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Signs and Symbols in Graphic Communication

The authors illustrate the theoretical and practical work on graphic communications in recent years. The relative legibility of fonts and images and the audience's understanding of icons are explored.

Conclusion：

1. targeting different audience groups - and different abilities to understand pictorial symbols (think about how to persuade the viewer)

2. The language of images has its own rhetorical devices

3. signs and symbols become a medium for transmitting information without the need for language at all times, and have the property of cross-linguistic communication.

4.designers must consider the effectiveness of logos and symbols in the overall visual layout.

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Towards Vernacular Typographic

This article explores the emergence and significance of Vernacular Typographic through the changes in Malaysian typography in graphic design. How is it being used nowadays?

Conclusion：

1.Each font has its own meaning and story.

2. Causes：

1) Influenced by socio-historical factors

2) Influenced by geographical developments

3. changed the traditional design thinking of designers who have preconceived ideas about type design and typography;

4. to a certain extent, it has brought multiple perspectives to informal design;

5. design inspiration as a social context

Key word：City Psoriasis

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DesignedTypography

Layout design focuses on mastering design with the eyes rather than the intellect through personal charisma, aiming for an impact on the senses.

Conclusion：

1. people ensure publicity through a lot of advertisements, but the investment is very high;

2. novel designs are pursued, but they are short-lived;（nothing stays new for long）

3. simple and clear typography and distribution, clearly highlighting the characteristics of the design object（The eye is guided to a place when the composition must lead them to hover over the details）

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The development of friendly relations between China and the Soviet Union led China to see that the forms of design used by the Soviet Union in its political propaganda could be well adapted to China's political development. As a result, in 1950, China began to promote the design forms of communist aesthetics throughout the country, calling on the people to unite.

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China and the Soviet Union concluded a 30-year Treaty of Peace, Security and Friendship on 14 February 1950. The PRC, lacking an economic base and administrative-technical skills, was willing to play the role of 'little brother' in the fields of ideology and foreign policy, in return for extensive (financial, material and immaterial) support from Moscow.

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4.Historical and Contemporary Chinese Graphic Design

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4.Historical and Contemporary Chinese Graphic Design

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Chinese Modern Design: A Retrospective

Postmodernism is a hot topic in Chinese design, this paper explores what are the influences of postmodernism as an international modern movement on Chinese design? How has China embraced such movements?

Conclusion：

1.History

1). China is more influenced by political factors (before 1970, the main focus was on propaganda to rectify the image)

2). Uniform design forms are more homogeneous.

(e.g. *. Political billboards were seen as a means to educate people)

*. predominantly hand-painted and very low cost

2. modern

1). triggered many designers to design for nostalgia (nostalgia became a common experience in consumer culture)

Reflections: is this a real movement or an immature foreign imitation?

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The Vernacular Typography Project

1. Indigenous fonts can be used as a cultural heritage of visual symbols

2. Bringing a certain value to a city or a place and a space (can clearly position itself)

3. Text in the environment is a history lesson in type design and production

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The Vernacular Typography Project | CreativePro Network

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Wherever you go – from around the corner to around the world – examples of local, “vernacular” typography and lettering can be seen in storefronts, street and address markers, circuses and carnivals, posters, billboards, graffiti, and a lot more. This vanishing art consisting of handwriting, hand lettering, as well as commercially typeset images is an

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A Rejection of the Term "Vernacular"

To explore what are the concepts that influence us to define this type of design as ‘vernacular’?

Reflections: how to modernise the ‘vernacular’ while retaining its own characteristics.

Bonus topic: decolonising design

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If I was told that the design in postcolonial nations was graphic-not "vernacular"-design, how would this have shifted my design educational experience?
My interest in graphic design began when I lived in the Philippines. My work was always viewed as "Art" or "Marketing," but was nonetheless valued for its aesthetic qualities that aligned with Filipino culture. Only after I began my "formal" design education at the Rhode Island School of Design's (RISD's) Graphic Design Department did my Filipino art and design sensibilities get questioned by Bauhaus and Swiss Graphic Design "rules" that are the foundation of the RISD curriculum. For the first two years at university, I completely threw out any Filipino references and aesthetics in my work-I cringed at these epitomes of "bad" graphic design.

