2.14: CTE - Graphic Design
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- Susan Rahman, Prateek Sunder, and Dahmitra Jackson
- CC ECHO
Graphic Design Certificates at Community Colleges prepare individuals to apply artistic and computer techniques to the interpretation of technical and commercial concepts, in preparation to design websites from concept to completion. This may include basic design principles, website architecture and promotion, graphic design, web animation, audio and video production, instruction in computer-assisted art and design, printmaking, concepts sketching,technical drawing, color theory, imaging, studio technique, still and life modeling, multimedia applications, communication skills and commercial art business operations. (Cuesta College 2018).
According to the 2019 design census created by American Institute of Graphic Arts, Black people make up just 3% of the graphic design industry, while White people make up 71%. Native Americans make up 0.2%, Asian Americans 9%, and Multi-Racial reported 5%. (GRAPHIC DESIGNER Demographics And Statistics In The US, 2021).To place these numbers in perspective,note that in the 1960s only 1% to 2% of designers were Black, and that number has only increased by 1% as of 2019 data. In 1991, a landmark symposium titled, “Why is graphic design 93% White?” by the Professional Association for Design began to ask difficult questions regarding racial disparities. (The Black Experience in Graphic Design: 1968 and 2020, 2020).When we look at upper level leadership in the graphic arts industry and academies those numbers dwindle even more. In line with our country’s culture for the past 250 years, the history of graphic design stems from one dominant and white supremacist voice. The inability to bridge the gap is a failure of equity across educational institutions, industry organizations,and the design profession as a whole. To break the cycle, we need a more diverse mix of industry gatekeepers. Leaders must address the structural racism abound, in order to support disenfranchised youth who are facing these ongoing difficulties yet still have the will to succeed. The continued psychological trauma of always feeling as though they are being tied down and constantly suppressed by teachers, colleagues, clients, and the media makes their ability to create that much harder. The history of graphic design is frequently traced from the onset of moveable-type printing in the 15th century, yet earlier developments and technologies related to writing and printing can be considered as parts of the longer history of communication. After the Second World War, with the emergence of new color printing technology and particularly the introduction of computers, the art of poster-making underwent a new revolutionary phase. Unfortunately, the high costs associated with sophisticated printing processes can only be afforded largely by government entities and elite corporations, which means communities with less wealth, often those of color, have been left out of the graphic design industry altogether. While people can create color posters on their laptop computers and create color prints at a relatively low cost, the costs associated with paper, printer, ink, and design software are still considered expensive for students living on limited incomes. With the emergence of social media and the internet,the role of the infographic in conveying information among groups of ethnicities has played history-changing roles in movements like Black Lives Matter (#BLM) and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (#MMIW). By searching hashtags like, #SocialJustice or#MeToo, a wealth of online creators of all ethnicities are freely sharing their work on social media for the first time in history. Graphic design has become a part of daily life for people of color who engage with each other online and seek to work toward common goals. Websites like Patreon offer graphic designers a place to sell their artwork and custom created content to the general public for nominal fees, allowing a small side income to be established for artists. However, K-12 education is still based on levels of resources available, and many students of color do not have access to computers which became evident when the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic forced students to continue their education remotely. Graphic design software companies like Adobe Inc. and Canva charge fees and make money from each user. Adobe Incorporated is owned by an Indian American, and Canva is owned by an Australian woman, and both companies promote the idea that graphic design should be accessible to everyone.
Graphic design is about communication. It is about access to information. To get more information to more people, we need a greater understanding about making that happen in an equitable fashion (Korsunskiy, 2020). We need the communicators, the designers, to better represent the people they’re talking to. “Better representation means better communication,which means information is more equitably shared and knowledge is power” (Korsunskiy, 2020). The makeup of the industry needs to better reflect the makeup of our country. We need disenfranchised youth to get involved and we need design writers to seek out more inclusive stories and to help script the new equitable narrative. We need awards shows to open up entries, open up judging, and celebrate craft in all its many permutations (Korsunskiy, 2020).Ultimately, we need the people that do the hiring of agencies and companies to do the work of seeking out representation at every level of design. Contemporarily, white graphic designers appropriating designers of color with phrases like “bae” and “on fleek” is rampant across the graphic design industry as brands attempt to stay relevant to the growing racially-mixed population (Korsunskiy, 2020). As the recent #BLM protests have put more pressure on civil authorities and white-owned companies to acknowledge humanity towards people of color,this is the time for white graphic designers in influential positions to reach out to look inward to seek to address their own racial biases that prevent young designers of color from proceeding further. The people who make up the graphic design industry need to better reflect the makeup of the United States population.