What is the Social Role of the Graphic Designer?
Drawing and illustration is my passion, graphic design is my career. The role of graphic designer is confusing to some people. From explaining what I do to a friend or family to weather my role has any social influence is a hard task. Do I have a social role in society? Am I a just a neutral messenger of the company's message, am I influencing the client to make certain decisions? What exactly is the social role of a graphic designer in the world? I found this essay by Pierre Bernard , co-founder of Grapus and Atelier de Création Graphique, that discusses the social role of a graphic designer in depth. Keep in mind that Grapus was a group of idealist artists and graphic designers which were members of the Communists Party. No, I'm not endorsing the Communist idea, I'm just warning you that I'm aware of their political stand and some of the points he makes in the essay are valuable even in our capitalist consumerist world. Graphus disbanded in January 1991, splitting i