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Why Graphic Culture Matters

When

April 24, 2024
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Where

Virtual via Zoom
* This event has passed — please stay tuned for a recap! *
“The rise of digital media and social media have eroded the once central role of highly creative graphic communication, … a heavy blow to our public graphic culture, which used to be so much more inventive, unpredictable, vibrant and free. Perhaps we can get it back….we need to single out and celebrate anyone who breaks the mould.”

— Author Rick Poynor

Join us for a virtual conversation to explore how design influences society beyond the creative process. We will examine the impact of design on our world and its connection to the broader cultural spectrum. Rick Poynor is the author of "Why Graphic Culture Matters." He has curated 46 essays in his book that take us through the graphic design journey, including the commercial dominance in design, the evolution and history of design critique, the interplay between text and imagery, the phenomenon of design celebrity, and the profound connection between art and design.

This book challenges us to think critically about the role of graphic design today and advocates for the importance of critical writing and discussion in the field. He urges us to look beyond surface-level showcases to the deeper cultural roots and sources behind our work.

"Why Graphic Culture Matters" is a call to action for the design community. It reminds us that design is not just a tool for consumerism but a rich and complex cultural force that deserves our attention, critique, and celebration.

This DesignMeets event is an insightful look into the power and importance of graphic culture in our society. Whether you're a designer, a critic, or a curious soul, let's get inspired and join us.

Check out the book — Why Graphic Culture Matters, by Rick Poynor, published by Occasional Papers.

Rick Poynor

Author

Rick Poynor is an English writer on graphic communication, photography, and the visual arts. He was formerly Professor of Design and Visual Culture at the University of Reading.

He began as a general visual arts journalist, working on Blueprint magazine in London. After founding Eye magazine, which he edited from 1990 to 1997, he focused increasingly on visual communication. He is writer-at-large and columnist of Eye, and a contributing editor and columnist of Print magazine.

In 1999, Poynor was a co-ordinator of the First Things First 2000 manifesto initiated by Adbusters. In 2003, he co-founded Design Observer, a weblog for design writing and discussion, with William Drenttel, Jessica Helfand, and Michael Bierut. He wrote for the site until 2005. He was a visiting professor at the Royal College of Art, London from 1994 to 1999 and returned to the RCA in 2006 as a research fellow. He also taught at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht. In 2004, Poynor curated the exhibition, Communicate: Independent British Graphic Design since the Sixties, at the Barbican Art Gallery in London. The exhibition subsequently travelled to four venues in China and to Zurich.

Poynor's writing encompasses both cultural criticism and design history, and his books break down into three categories. He wrote several monographs about significant British figures in the arts and design: Brian Eno (musician), Nigel Coates (architect), Vaughan Oliver (graphic designer), and Herbert Spencer (graphic designer). Other books document and analyze general movements in graphic design and typography. Among these are Typography Now, the first international survey of the digital typography of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and No More Rules, a critical study of graphic design and postmodernism.

Poynor also published three essay collections, Design Without Boundaries, Obey the Giant, and Designing Pornotopia, which explore the cultural implications of visual communication, including advertising, photography, branding, graphic design, and retail design. In 2020, Yale University Press published his book about the work of graphic designer David King. In 2023, Occasional Papers published Why Graphic Culture Matters, a collection of 46 of his essays written over the past two decades.[7]

Poynor was a prominent interviewee in the 2007 documentary film Helvetica.

Bio courtesy of Wikipedia.