Longing to be heard

We live in complex society and every day of our life is filled with people. People surround us when we go somewhere, when we buy groceries, when we eat, sleep and breathe. Basically, we live for others people, because no matter what we do in our lives, we do it to be appreciated by others or used by others. We ask, we learn and we share what we learned with each other. It is critically important to every one of us to be heard, to be understood and to be remembered. We communicate in many different ways, but I would like to talk about one kind of visual communication. It is called Graphic design.

So, what is Graphic design?

Graphic design is the art of communication through text, images, and negative space. Basically, graphic design transmits information and its main role is found in effective communication with the viewer.

In order to explain why graphic design is important and how it combines text, images, space, we will inspect two images below:

In the first image we observe the text, and in the second image we see that same text. However in the first example, the text does not draw any attention to itself whatsoever, and it does not inspire any desire to inspect it more closely. It’s just simple text, consisting of a specific quantity of letter symbols. In contrast the second example is put together based on principles of graphic design. The use of these design principles help to guide the reader to the most important moments in the information. This helps to explain the purpose of the text, and creates a structure so that the reader can easily discern the main ideas within every paragraph. Strengthening the material visually allows the text to draw the direct interest of the viewer by first catering to the readers ease of perception, and second by providing a guiding direction from beginning to end, from one line to the next.

Effective design always requires research, creativity and craftsmanship. What are those things and why are they needed. Let’s take a closer look at them.

Research:

We would never know what is expected of a successful design, unless we study the viewer’s reaction to it. Some elements can work more successfully than others in one case and be absolutely ineffective in another; that is why every designer before creating something must explore the soil and understand what it means to effectively communicate any particular problem to the viewers.

Creativity:

Why would designer be creative? The answer is easy — to create interest. Why would people look at a page if there were nothing interesting on it? No matter how important the information on a page is; it is clearly not enough to make somebody read it. Effective design needs something that catches the eye and makes people want to read what comes next.

Craftsmanship:

Well, this one also seems easy to understand. Design has to look good, it has to look professional, and when it does — it brings more validity to the information behind it. No one likes to be fooled, that’s why we look at clear and masterfully made things as more trustworthy.

Successful design is a goal that is not easy to reach, but knowing that it will help you to be heard, to be understood, and to be remembered, totally worth it.