| Design Design, usually considered in the context of the applied arts, engineering, architecture, and other such creative endeavours, is used both as a noun and a verb. As a verb, "to design" refers to the process of originating and developing a plan for a product, structure, or component. As a noun, "a design" is used for both the final (solution) plan (e.g. proposal, drawing, model, description) or design can be the result of implementing that plan (e.g. object produced, result of the process). More recently, processes (in general) have also been treated as products of design, giving new meaning to the term "process design". Design normally requires a designer to consider aesthetic, functional, and many other aspects of an object or process, which usually requires considerable research, thought, modelling, interactive adjustment, and re-design. Design as a process can take many forms depending on the item being designed and the individual or individuals participating. Design is used whenever visual intricacy and creativity are applied to the presentation of text and imagery. Contemporary design has been extended to the modern computer, in particular WYSIWYG user interfaces, often referred to as interactive design, or multimedia design. Anywhere there is a need to communicate visually, there is potential enhancement of communications through design. Specifically used in advertising, design has a unique ability to persuade and sell a product with the help of adequate communications and aesthetic. Design is applied to product as well as elements of company identity like logos, colours and text, together defined as branding. Branding has increasingly become important in the range of services offered by many designers, alongside corporate identity and the terms are often used interchangeably. Communication design is a sub-discipline of design which is concerned with how media intermission such as printed, crafted, electronic media or presentations communicate with people. A communication design approach is more concerned with messages communicated than aesthetics in media. The distinction between communication design and other applied arts is in the motivation: while the communication design process does involve a certain amount of self-expression and creativity, the goals are often those of the commissioning body rather than the artist's, and the parameters set by the commissioning body are often more constraining. The term communication design is often used interchangeably with visual communication and more specifically graphic design, but has an alternate broader meaning that includes auditory communications as well as visual. Examples of Communication Design include information architecture, editing, typography, illustration and professional writing skills applied to creative industries. | <<BACK |
