Evolution of Design Specialization: From Craft to Communication
The Origins of Specialization in Design
Project work, the drawing and accompanying triad of design conception, dates back to the late nineteenth century, which complicates the design field. During that time, “design” was a generic term referring to any project expressed through the drawing of objects in the habitable world. The beginnings of specialization among the various branches of design are consistent with the development of industrial culture, and with it, the beginnings of the separation between the notions of work and techno-scientific purpose.
The Emergence of the Industrial Designer
In the mid-nineteenth century, the concept of the industrial designer emerged, casting aside a product. The dilemma that marked the emergence of modern design was raised between art and technology, a dichotomy that subsumed a number of factors, so far non-existent: the division of labor, the conflict between man and machine, and the opposition between subject and object on a mass scale.
The Arts and Crafts Movement and its Influence
The Arts and Crafts Movement, led by figures like William Morris, advocated for the abolition of the division of labor and a return to the unity of production and design. They confronted the producer, established by machine work. Beyond the success of their products, the products of their companies could not compete on price with those developed by the new social relations of production and became objects of consumption for elites. Morris’s action was decisive in the evolution of the notion of design in two ways: first, by the clarity with which he sided, linking the project activity in the world of objects with the art world, and second, by the inauguration of a long-winded trend in design: the unique and exclusive product.
Graphic Design: The First Messianism
Its appearance can be ascribed to two clearly antagonistic aspects: the market economy advocated by industrial and technological advances on one hand, and the opposition to it on the other.
Branding and Advertising in the Machine Age
In the machine age, competition through brand became a necessity. In a context of identity production, it was necessary to manufacture both products and their differences by brand. This shows the importance that the design of branding and display advertising began to have. Social studies developed the concept of the consumer and the middleman and were oriented towards distribution and sales strategies in which graphic design played an active role.
The Avant-Garde and the Bauhaus
Graphics received a boost from these new applications that extended its scope. This is the moment of the explosion of the avant-garde, with its harsh criticism of the new bourgeois model. Using new breeding techniques, young graphic designers produced renewing experiences. The Bauhaus, in particular, printed a hallmark on the notion of design in general and graphic design in particular.
The Designer as a Recognized Professional
The first designers began to claim a differential and recognized role. The program of the Bauhaus was based on the defense of unique craft items as a way of dealing with problems created by industrialization. In the same way as Morris, members of the Bauhaus saw in practice a way to deal with the perversion of the bourgeois world and conceived of themselves as the conscience of the world. The split, however, lay in a fundamental aspect: the attitude that each developed with the technique, the absolute refusal by Morris and the revolutionary inclusion by the Bauhaus.
Design as Resistance
Despite the heterogeneity of the scope, the concept of design arose as an expression of the autonomy of the designer, with the same status as the architect and the painter, and its production was conceived as a place of resistance against the squalor of industrial production. At this historical moment, design appears as the place where contemporary art is exorcised of its evil effects, and the designer is seen as the world’s conscience.
Graphic Design, Business, and Communication
At first, it was the incorporation of the symbolic value of the product design. Design became a crucial element of the process of distribution, exchange, and consumption. For the first time in history, the notion of design began to exalt the virtues of capitalist enterprise. Art direction gives visual personality to any details likely to produce a more favorable effect on the entire management of the company, both internal and external. The concept of artistic direction emphasizes the new place of art management. Design enters the world of business by the hand of art; the new genre of artisans Gropius exalted becomes a special place in organizational business.
The Incorporation of Communication
The input of graphic design into the world of business brought the product, incorporating the concept of communication. The factors involved in establishing the relationship between design and communication come from the field of marketing but also from economic communication. Communication has been and is an essential factor for the development of the logic of capitalist expansion based on consumption and distribution. The first relation to graphic design occurs at the time that communication is no longer only a means of transportation but becomes a symbolic plus associated with the product. This passage takes place from the improvement of mass production (Fordism). The need to influence the public media to generate favorable consumer attitudes led to relating graphic design concepts and approximate audience reception to communication theories. The appearance of domain-specific communication offered design a theoretical apparatus to account for visual language.