Form is Function – Part 2, Arts and Information

By Lee

Arts

A broad enough term on its own, the arts (we’ll say fine arts for now) have only recently accepted graphic design as valid in its living room. Truth be told, some practitioners don’t even want to visit in the first place. It’s a strange relationship between the two, neither wanting to recognize the other until something profound happens. This sort of event is usually chalked up to “saying something” – a vague enough subjective descriptor in its own right. Anything can “say something.” A dried up worm on the sidewalk says that it was a hot day outside. The better question is, “Does it have value?” Even then, there’s a subjective undertone curiously fishing the banks waiting for a tug.

So this value or “worth” is born outside of a mere interpretation. It is an informed view that sees the inherent message. Because Graphic Design is primarily a mode of message and information transport, success hinges on an informed design that properly conveys that message. Many have been fooled into thinking that the ability to paint like Dalí or write like Bradbury are the keys to good design.

This simply isn’t true.

Yet an unavoidable fact remains; that is, foundational blocks such as form, line, perspective, color theory, photography, typography, and history are entirely necessary for proper design and designers. Without them you have clear reason for more how-to books than ever imagined.

As a parallel, consider the field of medicine. Most would think it fairly ill-advised to let a patient perform open-heart surgery on themselves with only the use of a scalpel and a model of their neighbor’s left thigh. We would expect informed people making informed decisions, a notion that in no way disables, the patient’s ability to help diagnose their ailment or let the doctor know when the anesthesia has worn off. Rather, it places expertise where it ought to be and benefits the entire process. Thoughts are informed instead of rash. Outcomes are expected instead of unsure. Graphic Design is no different. And, considering the scope and cost of many design ventures, the wrong decisions made by the wrong folks can be just as, if not more, detrimental than a slip of the knife.

Even though the arts are only recently becoming cognizant of the importance of Graphic Design, the importance of foundational blocks do not seem to be enforced enough. Duly noted is the matter of who’s job it is to teach the need for and informed pursuit of message based in factual ability and tacit insight. Certainly, it isn’t solely in the hands of fine arts.

After all, it takes an ill-mannered village to tame an irreverent child.

Information

Possibly the most decisive factor in how Graphic Design is interpreted and utilized – for that matter, misinterpreted and taken advantage of, is that of the parent known as Information. The flow of information, both in regionality and speed, have shaped human self impression since the garden. One need look no further than Alex White’s Thinking in Type (Allworth Press, 2005) for an insightful description of the development of type and the impact that written communiqué has wrought upon the world.

How information interprets design is based largely on factors such as perceived audience (or “market”) and the product being sold. Research abounds about what Group A thinks and how Group B feels. This is supposed to determine how something is graphically and textually designed. In part, it does. The falsehood is that without being inside the mind of every individual at all times, it’s all a guess, however informed we like to think we are.

Minds are changed. Minds can be changed.

Cultures of information try to funnel people into segments and demographics in concrete definitions, an attempt to flood the room and force evacuation to their shiny new raft. Many informational forms, (or people for that matter) don’t even recognize the gravity of what they proffer – relegating information to the ethereal plane of “people want to know.”

What is ultimately produced is overflow without regard for quality or content – which graphic design is then called upon to make appealing. But people are fluid. Their minds are fluid. To set them this way or that without respect for their own free will is the same as disregarding fire as nothing more than really hot air.

An important note should be made now. The information under consideration here is largely the transference of information and the perceived need for that information; not necessarily the information itself. Designing information to be, well, informative requires great skill and is founded upon blocks of understanding. It also requires the existence of quality information to be designed.

Perhaps we as a creation have grown too accepting of information. Inundated to the point of drowning, it should be here that designers, preferably mankind as a whole, can reflect upon the impact of information and evaluate it as objective bystanders instead of as unwitting participants. That’s what good objectivity is anyhow. Considering inundation, one needn’t look far to be slammed in the nose with the amount of information offered. Let’s now consider the role of design at inundations’s core.

Admittedly, there is much; some of exceptional quality and some completely lacking visual approachability. Both can miss the goal; that is, the message, clear and purposeful.

If information is well designed but has emaciated content, does it retain appeal? Conversely, if information is designed poorly but has fantastic content, does it lose appeal? The initial answer is “yes” to both. When good design is constantly related to poor content and bad design is constantly related to good content, they all suffer amazingly.

Correct modes of transport for the given message require quality content. It matters not how pretty it is, if content lacks, the project fails. The opposite is also true. Arguments have been made and will continue to be made about budget this and committee that. They are arguments that are usually made to justify a poorly designed piece void of informative content. They are arguments that are equally escapist in their use, intended to defend a pre-disposition rather than to conquer the mountain they just fell down.

Since the topic of information encompasses modes of transport and quality of content, it is appropriate to consider the un-purpose of Graphic Design. The un-purpose is to create something in diametric opposition to the needed purpose. Some may see this as a wonderful post-modern side effect. Truly though, to claim that plot is to use an inwardly mutated justification of “form follows function” – most likely the core of stylistic reaction; a quest oblivious to objectivity that feeds on anything and everything but eventually dies of starvation.

If form is function, there exists a desired intent. The message, however designed, is tailor-made for its purpose. You can’t stop people from thinking what they want, but you can certainly imply what is preferable for them to think.

As with any multiple partner relationship, there is often an ignorance of the other members and their role or purpose. Matters worsen when rank is pulled where none exists. The primary consideration to grasp when speaking of information in Graphic Design is that of filtering. Filter the information. Find the relevance. If it doesn’t apply it is most likely unnecessary. Yet even overflow has its place and can serve as an informative counter point when used well.

Of greater importance is the conveyance of a message without guile. Graphic Design has been associated with deception for decades – quite willingly too. Recognizing this historic and rambunctiously current fact serves as an invaluable tool for progress. Designers need by no means to campaign against the past, we simply need to acknowledge it in the present and the future. It can take a lifetime to recover from a lie. So, in short, don’t lie.

Especially don’t lie in a logo.

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