of visual inspiration, or as they put
it; ‘Show and tell for designers’. However, when mechanical reproduction is taken
into consideration, Walter Benjamin discusses how the work of art has always
been reproducible;
‘In
principle a work of art has always been reproducible. Man-made artefacts could
always be imitated by men. Replicas were made by pupils in practice of their craft,
by masters for diffusing their works, and, finally, by third parties in pursuit
of gain.’ (BENJAMIN,
Walter, 1999, p.212)
This ‘gain’ can be compared to the instantaneous feeling of approval and
accomplishment a designer may receive if they are featured within these design
blogs, further encouraging the reproduction of trends within design.
Graphic Design has always been the subject of conflict in the form of
rebellion, take Vignelli for instance, whilst playing a major role in modernism,
he used logic and reason to create designs that he considered would be timeless
and essentially would never need to be replaced, as highlighted in the previous
paragraph. On the contrary, some of the leading influencers of the postmodern
movement during the late 20th century such as David Carson, Neville
Brody and Wolfgang Weingart who all rebelled against what you might say the
‘restrictions’ that modernism employed and so a new trend of graphic design
began. One example of this is where parody and pastiche is used to mock/scrutinise
the work of modernists. The points made on pastiche and parody by Fredric
Jameson along with the opposing views from Linda Hutcheon give a much broader sense
to the terms when comparing how they are applied in context. For instance,
Jameson states that in relation to postmodernism ‘Pastiche is, like parody, the
imitation of a particular or idiosyncratic style’ (JAMESON, Fredric, 1991, p.16) to mean that the
work of the postmodernists was to rebel against post-war culture and destabilise
convention, not to mock, but to respectfully mimic the style of work that came before
through some form of nostalgia. On the contrary, Hutcheon intensely disagrees
with Jameson’s outlook on postmodernism by stating that it is more of a political
practice that has more of a parodic trait, rather than it being a matter of
opposing cultural progression through pastiche, and that it does not just make fun of per se, but rather ‘both
legitimizes and subverts that which it parodies’ (HUTCHEIN, Linda, 1989, p.101) . Both of these
arguments are valid, and to this day there is signs of pastiche and parody
within design as will be explored in more detail below.
With the rise of what is labelled as ‘hipster’, ‘ugly’ or ‘trendy’ design,
just as there has been in the past, many who have rejected and opposed a style
of working and do not consider it to be a legitimate strategy within the
creative design process. It has been openly made a mockery of in recent years,
however this has not been gone unnoticed and has had respected designers
disagreeing with the notion that design is becoming less of a conceptual
practice and more of a matter of conformity. One example of this is the
infographic ‘The hipster logo design guide — Six easy steps. No concept necessary!’ (Tim Delver, 2013) (see fig.
5.). By using a sense of irony, Delger has been able to poke fun at designers
who use this style of working for genuine resolutions to set briefs. This has
not gone unnoticed in the design community, the hipster logo design guide was publicised
on many well respected design blogs such as ‘Wired’ and ‘Fast.Co’. Shortly
after these articles came to light, a graphic designer by the name of Dan
Cassaro immediately expressed his opinion on the matter by stating ‘It's really
adorable when people make sites to make fun of current design trends but can't
successfully recreate the style themselves.’ (CASSARO, Dan, 2013) . This just further proving design has
always been subjected to opposing opinions, whether this is questioning the
validity of design through parody or simply defending it, however it is clear
that trends have always been a major debate within the design community as to
whether they can indeed be utilised to provide solutions within the industry. To
further emphasise this point, another example of a difference in opinion when it
comes to trend styles is the ‘Hipster Branding Blog — Holding up a mirror to the artsy community’ (SPENGELER, Dave, 2013) (see fig. 6.)
Moreover, it is evident to say that many see these pokes of fun at the
current forecast of the design industry as something can be taken seriously and
create somewhat of a poor reputation, and further encourage the reproduction of
design without context, becoming a standardisation of the design process within
the Y and Z generations.
Conclusion
It is imperative to say that trends do in fact alter the validity of
design when the context of which they are showcased in is not sufficient. When
the context of anything is removed, it loses a sense of authenticity and the
sheer amount of online ‘inspiration’ blogs proves this to be a very common
occurrence. On the contrary, sites like Trend List provide a visual reference
guide to who, what, where and when something is trending within the industry,
it has been made clear that the intention of Trend List is to provide a
positive ‘tool’ for the design industry to continuously use as nothing more
than a visual reference and not to provide inspiration that may be irrelevant
to the final solution.
From the findings that this paper has presented, it is clear that the
internet has played a large part in how designers are able to obtain
information of their practice in the digital age. However, this dynamic has
both positive and negative implications within the design practice, it allows us
to access the correct research needed for a project instantly, but the
temptation to use ‘inspiration’ blogs unfortunately means outright reproduction
of others’ work is a serious concern due to its convenience.
Conclusively, the outcome of which has been reached was not one that was
forecasted prior to writing this essay. The premise was to argue that
contemporary design trends offer no constructive or beneficial factors to
design as a discipline, however, the argument has proven that in fact trends
are relevant when they are use appropriately within the correct context, even
if this is difficult to discover, as design trends are most commonly publicised
on inspiration blogs that feature no text that does not provide explanation to
how the design was informed. This is in fact the only issue that has been
uncovered with design trends, and those who follow ill-informed design blogs
will continue to misinterpret the design process and continue to execute
aesthetic styles in exchange for approval amongst their peers.
Images
Fig. 1.
Trend List Hyphenated Category
Accessed: 21/01/2016
Fig. 2.
Channel 4 Print Campaign (2015)
Accessed: 21/01/2016
Fig. 3.
Horseferry Typeface by Brody Associates (2015).
Accessed: 10/02/2016
Fig. 4.
American Airlines (1966)
Vignelli, Massimo
Vignelli Canon pp.30-31 (2010)
Lars Müller Publishers
Accessed: 09/03/2016
Fig. 5.
Hipster Logo Design Guide (2013)
Delger, Tim
Accessed: 13/02/2016
Fig. 6.
Hipster Branding — Holding up a mirror to
the artsy community
(2013)
Spengeler, Dave
Accessed: 13/02/2016
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