The social effect of graphic design.
Investigating wether art or graphic design has more social effect will depend on society itself. Who wants to engage with and how they react to the information which is being constantly put in front of them, what they take in and what art they filter out. Art and design isn't always there for aesthetic purpose it has meaning tries to communicate a message inform or persuade none of this matters if you don’t engage or react to it. Audience plays a key role in the way designers and artist portray their feelings or political stance on society depending who receives the message out to reflects the reaction taken.
When looking into who goes to art galleries there are many misconceptions and this evolves around the ideology the type of people who do engage with this kind of art. According to National statistics online, as people get older the visits to art galleries are reduced. A higher percentage of people attend an art gallery 2-4 times and are marginally women. The people in our society like to think the option to go and visit art galleries is always there and open to the masses and in many cities this is true as there are more open and free galleries to visit. Yet recently government funding for this has been cut and soon free galleries will be a thing of the past. Will this effect society greatly? What do the people of today want from attending the exhibitions personal pleasure looking at pretty art works or do the paintings / sculptures effect how they feel or look at the world. Its difficult to say wether this would create a major divide in society if people are wanting to engage and enjoy doing so then shouldn’t they be willing to pay?‘Each has within him the undying desire to create, to contribute something to the world, to leave his mark upon society; each has the necessity to earn and provide for his family.’ . (Paepcke 1946:93)
Design is needed at this time its in our culture to be informed about a variety of events and exhibitions which could influence what we choose to do with our lives then at that time. Graphic Design is a communication tool which breaks the barriers of class, as audience drives the design they can affect the tone of voice to ensure everyone understands fully. ‘Graphic design is the most universal of all arts it is all around us, explaining, decorating, identifying; imposing meaning on the world’ (Newark 2002:6) Sociable responsibility of the designer lends itself more to the economical factors of the design industry which is waste and to use recyclable materials. ‘As for the ecological issue, no one comes out against the environment and as the “printed on recyclable paper” tag becomes ever more fashionable convincing clients to go the green or more environment-friendly route becomes progressively easier.” (Rock 1994:191) As an industry which uses paper resources to deliver the message to the mass culture this problem is always going to arise unless more economical means to show the communication becomes available. “Everything you do is garbage” (Jacobs 1994:185) Karrie Jacobs touches on this point how to annoy a graphic designer what she is saying is true though a paper based design will end its life in the bin. Yet I don’t see this as such a bad thing as it constantly keeps design new fresh bringing new ideas and ways of communicating to light if something can last forever it would be regurgitated over and over or that you would see the same piece of art hundreds of times! Companies in the Graphic Design industry are becoming more aware of doing the “right” thing and are buying into using recyclable materials etc and more business is arriving due to this change in society and what we deem to be the best for the country even though we may not practice this at home/work ourselves. As technology advances the design industry with move progressively with it to advance in the optimum communication skills. “Museums exist to preserve selective objects that together build a consistent ensemble, and hopefully support and communicate a strong idea. In doing so they are meant to educate and stimulate progress. Since design, both graphics and of objects have an impact on everybody's life and a better understanding of it will work to everybody's advantage, a design museum is a meaningful and valuable construct.” ( Antonelli 2006:76) A way to document and collect great pieces of design which have created social effects possibly change the way we look at design gain a greater appreciation and add value.
Why do we consider museum art to be more valuable? The art exists in the “real world” yet they haven’t paid for doing this therefore its purely been created through passion and love for the art. ‘At a mundane level, what practitioners really mean by the “real” of the “real world” is money. Time is money and there isn't any of it for “pussyfooting around” for empty talk and fancy idealism.’ (Robertson 1971:188) Which leads me onto the next point which could be a reflection of the type of people who visit these art galleries are posh upper class engaging professionals? Therefore fine art is to be seen as a luxury item and the only people who can afford to buy it are the upper class. The aura that we get from walking around an art gallery also portrays this feeling its not shown as a fun activity more of a serious and boring thing to do. You would not consider lower classes to be engaging with the art and really taking in its hidden purposes as for the lower class this would be irrelevant to them and consider there is more important things in life dont necessarily have time for this luxury and no money to spend on pleasure seeking activities. The vibe an art gallery gives of is cleanliness, silence, professionalism. Not creativity free spirit yet this is what a fine artist lives for so why do they display there material in a confined white washed area to be viewed by people who don’t practice life in similar ways. So do they have a target audience when painting/sculpting etc in order to appeal to the purchaser.