A year later, when I again began to produce work from a distinctly Filipino perspective, I was told by a professor that my work was "not that good. Some of it is actually quite bad." I jumped in and said: "Well, I am leaning into the design vernacularsof the Philippines," to which the professor nodded, and stopped commenting. Now, reflecting upon this critique, it is evident that this professor had unmistakable expectations for graphic versus vernacular, or good versus bad design. The classification of my work as "vernacular"was the only thing I could say to prevent my professor and peers from being critical of every formal design decision I made, without fully comprehending the function of my work. At the time, I did not fully understand the implications of classifying my work as "vernacular." I lacked comprehensive knowledge on the term's etymology and uses.

I was first introduced to the term "vernacular design" when I began to research decolonial theory, and how to relate this to my practice as a postcolonial Filipino designer. Many designers and academics based in Europe or North America would refer to graphic design seen on billboards, hand-painted signage, magazines, and storefronts in postcolonial nations as "vernacular design." When I spoke with peers engaged in similar postcolonial and decolonial design work, I realized we all shared an understanding of "vernacular design" to mean "design languages"-that is, using the definition of the noun vernacular to mean language rather than its categorical definition in design and architecture. For the most part, we were unaware of the term's etymology and alternate uses.

"In postcolonial Philippines, graphic design-both in and out of the capitalist framework-is not a field that can be placed in a box and defined by institutions. Our design exists for aesthetic and ornamental function."

According to Dictionary.com, the noun "vernacular" is defined as "the native speech or language of a place." I found empowerment in using the term, as it uniquely reflected how Filipinos mostly learn to design outside of institutions. Self-taught designers are very common in the Philippines, as there are currently no graphic design programs offered in Philippine Universities-with the exception of a few "advertising" or "information design" degrees that are ultimately tied to capitalism.

Similar to our native tongues, our design skills are learned by imitating the "native," established, design vernaculars exhibited across large scale billboards, advertising campaigns, jeepneys, graffiti, etc. in the country. In postcolonial Philippines, graphic design-both in and out of the capitalist framework-is not a field that can be placed in a box and defined by institutions. Our design exists for aesthetic and ornamental function.

Before I knew it, I had excessively littered the term "vernacular" throughout my thesis without realizing how I was actually using the language of my colonizer to describe my own Filipino culture and identity. While doing further research for my thesis and the Futuress Against the Grain Fellowship, I came to understand how "vernacular design" is essentially used to categorize designs that do not fit within the standards of good Euro-American design-namely, designs that are not produced by individuals who were formally trained in Western educational institutions.I began to question: why must we categorize designs produced by self-taught designers versus "formally" trained ones? Why does design from my culture, and that of other postcolonial and diasporic contexts, have to be labeled "vernacular" rather than just being understood as graphic design?

This rude awakening was exacerbated when I learned the origins of the term in Do It Like You Do It, a lecture by graphic designer Agyei Archer. Archer shed light into the deeply disturbing Latin origin of the term vernacular: vernāculus, defined as "belonging to the household, domestic, native" and derived from verna "slave born in the household"added the suffix "ar" (meaning artists and repertoire).Although the term "vernāculus" itself is used to simply reflect something native to a country, such as its language, flora, animals, architecture, art, etc, I argue that its etymology cannot be separated from its intrinsic links to the violent history of framing women in Euro-patriarchal cultures to be tied to the household; to domestic work.

"I was actually using the language of my colonizer to describe my own Filipino culture and identity. [...] I came to understand how "vernacular design" is essentially used to categorize designs that do not fit within the standards of good Euro-American design"

In patriarchal societies, women continue to be overwhelmingly discounted as domestic household workers, whose contributions are devalued as vernāculus. Graphic Design history, and the professional industry we see today, is perceived to be white and male. Women, non-binary, and queer designers continue to be overlooked. Although AIGA Eye on Design's Laura Bolt reports that women account for over 60% of graduate degrees in design, and 61% of the design industry, only 29% actually hold leadership roles. It is greatly unsurprising when the term "vernacular" is used to describe design that does not fit within the canon essentially established by the men of the Bauhaus.

