Similarity between Visual Communication and Graphic Design

Based on the detailed analysis of the creative stages of visual communication designers, this paper compares the totally independent, cooperative and dominant creative periods of personal creation from the non-digital and digital creative periods of visual communication designers, and draws the conclusion that creative independence is not a purely linear history, but an event that constantly develops and changes with the times. Finally, the article tells the practical significance of understanding the independence of creation for us to plan the future.

In the 1920s, Wiezens, a book designer, coined the name "visual communication designer" to describe the behavior of "letting printed matter convey personal activities in structural and visual forms". Its significance largely shows the independence of visual communication designers' work style. Great changes have taken place in the creative state of designers, from the creative way of working independently when conveying the design at first to the creative way of deciding the creative idea by oneself and cooperating with others now. How to face up to this change and correctly understand the independent state of our creation, so as to help us develop better, is very worthy of our attention and thinking.

Independent visual communication designer

1. 1 visual communication designers in the non-digital era

Before digital design was highly developed, basically every designer was responsible for design and creation from beginning to end. They master the technical ability of painting with pigments and are not allowed to make mistakes through the planning of exploring the theme by one person, and create their own works until they are finished. The state of their independent creation is very similar to that of visual communicators who are now in the learning stage. We know that the history of visual communication design is not long, and many designers are still engaged in design work. For example: Kazuo Tanaka, Toshi Utsumi Fukuda, Masashou Toda, Nanbu Jun 'an, Weslau Wokusky of Poland, etc. When appreciating their works, it is not difficult to find that although they were not created at the same time and place, they all have one common feature, that is, solid hand-drawing skills and design works interpreted from their unique personal perspective. As Mr. Toda said: "Many years ago, when I was designing and creating, I basically did it by myself." (2) They are in a general state of visual communication designers in the non-digital era, that is, they have a dominant independent creative state in the creative concept and production process. Compared with them, the independence of creators in the digital age is limited, but some people still have creative independence. Visual communication learners and independent designers account for the vast majority of creative independents.

1.2 Visual Communication Learners in the Digital Age

With the continuous development of society, more and more people have mastered digital processing software such as Photoshop, FreeHand, Illustrator and Coreldraw by learning visual communication, hoping to enter the design world of visual communication. Most of them learn by carrying out fake design projects or participating in non-commercial design competitions. In this state of being out of market operation, they also have the main control over creative ideas. The most common examples are graphic design students studying at school, and of course, people who like visual communication. In the Fax ③ 16 exhibition of China Graphic Design Online Design Corridor Competition, designers are not only designers, but also people in the learning stage. For the same competition proposition, it is precisely because of the creator's master control in the creative concept that this colorful design is produced. If you want to maintain your creative independence after finishing your studies, you need to set your own goals, whether it is collaboration with others or personal creation. It is best to observe the creation and operation mode of independent creators in the digital age and seek development in combination with their own strength.

1.3 Independent Creator in the Digital Age

Different from visual communication learners, most independent creators in the digital age are the founders of personal studios born at the request of the market and personal wishes, or the design directors and designers of artistic direction of large design companies. Under the two-way choice of the market, these creators design and create according to the requirements of customers, and they also have the main control over the concept of design and creation, sometimes even more than that. Toda Masashou believes that "as an artistic director, the first thing to do is to decide the concept of creation. After defining the concept, it is necessary to select the right creative personnel. The most important and crucial thing in choosing creative personnel is to fit that creative concept. Otherwise, even if that person is excellent, it is better not to use it. (2) "From his point of view, it is not difficult to find that the creative independence of such people has changed, and their thinking on key issues has become more independent, and their monopoly and dominance have been reflected here. However, this does not mean that they do not need cooperation, and there is no design divorced from society.

Although the above three types of visual communication designers are different in their creative ways, there is an essential similarity between designers in the digital age and those in the non-digital age, that is, they are all independent creators. But just as the development of history is not static, the independence of designers cannot be distinguished by whether they are digital or not. It is always a development event, and the change and development trend of independence is the analysis of this spiral movement event.

Second, the visual communication designer creative independence changes

Being a visual communication designer, like other professionals, has a learning process, so in terms of historical universality, most of them have gone through the following periods: technical learning, independent creative state in thought → technical cooperation, ideological cooperation → technical cooperation and ideological independence. We can easily find a periodic change. However, this cycle of designers is very different from the cycle of linear links in general time, which is not only the personal differences of designers, but also the trend of modern social integration, which makes the independent creative state of designers different from the original independent state in the constant complex infiltration.

2. 1 personal creation-that is, completely independent.

