Academic discussions about graphic and communication design
Design has never been more visible – yet rigorous design practice is increasingly absent. This post examines how design thinking and its offshoots hollowed out the discipline, replacing craft, critique, and accountability with process, abstraction, and performative mediocrity.
Design's storytelling is compelling yet can oversimplify its role, risking diluting the practice and reducing its criticality. The belief in universal grand narratives about design can undermine professional practice, while reliance on reductive methods can flatten creativity. Design should focus on its specific, contextual influences rather than claiming to resolve all societal issues, promoting clarity over inflated narratives.
Design is increasingly used to address societal challenges, engaging with social and cultural issues. Can graphic design contribute to media literacy educaiton by deconstructing narratives, using defamiliarisation methods, to foster critical reflection and enhance media communication understanding?
There has sometimes been a disparity in graphic design's treatment, and an oversimplification of its scope, often focusing on aesthetics over its strategic application. Recognising its dynamic evolution and influence is essential for the broader field of design, as well as design thinking.
Overview of an article that focusses on a mid-1980s television advertisement for the Yellow Pages, which aims to inform engagement with and reflection on current and future challenges to the design and communications industry from the digital revolution.
Communication & Graphic Design Research 
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