Graphic Design is so much more!

From a very young age I have heard the words Graphic Design and associated it with something that only someone who is an expert in that area can do. Not to mention how I used to associate it mostly with companies trying to sell something. In fact, Lawrence (2022) argued that the common view of graphic design as something creative that companies use to connect with customers is similar to the view many people have of marketing. That is, both the field of graphic design as well as marketing are perceived by many as nothing more than tools for companies to advertise their products. From my perspective, it is true that I did not fully (and I am still learning) understand that “these types of definitions are fine but rather shortsighted” (Lawrence, 2022, p. 106).

As I have continued to try to understand more what graphic design really is, I have learned about the many aspects that a graphic designer must consider when becoming involved in this creative process. For instance, Lawrence (2022) explained that “graphic design does not just connect producer and consumer in commercial situations. Whenever we communicate rhetorically with images, we are considering elements of graphic design and, more broadly, visual design and aesthetics” (p. 106). Indeed, this has made me realize that in my professional context as a teacher, I have been using graphic design to connect my students with the content being taught. To emphasize, when I design presentations to teach students in my classroom, I try to make it visually appealing by imitating ideas I have seen others implement. Oftentimes I have done this even if I was not aware of the correct terms to describe what technique, element or principle of graphic design I have been following. Nevertheless, Lawrence (2022) listed some of these and I created the following infographic with one of my favorite parts from chapter 4 from his book that shows how much goes into Graphic Design!

Presenting Art Worksheet in Cream Brown Collage Style by gshores

Additionally, I found a video for those curious about where to start if they would like to become an actual graphic designer, or if like me, they would like to improve their skills to transfer them to a profession like the teaching profession.

The more I think about the power of graphic design, the more it has broadened my view of it. As a language teacher (of English and Spanish), I have always considered it obvious that the way we use words is one of the most powerful ways to communicate. However, the process of creating this blog has grown an even deeper respect in me towards the power of visuals to communicate the same (if not more) as what words can. This reminds me of when people say that words cannot properly describe this or that image. All of this has led me to think about some of the images that have been the most impactful to me due to all the thought process that went behind creating them. For example, one of the images commonly known that I feel this way about is this one of the young (or is it old?) lady.

Furthermore, when I was looking for more research-based information about graphic design to overcome my own biases about the topic, I came across a journal article that opened my eyes to the power of graphic design in an unexpected way. In other words, graphic design is so powerful that it can close many gaps between those of us who can hear (and sometimes inadvertently take it for granted) and those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Amongst the people who fall in the latter category, I found a professor who wrote a journal article that was impactful to me. Specifically, what fuels his use of visual tools, in the words of the professor, “is my insatiable desire to communicate ideas well and to effectively teach deaf students. What I experienced as a deaf educator has been confirmed by my research into the teaching habits of others” (Skyer, 2023, pp. 57-58).

Personally, I made a connection with Dr. Skyer’s words because I am a teacher in the United States working with students who are being schooled in English, a language that is not their native language. In the same way, I am in graduate school in English, my second language. Similar to Dr. Skyer’s experience, as a second language learner who attends a university in the United States, my experiences have taught me about others’ perceptions of multilingual learners. As a result of this, I, too, have become more creative with how I use visual tools with my own multilingual students. For example, there are times when I have English learners in my classroom whose native language is not the same as mine (Spanish). In these cases when we can neither communicate in English or Spanish, I rely even more on visuals to teach them. Honestly, I had not realized the extent of everything that graphic design can accomplish until reading and reflecting on my own experiences for this blog!

Lastly, one of the highlights from Dr. Skyer’s article is the fact that his primary language is sign language, which is a language in its own right. I think this places an even greater emphasis on how we use graphic design to teach our students. Certainly, just like Skyer (2023) expressed that trained teachers can use visual tools more effectively for deaf and hard of hearing students, this is true for other teachers and learners as well. I can say that graphic design has been key when teaching my second language learners and when improving my own second language as well. Sometimes I search for visuals to self-teach new concepts. All in all, learning and writing about graphic design has opened doors for me to continue to explore this topic in new and enjoyable ways!

References

Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital writing: A guide to writing for social media and the web. Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press.

Skyer, M. E. (2023). Beautiful utility: Visual tools make teaching more effective and fun! Odyssey, 23(1), 54-58. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1408415.pdf