Symbolic Communication with the Subject - Essay Example

?"To design is much more than simply to assemble, to order or even to edit: It is to add value and meaning, to illuminate, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, to dignify, to dramatize, to persuade and perhaps even to amuse." - Paul Rand With reference to this, discuss the function of design and how graphic design speaks to society and affects human experience in a broad spectrum Both design and graphic art can be seen as forms of symbolic communication with the subject matter the innumerable ideas of the human mind and a language that goes beyond words to express complex thoughts and emotions in icons and images. Paul Rand’s quote above illustrates the essential nature of communication as it relates to graphic design and the design process as it impacts numerous different forms of the public exchange of ideas. In “Declaration by Design: Rhetoric, Argument, and Demonstration in Design Practice” (1985), Richard Buchanan wrote, "If one idea could be found central to design studies, it most likely would be communication." (Buchanan, 1985)Thus, design affects the human experience by creating an expanded vocabulary of expression to relate the varying degrees of subjective experience to an audience, and further reflects the need of human beings to express themselves in ever more complex thoughts. Simplicity, in this aspect, can be seen as a design tool that cuts through conceptual elaboration to present an archetypal structure or form. The goal of design is to create new words that are not words but symbols, signs, and images which express a message to society through a language that both references and transcends common, everyday speech. In this regard, design can be seen as “stylized language” and speaks of the complexity of social communication while conveying the message or theme of the designer. Design ultimately is a form of art, yet it can be approached scientifically to determine the characteristics which define it and govern its operations culturally. Martin Buber’s theory of knowledge is based upon the analysis of social forms of communication, and in this theory the symbolic aspects of communication are distinguished from signs that merely describe or point directions as a function of communication by the nature of transcendence. Buber creates a number of social relationships as models showing the importance of communication referencing the subjectivity of the “other” in its means of taking the individual beyond the self into a transcendent state of understanding and shared experience. As this is the intimate, spiritual nature of communication that we represent in art, it is rare in practice and the actual functional communication in society is often sign oriented in that it only seeks to inform or direct but not provoke a transcendent experience. As Maurice S. Friedman writes in his book “Martin Buber: the life of dialogue” (2002): "Subject-object, or I-It, knowledge is ultimately nothing other than the socially objectivized and elaborated product of the real meeting which takes place between man and his Thou in the realms of nature, social relationsm and art.” (Friedman, 2002) Buber’s theory of knowledge is important in understanding the social aspects of communication as they relate to design. For example, social communication that is directed or mediated by the sign can be expected to be functional, utilitarian, and descriptive, designed for the facilitation of personal operations in daily life but not particularly concerned with the transcendent as subject matter. Symbolic communication, in contrast, takes as its subject matter and intention the symbolic aspects of expression that relate to the communication of Truth and the communicator seeks to create a higher state of awareness or understanding in the other. Thus, the design and graphic art process should be evaluated first to determine whether the form of social communication is using a language based on signs, which point to other objects, or of symbols, which transcend themselves in shared subjectivity, when analyzing the constellation of meaning in the reference of analysis. The recognition of the difference between signs and symbols shows the two forms of communication that design can reference, the utilitarian and the transcendent. Yet, designers and artists themselves might become successful by interposing these elements in different situations to allow viewers to experience the transcendent in unexpected situations. For example, what separates a memorable TV commercial or magazine advertisement from one of the thousands that are seen and ignored daily in modern life, is when the communication achieves a symbolic nature and inspires a feeling of transcendence that illustrates that the other has formed a recognition or insight that was unexpected and takes the other outside of normal awareness, to a new realization. In this context, symbolic communication is not simply representing objects with other objects but creating a knowledge pattern in communication that creates an experience of transcendence and realization of truth. That this aspect of knowledge is different from the functional or utilitarian is an important aspect of Buber’s theory, and it can assist designers in understanding the process of social communication and its goals. (Friedman, 2002) In “Type and Image: The Language of Graphic Design” (1992), Philip B. Meggs writes: "Traditionally, graphic designers looked to architecture or painting for their model. Certainly, a universal language of form is common to all visual disciplines, and in some historical periods the various design arts have shared styles. Too much dependence upon other arts - or even on the universal language of form - is unsatisfactory, because graphic design has unique purposes and visual properties." (Meggs, 1992) There is clearly a technical aspect to graphic design, or any design discipline, that is different from the communicative aspects of meaning and its creation through shared subjectivity in a society. When scholars such as Malcolm Barnard in “Graphic design as communication” (2005) speak of the manner in which much graphic design “passes unnoticed” in society, it can be seen as both an example of the utilitarian aspects of social communication and also of the failure of these designers to achieve the transcendent in their art. When out of this large collection of images in mass-media, one particularly strikes a note with the reader or viewer, and causes him to think, remember, or reflect upon the higher meaning, then that designer has achieved the transcendent and the work itself or the images that compose it may be viewed as symbolic communication. This distinction is critical, as it references the use of graphic design in society as communication, as well as the different forms of meaning that communication might create. Through the same logic, it is possible to see that in many occasions the graphic designer may not have the need or mandate to seek the transcendent in communication, but rather is tasked with the production of signs themselves. In knowing the difference between symbol and sign the artist or graphic designer can produce a more appropriate message that is tailored to the intent of the communicator and also to the audience. Icons and logos also illustrate the two types of social communication in their use. (Marcus, 2003) In “Design studies: theory and research in graphic design,” by Audrey Bennett, the author writes: "Type becomes a symbol not of language but of an aesthetic. Adherence to an aesthetic is a cultural belief, and in creating an experience for the audience... develops an argument for a certain aesthetic, a specific cultural belief." (Bennett, 2006) The relationship of typology to design can be seen in relating to the two types of social communication, but more closely related to the sign and the functional aspects of language. This relates it to aesthetics by Bennett, but one can also distinguish a difference between the stylistic aspects of decoration, for example, when compared to art that seeks to inspire the transcendent. The icon in its use on the desktop can be contrasted in this regard to the religious icon or the social icon that stand for something greater than themselves as referencing also this division of symbol and sign. Aesthetics are applied to both art and decoration, but the human mind perceives the two types of design differently. The graphic designer must first determine if his or her task is to create symbolic communication or decoration and ornamentation, without a negative connotation given to the hierarchy because the utilitarian communication of signs is by very nature useful and functional to society. This relationship can also be seen in architecture, where the great building designs themselves are transcendent and decorative aspects are found in nearly all models of housing. Bennet also writes that, "the goal of visual communication is to persuade an audience to adopt a new belief." (Bennett, 2006) While this may be true of many forms of design, it is not characteristic of all types, such as decoration or typography, and many types of communication may reinforce belief systems rather than challenging them implicitly. If every form of visual communication was a transcendent challenge or koan, the human society would not be efficient or functional in the manner that we expect, because the people would be too engaged with struggling with the meaning of every situation. There are types of visual communication such as decoration and typography that communicate a sense of style or emotion without an implicit attempt to persuasion, making Bennet’s use of this characteristic as defining of visual communication questionable. Nevertheless, interpretation of the language of images is important, especially as there are few recognized standards that govern the process of graphic design theoretically. Aesthetics is used to determine the quality of design as it relates to image and form, whereas interpretation involves the moral sense and intellect being applied to create or deduce meaning. Art in this aspect is given a different place and role in society that commercial graphic design, though both may share the same elements and standards of evaluation. Yet, as a form of human communication the design process in consequently complex and involving many methodologies as an expression of both cultural and individual preconceptions. Style is seen in this context as an example of both individual and group communication, especially visual communication but also related to text and typography. Style becomes highly differentiated in advanced, capitalistic economies as part of a competition of ideas that defines public communication. In this regard, an important aspect of design is to attract attention to the message of the communicator