This is a state of creating completely according to one's own thoughts and wishes. Students' creation, some designers' creativity, and some creative states for personal improvement all belong to this category. Pursuing and expressing one's unique ideas and understanding, and creating works that can effectively reflect the design ideas are the fundamental reasons for the existence of this creative state. Vienna designer Zhuo Le Si said: "Design must have a personal style, convey artistic information, and personal interpretation is the most important." His words, to a great extent, describe the designer's thoughts and thoughts in his personal creative state. If this state develops to the extreme, it will cause the designer's ideal to be divorced from the market, but if it develops well, it will be a great success. According to the statistics of 54 designers listed in the World Designers Directory of Art Resource Network, only five designers, dan reisinger, Tapani Atom, Kojima Liangping, Yue Se M Trier and Shin Matsunage, have worked in design companies or advertising departments, and the remaining 49 designers either worked in schools or set up their own studios or associations after graduation. Most of them show themselves by participating in various international exhibitions, and most of their works are collected by museums and art galleries. This can be said to be a concrete example of the successful way of personal creative state. Of course, we can't ignore what's behind it. With the development of society, design has been placed in a very high position. As a result, some designers have a "savior" mentality. It seems that all problems can be solved by design. They often think that their ideas are ahead of ordinary consumers, and consumers don't understand design at all, so they disdain to understand consumers' ideas. Instead, they blame consumers for not appreciating their own designs, just like a narcissistic "modern artist". Walter gropius realized this in 1922: "We all know. Everything around us does not exist in isolation, but is backed by our development concept. " (5) Bauhaus also realized this-"Bauhaus once lost contact with the outside world and its working methods, it will become a refuge for weirdos. Schools have an obligation to train people who clearly understand the nature of the world they live in, and those who have the ability to use their comprehensive knowledge and imagination to create typical forms that can symbolize the world. " So try to avoid entering this blind personal creation. Remember that the ultimate goal of design is to convey and spread information, and cooperation with customers, technicians and more relevant personnel can better achieve the ultimate goal of design. As for how to maintain the independence of creation and achieve the best communication effect, it is explained in detail in the analysis of cooperative creation and leading creation.

2.2 Co-creation-the idea of participating in creation but obeying it.

Co-creation is about cooperation and cooperation with customers; Cooperate with design colleagues; Cooperate with people who need us. It has a continuous relationship with personal creation. Of course, the idea of "how I want to decide how I design" is absolutely not applicable here. With the refinement of social division of labor, most designers who enter the company are engaged in local design and adjustment, and are in a passive position in the decision of creative ideas. Designers can only return to the personal state of independent creation when they are doing self-promotion. Learners who are in the state of personal creation will face such a period when they just integrate into society and need to change their attitudes.

Automatic device (the product of visual communication course for graduate students at Royal Academy of Fine Arts in London) holds that: "Design must cooperate with customers, and dialogue and creativity must be encouraged to establish a tributary that attracts people's attention. Every design is treated equally, and every solution is a natural product of the evolving dialogue. " ⑥ "Cycling Studio" always regards communication with customers as an important aspect in its creative process. Among the 42 studios listed in "Extraordinary Design-Exhibition Examples of World Famous Studio Works", 5 studios clearly pointed out the importance of cooperation with customers like this. On the basis of cooperation with customers, the biggest change is the transfer of the master control of creative concepts. Most designers who have no social practice experience are only part of the whole design process when they first enter the company. From copywriting creativity to artists, designers and production designers in design, they all follow the concept of creation. If a design is divided into: the process of conception-the consciousness of creating things (or products), and the ideas and concepts developed and extended by this consciousness. Behavior process-the process of realizing the above ideas and assumptions and finally forming the feasibility judgment and formation of objective reality (or product). Realization process-aiming at the most purposeful, practical and economic value, it runs through the whole design activity and realizes the comprehensive value of finished products (or products). The designers in the cooperation period are mostly just the executors of the behavior process.

This period may have suppressed the personalized language of many designers, but we still have room to show ourselves. In Taiwan Province Province, there is a design competition called "Creativity in the trash can". All the works that you think are good designs, whether they have been photographed by the supervisor or the teacher, can participate. Its extensive qualifications (as long as you are interested in creative work, no matter the public or students, members or non-members of Heixiu.com can participate. ⑦) It is to advocate attaching importance to individual creativity at all times, which is the embodiment of pursuing creative ideas without time difference. It is precisely because designers pursue independence in their creative ideas that this creative period of participating in creation but following the creative ideas is generally regarded as a buffer period leading the development of creation.

