Robert:

Tanks for your illumination of the other uses of "communication" related to transportation and communication industries. That was new to me.

<SNIP>
Based on my experience of working in the Art and Design sector of higher
education in the UK, and external examining, Graphic Design recruits
significantly larger numbers than the many related fields that have
evolved since the early 1990s, such as Interaction Design, or what is also
known as Motion Graphics. I could also name more traditional 'bedfellows"
such as Illustration. I'd be interested to know the cohort sizes for
Graphic Design, Interaction Design, and Motion Design at Cincinnati to see
if this is a wider phenomenon.
<SNIP>

Good question. Our current cohorts are about 50% Graphic Design and 25% Motion Design and 25% Interaction Design. 

Because others may be following this, I want to say again that these specializations are within an overall and continuous graphic/communication design curriculum and the distinctions between the 'fields' are not hard boundaries. It is all communication design. However, Motion and Interaction each have not only special skill sets but also specialized technologies to master: interaction theory, coding, and programming basics for Interaction Design, and timeline, narrative theory, file compression, and animation (squash, stretch, gravity, etc.) for Motion Design. Thus the need for some specialized classes.

Your points snipped below about about the primacy of visual in graphic design are well-taken. 

<SNIP>
As you suggest, graphic designers create "communication objects in many
media" but in my view if "communication DESIGN seems to state the aim and
suggests visual/graphic means" why not just continue to call it graphic
DESIGN?" For me, Communication Design must embrace more than the visual,
and this is what I meant when I suggested Graphic Design had a tighter
sensory focus (for example, primarily visual).
<SNIP>

The simple answer to your question is that Communication Design seems to BOTH embrace additional forms of communication AND to suggest primacy of the visual. We'll see.

But I agree with your concerns and have argued these same points in discussions with colleagues! My colleagues, particularly those who teach motion design, respond that communication IS more than visual with audio as a significant component in motion communication projects (we teach an audio design class to motion designers) and others argue that graphic design has always included words (the designer as author movement being an extension of that thought) embodied as typography. For example, a recent professional interaction project that I was associated with had some game-like activities and a significant amount of time and budget was spent getting the sounds right so they enhanced the visual aspects of the communication. In some cases the communication relied significantly on the audio (not words, just sounds: clink, chunk, boing for example). In our experience with professionals (as consultants and through our co-op program), both design clients and consumers of graphic design just want effective communication experiences and do not concern themselves with whether there was audio or not or whether there were words with images or just graphics. Our arguments here are not significant to our users out there. They just want good communication.

Anyway, that is the argument that has prevailed here at this time. 

I personally believe that the unique thing that graphic designers bring to communication design is understanding of and skill with visual. My research suggests that focused visual studies are not just about making visual form (color, shape, drawing, etc.) but forming ways of thinking. Visual thinking is arguably more creative by nature, but that's another topic I am still working on and not prepared to defend here now.

As you can see, I have trepidation about the name change. I think any reduction in emphasis on the visual or graphic nature of communication design is bad, but recognize the need to embrace additional media objects as noted above.

Best…


Mike Zender
University of Cincinnati
Editor, Visible Language


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