Art and Design

DIGITAL ARTS, PRINTING PROCESSES, GRAPHIC DESIGN, DTP,
ILLUSTRATION
What is a “work of art?” How do we experience it? What baggage do we need to understand it?
Example: The 5th symphony of Beethoven is a work of art. It can take many forms such as sound
waves, the piece of music writing, the audio of the 5th symphony, etc. It can be interpreted in
different ways. Artistic activity can be understood as Experience in Context.
Another example: Cave paintings – the first examples of visual

communications. Who drew these and why? It was done because the
cave people, who were hunters, depended on these animals to live.
Cave paintings resulted from their creators understanding of the
animal forms. They had a magical purpose for the tribal societies that
created them. The hunter tribes performed magic rituals using these
images as sacred icons which augured for a bountiful hunt
o Icon → A person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of something

o Iconography → The illustration of a subject by drawing or figures. The use of studies of
images or symbols in visual art.
Culture has brought us to associate symbols with feelings or objects. Ex. A heart represents love and
it is red as it represents passion.
Handwriting as iconography - A response to the iconography of handwriting, and the intimacy of the
written word. So how can we know and appreciate our culture if we are visually illiterate?
GRAPHIC DESIGN
About using words and images to convey a message. It is used in most of our everyday lives. Signs in
the street, packaging, advertising. It is also used in the environment of offices, buildings, it involves
creating a moment were a person immediately understands it. Another use for graphic design is
book covers.
ELEMENTS OF DESIGN
Culture starts by the making of a mark (mark-making). This can be divided in 2. The visual and the
verbal. Graphic design is finding a balance between the visual and verbal sides.
It all starts with an ideas and inspiration. We start from research and anything that we can see
around us forms us a visually literate human beings. There is no doubt that creativity is the most
important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress and we would be
forever repeating the same patterns.
STAGES OF GRAPHIC DESIGN:
1. Recognising there is a problem
2. The research stage

(a) Open up the research process to envelope everything. Colour, light, etc.
(b) Limit it down to an idea
3. The design process. The idea from the research process is taken up to the design stage.
(a) Make a variety of options and then choose
Discover and Define the problem (research). Then Develop the concepts further and Deliver (design).
This is called the diamond model.
CORPORATE DESIGN
We are living within a society which respects the concept of visual communication. There is an
element of design in everything that surrounds us.
Corporate design is the creation of visual identity. Companies need to be

identified with a glance. Ex. Air Malta has the Maltese cross as a logo and a
distinctive shape and colours. Millions are spent by huge companies such as
Apple and Nike to produce an image for their brand.
EDITORIAL DESIGN
Includes leaflets, newspapers, passports, magazines and many more which make articles and reading
content more interesting to read and more appealing to the eye.
PACKAGING
The product’s packaging is there so that people easily identify with the product. This is the practical
use of packaging.
ADVERTISING
Design is also used in in adverts. It is a very important factor because corporations want to attract
the consumer’s eye onto their product. In order to do that, they use design in all their logos, brand
names, anything which will make the product be distinguished from others.
WHAT IS AN ILLUSTRATION?
Illustrations convey a sense of character in the people one portrays in an image.

Illustrations portray visual concepts and have intrinsic personal art involved. They can
also have abstract splashes which give it a sense which is totally unrealistic. Illustration
can also simulate reality in order to dash reality and create an impact that leaves a
recollective message.
o Comics → a visual narratives. They are an extremely important part of visual

culture.

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DIGITAL ARTS, PRINTING PROCESSES, GRAPHIC DESIGN, DTP,

Another example: Cave paintings – the first examples of visual

o Icon → A person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of something

1. Recognising there is a problem

2. The research stage

Corporate design is the creation of visual identity. Companies need to be

Illustrations convey a sense of character in the people one portrays in an image.

o Comics → a visual narratives. They are an extremely important part of visual

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