2.3 Leading creation-conceiving the cooperative state of independent production

In today's society which emphasizes the importance of design, more and more designers have set up their own studios. They are independent in creative conception and cooperative in production, which is another state of designers' creative independence. For example, in the case of wig studio making P.O.D labels and logos for Atlantic Records, Michael Robinson, the designer of wig studio, first cooperated with the photographer, then asked the photo processor to synthesize photos to achieve the desired effect of the band, and finally cooperated with other designers to make the band logo. ⑥ He decided on the concept of creation, and after defining the concept, he chose the right creator. Although cooperative creation runs through the whole design, we should see his leading role in the whole design. Similarly, from Toda Masashou's great attention to the choice of creators, we can easily find that the leading role of creation is carried out in every detail. In michael robinson's words, leading creation means: "Have an idea first, and then let many talented people divide their work." ⑥ Compared with the completely independent production, it has considerable advantages in the design of combining the strengths of many companies. It can not only reflect the designer's unique design ideas, but also supplement the shortcomings in production, and sometimes help designers change from passive design to active design. Which is strategic design. "Han Zhanning: Was it the initial difficulty to become a graphic designer? As an intruder, how are you accepted by everyone and how do you do business? Ou Ning: When I decided to enter the field of design, I had a well-thought-out plan. I don't want to take orders from customers like most people in this industry, so I develop my own design projects independently. Beijing xinsheng was originally intended to be an independent publication, and I also invested a little money in the early interview and filming. Later, it was supported by Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House. It was a project that fully reflected my own ideas, and the publishing house didn't add any comments. For creative people, creation is more interesting than management, and I don't want to lose this fun. " It can be said that there are not a few designers who have this idea. Fan Xiong, Fukuda, once explained in the Siemens mobile phone creative camp why he always works alone without an assistant. "Creation is so interesting, why do you want to give such interesting things to others?" It can be seen that the fun of design creation is owned by the leading creator, owned by the designer in his personal creation period and lost in the cooperative creation period. But visual communication learners can also make explicit creation. Maybe they have a good idea, but they can't reach the original idea technically. At this time, seeking technical cooperation will eventually show the idea in the best form, and this kind of creation can also be regarded as the dominant creation. As the saying goes, "two heads are better than one", the shortcomings in the learning process can be completely made up by cooperation, and the most important thing is that immature ideas and concepts can be gradually improved in the running-in. That is to say, I realized my original idea, learned more knowledge and learned how to cooperate with others.

Third, the practical significance of creative independence

Through the observation of three periods of visual communication designers' personal creation, cooperative creation and leading creation, we can see that the most fundamental reason for the change of visual communication designers' creative independence is the change of individuals facing social needs and creative needs. Purpose can be used as a coordinate, just as culture has two motives of regression and transcendence, the change of independence is more of a transcendence. The development from individual creation period to cooperative creation period is due to the lack of technology and insufficient life accumulation; When designers have accumulated enough foundation, switching from cooperative creation period to master creation period means that designers in this period have turned their purpose into the pursuit of master creation and design creation fun.

Creative independence is universal, which is manifested in three aspects: first, a group of designers who always maintain their personal creative state and surpass themselves without repeated changes, such as Fan Xiong Futian and Rambo Gunter, and the founders of various design institutions who directly educate in colleges and universities after completing their study stage; Second, it is the most common change process for designers to complete three periods from individual creation to cooperative creation to master creation; The third is a visual communication designer who switched from other industries and directly entered the creative period of master control. Ou Ning and members of the Graphic Destruction Studio are among them. In view of the change of personal needs, everyone's experience is different. Only on the dialectical relationship between one and many can we find our own position and development direction. At the same time, we can also see the interlacing of these three States. For those who belong to the digital age, we should be able to adjust our independent status at any time to better adapt to development.