from the great mass of competition that is seen in the public sphere. Advertising is based on this need to attract attention to a message as more important at times than even its message. From this there is also seen the process of transference of meaning between symbols and signs, such as the way that sex is used in advertising to sell products that are seemingly bland and simply functional on their own. By re-contextualizing the objects in a symbolic situation, the advertising may attract attention to the message of the communicator within the media environment of profusion of imagery in popular communications. The difference between the public and private aspects of design is important in understanding the different types of visual communication, as well as the personal nature of art. Great art implicitly seeks to inspire the transcendent in the subject, and is best viewed on the 1:1 pattern of I-Thou as described by Martin Buber in his theory of knowledge and symbolic communication. Public art that seeks an audience in mass communication often operates on different fundamentals socially that the art that is produced classically, yet both are perceived and understood by the individual in the same manner. This great profusion and competition of ideas in modern social communication has created an imbalance in some forms of design which need to attract attention as a higher value, but may lack an actual message when the attention is actually drawn to the object or situation. This leads to imagery that shocks or scintillates in contrast to the generally accepted norms of public communication. Balance as an important and inherent aspect of design aesthetics is related to the classical Greek concepts of form and relate to architecture, painting, sculpture, typography, and other forms of visual communication. Yet, one should not confuse the manner in which forms of visual communication appear similar in sharing a common basis for social distribution but actually reference different intentions and processes of communication practically. Martin Buber’s theory of knowledge distinguishes between symbolic communication which seeks an intimate relationship between the communicator and receiver of the message and sign based languages that are more formal, functional, and abstract in usage. The symbol inherently points beyond itself to something larger, an idea, a message, a theme, a truth that is vital or inherent to the message of the communicator. A sign, on the other hand, points to itself or other objects and is reflective of an I-it relationship as characterized by materialism and objectivism. In understanding which form of communication is sought in design, the artist or designer can craft a message or create a product as the needs of the situation demand. Society communicates in images to express complex emotions, situations, contradictions, and subtleties that cannot be expressed simply in everyday language. The transcendent points to the recognition of truth in the individual, whereas the utilitarian is designed simply as an aspect of efficient functioning. In understanding these two types of symbolic communication, as illustrated by Martin Buber and others who have written on the theory of design, it is possible for the graphic artist or designer to build more effective communications. Yet, the same aspects must be understood by one who receives a message, illustrating the way that consumers must be informed and critical of a media environment that targets them incessantly with messages, but few of which actually point to the transcendent issues which are truly important in life. Sources Cited: Barnard, Malcolm 2005. Graphic design as communication, Routledge, viewed 12 April 2011, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=9w7QltqGHT0C Bennett, Audrey 2006, Design studies: theory and research in graphic design, Princeton Architectural Press, viewed 12 April 2011, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Zu00m04mba4C Buchanan, Richard 1985, Declaration by Design: Rhetoric, Argument, and Demonstration in Design Practice, Design Issues, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring, 1985), pp. 4-22, viewed 12 April 2011, http://www.jstor.org/pss/1511524 Frascara, Jorge 2006, Graphic Design: Fine Art or Social Science?, Design Issues, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Autumn, 1988), pp. 18-29, viewed 12 April 2011, http://www.jstor.org/pss/1511556 Friedman, Maurice S. 2002, Martin Buber: the life of dialogue, Routledge, viewed 12 April 2011, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=OVxg4iroKUsC Helfland, Jessica & Maeda, John 2001, Screen: Essays on Graphic Design, New Media, and Visual Culture, Princeton Architectural Press, viewed 12 April 2011, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ktYO5RKPHygC Holland, DK. et al. 1997. Graphic design: America two, Rockport/Allworth Editions, viewed 12 April 2011, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=q_VPAAAAMAAJ Marcusa, Aaron 1984, Corporate identity for iconic interface design: The graphic design perspective, Interfaces in Computing, Volume 2, Issue 4, November 1984, Pages 365-378, viewed 12 April 2011, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B75C2-48VX1VT-2G Meggs, Philip B. 1992. Type and Image: The Language of Graphic Design, John Wiley and Sons, viewed 12 April 2011, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ChhibNSJeTEC Read More