Graphic design is one way which highlights the structure in society and many social classes as you need to relate your work to a specific target audience. They get a brief which can be open or quite specific in order to achieve its full potential Graphic design is out there in the real world engaging with different people and in different means wether its information leaflet a flyer poster etc. Therefore finding the answer to does graphic design have more social effect may be harder to define than thought as different pieces of graphics are created for the different classes and purpose. In a Marxist view he says the thoughts of the few upper class are more important than the more! When relating this to any artwork and judgments of taste there is always power, politics and class underlying that view point. The upper class have more social control and can depict what the lower class are involved in by legitimising the country. When debating wether graffiti is an art form and should it be legal / not seen as a major crime the country spend millions to obliterate it who is it that are making these decisions what is art worthy or not? The upper classes which brings it back to the superstructure and how the base don’t really have a say in what decisions are being made, its as if there being taken out of there hands yet there the ones being effected by the government funding cuts. No such thing as ‘free’ art The graffiti artist who produce there work and in situations where it can be viewed for free and for the mass culture rather than the few yet this is illegal. Unless the upper classes want to buy a piece of artwork done by ‘Banksy’ ( a well know politically driven graffiti artist) which sells for £50‘000. Where does culture draw the line on graffiti vs art. ‘The former sought to entice graffiti writers to paint on canvases to be sold in galleries; the latter used graffiti as a sign of urban disorder and argued for its suppression as a first step in reasserting law and order against unrestrained youth and minority groups.’ (Ferrel J 1993) Journal of criminal Justice and popular culture. This quote makes the point of culture trying to control popular culture if graffiti starts becoming popular the government have realsied this could become and issue so are trying to ease the divide by “meeting” the graffiti artists half way yet have completely missed the purpose of them doing this as political stunt showing their free thinkers. Trying to keep control and a hold on society reducing ‘Art in the public sphere’ definition: The public sphere was and is a free flowing, creative realm where people can meet debate, contemplate and communicate with a largeness of scope. It is fundamental to democracy, to mass political movements, and to the modern evolution of art and science. Graphic design is considered as commercial art yet even that is being controlled as there are certain things which are not allowed to be published or shown due to copy write and political correctness etc, Culture jamming is also another method in which can be used to subvert a message or meaning to the mass culture. This can have diverse effects on the society and how we view life today. This can also encourage graffiti artists to express their art and bring the art to the masses with a more edgy involvement. ‘Whilst ‘public art’ has continually suffered from its mixed role as art and town planning, in the UK for example the perceived success of Anthony Gormleys Angel of the North has since recruited public art for the purposes of ‘place-making’ and the branding of cities.’
http://ixia-info.com/art-the-public-sphere-journal/ Sending mixed messages to the public art is deemed to be good in cities and as towns are being developed art works are appearing more often yet what who decides what gets chosen not the public in most cases! ‘All forms of education act as social implementation of these forms reconstructs society in various ways’ (Apple 1986) Art education and what the children of today are producing as they come through society reconstructs what is developing tomorrow and our views upon this. Trying to create a multicultural art world looking at more pluralistic views bringing diversity into society. There are curricular restraints within all education therefore art will not be taught as a free thinking subject yet artists of a fine art nature will continue to push the boundaries of what excepted within culture. Dominant ideologies provide the government with a stance on making a democratic society with them being the for front of what’s to be viewed by the masses.
My conclusion to looking at different elements of this argument would side with art having more of a social effect as it is deemed to have more value, graphic design is mainly a product of waste and not always recyclable. As they work to constraints and similar layouts and formats the public see it as homogenous rubbish most of the time, as too much bad graphics is pumped out into society everyday almost forced upon the public sector to accept it through mail shots and flyers large numbers of people are being targeted at one time. Reduces the aura of receiving it too easily disposable and accessible. Whereas a print of a painting is considered less valuable to the with holder yet not rubbish! Art which is featured in galleries becomes more worthy as it ages which isn’t the case for advertisements and flyers etc. Art is contained in galleries leading us to believe its more precious art form and you pay to see it. With fine art you can build a stronger relationship with the artist as you know their name and can visit specific exhibitions to view the works of. Society takes for granted the work and skill involved in making a piece of graphic design therefore it has less affect. Does not cause you to engage as it communicates well and quickly therefore having the diverse effect of less time and thought went into producing it.
Bibliography
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Ferrell, J. (1993) crimes of style: urban graffiti and the politics of criminality. New York Garland
Stuhr, P ( 1994) Multicultural art education and social reconstruction. National Art Education Association http://www.jstor.org/pss/1320218 (13/02/11)
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