Making and Meaning: an Exploration of Communication in Graphic Design

Throughout the decades technology has played a significant part in altering the position of the ever expanding role of the graphic designer. The boundaries between disciplines have become increasingly blurred with many graphic designers now working in a multidisciplinary context. This paper explores this journey in two parts, Meaning and Making; Meaning — how the message is created, delivered and the role played by the graphic designer in the process. Key texts from Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913) and French literary theorist Roland Barthes (1915–1980) are examined and considered in relation to typography, language and the production of meaning in graphic design. Making — how many contemporary designers are utilising traditional printing techniques to create new possibilities within their work. It considers the shift from man-made to machine-made and in more recent times, a return to the hand of the maker. It examines my own work as a multidisciplinary graphic designer and how it is situated where boundaries are blurred between designer and printmaker. It considers the ever changing role of the graphic designer both in the production of meaning and in the means of production.