During the period of personal creation, students' personal creativity should be in an independent state. On the basis of constantly absorbing knowledge, we should give play to their personal creative consciousness, activate their personal potential, and lay a solid foundation for future creation. At the same time, mastering all kinds of design skills and knowledge will create an opportunity for yourself to get rid of the cooperative creative period. Of course, even the pure self does not exist. When I say independence here, I mean the concepts of design and creation. As mentioned above, the explicit creation in the learning stage should be paid more attention. Through this exercise, we can help others to cooperate in the creative period in advance, and we can also exercise the leading creative work. When visual communication designers lack practical experience in commercial society, they should enter the period of cooperative creation, so that they can not only learn knowledge and accumulate experience, but also avoid designers from entering the dead end of the "modern artist" mentality. Learning to cooperate is the primary task of this period. As Jiang Hua said, "Design works are not only appreciated by designers themselves, but also involve many other aspects, such as the most essential communication, basic principles and skills, customers and audiences, because design itself is a commercial behavior, which requires communication between designers and others." How does the commercial design industry communicate with customers? This article can teach us how to adjust our position. "We must first communicate, exchange and discuss with our customers with a friend's mind. Only in this way can we truly understand and pay attention to the customer's conception of the design and the final effect. Integration and communication are the key', first listen to customers' ideas, and then put forward your own views, and truly' don't convince you, try to be close to you'. On the premise of respecting customers' personality and preferences, we will combine our own creativity and design works through discussion. Only in this way can we create works that are close to customers' expectations and reflect the level of designers. If customers have some different views and opinions on the design scheme. We should exchange feelings with customers and gain knowledge. But you must never blame the customer's ideas on the grounds of' amateurish'. If designers can come up with positive and negative examples to communicate with customers, that is, not blindly following the views of blind customers, but also paying attention to patiently guiding customers from the perspective of practical aesthetics, as long as the methods are proper, they will gain the understanding of customers and make the two sides reach an understanding. " Pet-name ruby in this period, design should return to the original point, the purpose of design is still to convey information, spread information. At this time, personal promotion and commercial creation are consistent. Pan Qin: We believe that art design and commercial design are the same, and the essence of graphic design is the same, that is, communication. "On the other hand, paying attention to the designer's own personality cultivation is gradually accumulated by designers in their life practice. The more flexible this process is, the more effective it is to absorb the surrounding works, and the less it is to reject the works. The two are complementary. Personality accumulation itself can promote personality development, and personality development can enrich its own personality accumulation day by day. Accumulation to development is a process, and it is very important to maintain this process, which is the basis of the future master creation period. It can be said that after training in the cooperation period, I have been able to recognize my own abilities and accumulated enough experience to develop into a master creator.

The dominant creation in the learning stage is the same as that after the cooperation period, but it is different in practice. The dominant creation in the learning stage has a greater unknown development.

Take me as an example: My idea of graduation creation is to build a complete me through the flash display of photos. Holiness means to show my appearance and personality characteristics in the eyes of others and me through the lens, and to show all aspects of me by looking for similarities, so as to complete the embodiment of a photographic work from the external environment to the internal characters, and to enable the viewer to achieve three-dimensional sensory understanding through the interaction of flash and background sound effects. The definition of this design made clear the participation of others from the beginning, because it was to express me in their eyes, so I couldn't intervene in the form of photographic pictures, but formulated a concept in content. Compared with the standard of "after defining the concept, you must choose the right creative staff", my graduation creation is a personal exploration, while Toda Masashou thinks that "art directors should not act according to the rules". Finally, comparing with the completion stage of revision, Toda Masashou thinks that "finally, it is the stage of starting printing, and from this time on, the art director begins to enter the world that really belongs to him. "Does it fully represent and reflect the kind of picture feeling you want? ..... In this process, as an art director, it is himself who challenges him, and he wants to overcome himself "(2). What he said belongs to his world, which is the same in the learning stage and the dominant creative period. The difference is that after the collection of photo materials, I entered my world. Of course, this is only an example, but leading creation is the most important creative way in the middle and late stage of learning. Combining the accumulation of technology to create and cooperate can adapt to various environments after entering the society earlier.

Four conclusions

As learners in the digital age, they are faced with a two-way choice after entering the society. It may not be difficult to set your own goals, but it is not so easy to maintain your ideals. A visual communication designer can finally develop into an excellent independent creator only by remembering the state of independent conception of design concepts in his personal creation period and maintaining this personal thinking in his cooperative creation period. And it should be noted that creative independence is a process of change. All visual communication designers should also pay attention to the role transformation of concept independence and cooperation in collaborative creation, correctly handle the contradiction between individuals' social needs and creative needs, and avoid leaving society and entering the strange circle of narcissism and seclusion.

Although the creative state of designers is constantly changing, the purpose of design remains the same, that is, to convey information and spread information. Communication to express personal thoughts is different from communication to customers. In the leading creative period, no matter how to master and cooperate, it can not be ignored. In the learning stage, while developing personal creation, we also take into account the attempt to lead creation, which can help us adapt to work and study after entering the society in advance. The most important thing to adapt to society is to learn to cooperate with customers. Let's remember this sentence: "design must cooperate with customers, encourage dialogue and creativity, and build tributaries that attract people's attention." Every design is treated equally, and every solution is a natural product of the evolving dialogue. "

Visual communication is still developing, and the creative independence of visual communication designers is also changing. With the continuous progress of designers themselves and the pursuit of creative independence in different degrees, creative independence should be paid as much attention as creativity and techniques. By understanding it, people can realize their creative state and make their works reach the best level, and better plan their future development together with visual communication.