Computational Design

As an undergraduate studying graphic design, I remember a professor in a crit saying that another student’s poster had “the look of meaning”.  As students, we had our antennae out for snarky comments, but it turned out that this was meant as a compliment. We then used this phrase over and over. It  somehow got to the heart of graphic design, whose reference theory is semiotics. Syntax is the look, semantics is the words,  and pragmatics is the effect the design has – the actions that follow. Should the graphic designer strive to create form with an understated typography that stays out of the way of the meaning? Continue Reading →