Module 1: First Impressions

I found it difficult to understand the usefulness of this exercise upon first impression. But I was soon proven wrong as I completed a visual study through each picture of Megg's History of Graphic Design text book. Studying the series of images gave me a better insight into the the concept of graphic design and its vast history that I could not obtained if someone had just explained it to me in mere words.

The history of graphic design has been captured since the prehistoric paintings deep in the cave of Lascaux to the digital media in web-based graphics accessed today from our desktop and mobile devises.  Browsing through the series of pictures made it evident to me that graphic design has been an expression of man since man first begin communicating. It's  amazing that graphic design is still being used commonly today. We see it everywhere - in ads, magazines, movie posters, company logos, and even on our clothes.

http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/lascaux/index.php

http://hellerbooks.com/docs/news.html

I've learned that graphic design is not only an art, in the sense that it is expression of creativity, but it is also a medium of practical communication used to convey the simplest statements. It has been found in a wide range of mediums, from simple typography in print to a brilliantly illustrated manuscript painted on a Renaissance tapestry. It's awesome to me that even the characters of text seen in this blog can be considered graphic design.

Simply put, I'm not just studying the history of graphic design, I'm studying the history of man and how we communicate. 

Browsing through the pictures also allowed me to see the various patterns and themes of graphic design expressed throughout time. Graphic design appears to have first started out as pictures, then pictures used to represent words. As man became more sophisticated, the pictures became symbols and illustrations began emerging and a sense of creative expression flourished. The different styles that emerged represented the essence of each particular culture that it came from. The repeating patterns found in Islamic graphic design, for example, expressed the infinite and consistant nature of God. Then we see it flourishing during the industrial revolution with the explosion of mass production. We were able to mass produce media like no other time in human history and this made graphics design easy to create and more accessible to the masses.

The history of graphic design will open the door for me to a better understanding of humanity. I'm super excited about what I will learn in this course as I dive deeper.