The Complete Graphic Designer

The Complete Graphic Designer

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Governments around the world recognize the impor-

tance of controlling and disseminating information.

To better facilitate user comprehension, they often

regulate various documents and packaging. Offi cial

documents such as tax forms and visa applications

must be easy to use and comprehend. Nutrition labels

as well as product labels and safety guidelines must

appear on food packages. In each of these examples

of government communication, the standards require

that information be presented in a consistent man-

ner on every product so viewers do not have trouble

correctly deciphering the content or making informed

buying decisions.

The Role of Design

in Everyday Life

Bright yellow informational stickers

are placed on major appliances to

educate consumers about their en-

ergy usage. They also make it easier

to comparison-shop between brands

of merchandise.

Design: Burkey Belser, U.S. Federal

Trade Commission

The tax codes of most countries

are very complex, sometimes

requiring thousands of pages of

rules and regulations. To ensure

that citizens understand their

fi nancial obligation to the govern-

ment, forms are designed in a

manner that all citizens can easily

understand and use. For the Brit-

ish Tax Council, helpful tip boxes

and shaded content areas are

employed for ease of use. (After

its redesign in 2002, on-time

payments increased 80 percent,

according to the Design Council.)

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Design for Communication

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Communicating nutrition information is a

governmentally regulated necessity for all food

products sold in the United States and abroad.

The nutrition label has undergone many design

revisions as the needs and dietary habits of

American citizens change.

Design: Burkey Belser

Design for Public Service

As effective communicators, graph-

ic designers have enormous power

and responsibility to use their craft

for good and noble purposes or

for causes they believe in. In times

of confl ict and revolution, design

provides the government with

propaganda, urging citizens to take

action. During World War II, posters

from the Offi ce of War Information

encouraged citizens to help the

war effort through conservation

and increased factory production.

The atrocities committed within

Nazi concentration camps were

also exposed through war-related

propaganda and design.

In addition to fulfi lling the needs

of government propaganda, design

has traditionally been essential to

promoting causes for the greater

human good. Throughout history,

designers have banded together

to develop communication pieces

that raised awareness about social

and political issues in an effort to

“

Information designers are very special

people who must master all the skills

and talents of a designer, combine it with

the rigor and problem solving ability of

a scientist or mathematician, and bring

the curiosity, research skills, and dog-

gedness of a scholar to their work.

”

—Terry Irwin

force a positive change. Because

these types of projects are often

highly conceptual and offer great

freedom, many designers fi nd self-

initiated and pro bono projects

more gratifying than traditional

paying commissions.

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The Complete Graphic Designer

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In this series of posters for the United Nations,

statistics on inequality are powerfully projected

to the viewer through the simple use of type and

color. The layout of the supporting typography

on the side of each poster is visually reminiscent

of a ruler or other measuring device.

Design: Chermayeff & Geismar Studio

Design is often used not only to promote milita-

ristic causes but also social ones. These posters

educate the viewer about the monetary and hu-

man costs associated with smoking.

Design: Greteman Group

(Far right) Design informs and educates the

public. To create awareness about the effects

of music lyrics on abuse toward women, this ad

uses popular albums confi gured as parts of a

woman’s wardrobe.

Design: Archrival

(Opposite page) Work created for nonprofi t organizations or done pro bono allows designers creative

freedom that can be well worth the sacrifi ce in pay. And Partners organized an exhibit and fundraiser

for the Books for Kids organization, in which some of New York City’s most infl uential designers were

asked to create designs that communicated the idea of punctuation. After the exhibit, posters were

distributed in design publications and paper promotions.

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Design for Communication

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Stefan Sagmeister Kent Hunter

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