Men continue to hold power and thus dictate what classifies as "good" graphic design, which typically leans towards "clean" Swiss principles. Designs which have a heavier hand-or dare I say (femininely) ornamented-are often classified as "bad" or "vernacular." Elaine Reichek's piece, Sampler (The Ultimate), places quotes from well-known European designers and historians on a 19" x 19" linen sheet. Using embroidery-a medium often linked to femininity-Reichek juxtaposes art historian, Hans Hildebrant's quote that "ornamental liveliness" is the "fundamental characteristic of female creativity" with architect, Adolf Loos' stance that "ornamentation [...] must be overcome." Reichek's piece can be understood as a representation of today's design industry that maintains patrichiarchical values.

Design histories and contributions from the majority, non-Eurocentric non-Western world are similarly sidelined. Verna,the Latin root of vernāculus, is defined as "slave born in the household."This further exemplifies how the use of "vernacular" is tied to the (neo-)colonization and oppression of peoples in the majority world.

I am reminded that African American VernacularEnglish (AAVE), created within Black communities and culture, is reduced essentially to "slang" by non-Black folk. This slangis constantly appropriated, co-opted and turned into the language of global trends, which transforms it into popular culture. The links between pop culture and AAVE are seldom recognized due to this and broader African American/Black culture being devalued, until it is inevitably validated by non-Black Eurocentric cultures. This can be understood as language supremacy, another form of systemic oppression and present day neo-colonization. The violent colonial wound that is the history of the transatlantic slave trade and forceful enslavement of Africans by European colonial powers, particularly in the United States, cannot be separated from the classification of AAVE as "vernacular" English. Grammatical, spelling, and colloquial differences in the English language are already recognized. Dictionaries and languages in software allow users to select between a variety of localized versions of English such as Australian, Indian, Irish, Singaporean, South African, and U.S. Yet AAVE, because of systemic oppression that upholds language supremacy, is discounted as simply vernacular English or slang. This qualification reduces and erases work in the development and growth of this language that comes directly from the descendants of the formerly enslaved or the verna, the "slave(s) born in the household."

"Working within the vernacular, outside established educational or cultural institutions, may grant a sense of empowerment and legitimacy to our work. However, we must carefully examine the etymology and subliminal meanings attached to the words and language that we use."

If we are to view "Vernacular Design"in this same framework of language supremacy, it is arguable that it is similarly disregarded as "slang." As design slangthat develops outside of Eurocentric institutions, it lacks legitimacy until a "trained " designer "elevates"it by co-opting and appropriating parts of the vernacular into "trendy"good graphic design- slang stolen from the native. I must recognize that there are multiple definitions and understandings of this word. Working within the vernacular, outside established educational or cultural institutions, may grant a sense of empowerment and legitimacy to our work. However, we must carefully examine the etymology and subliminal meanings attached to the words and language that we use.

An example of how graphic design trends are picked up from the "vernacular" postcolonial design scene can be demonstrated by the recent resurgence in popularity of the RISO machine. The use of RISO printing for a majority of Filipino publications is not an aesthetic choice, but one of necessity and functionality. It is often the cheapest and fastest mode of production, and while its imperfections are not necessarily valued, they are nonetheless accepted due to its low cost.

Filipino Diasporic group, Hardworking Goodlooking's (HWGL) 2017 book Filipino Folk Foundry (FFF), received a lot of publicity in the U.S., with many publications applauding theiruse of RISO printing. The Minneapolis-based Walker Art Center praised its "DIY production values," without explicit mention of the Philippines' polarizing social and political state. Other publications failed to highlight the FFF's innovation in beginning to document Filipino sign-painting, typography, and design history-a field that is not yet widely studied in the local context. There was no reference to the FFF's intentional subversion of design rules. I noticed that the design community appreciated what they saw as successful, without addressing the FFF's decolonial content and design decisions. This is a prime example of the fascination of form over content. In this particular case, the lack of understanding of the FFF's actual function leaves the untrained, colonizing eye with nothing but form to critique. In the colonizing view of Filipino culture as the other,our design languages are only appreciated on the surface level. By being classified as "vernacular design" -design that apparently is not grounded on articulated formal artistic theory-the Filipino graphic landscape is automatically viewed with a colonizing gaze.

It should be noted that Hardworking Goodlooking has made a tremendous impact on the Filipino design community. When I began my research, they were one of the only resources I had on Filipino graphic design. HWGL's proximity to institutions allowed them and their work to be viewed in a particular light. The FFF was designed primarily by Kristian Henson and Dante Carlos, who were educated in highly respected U.S. universities. This undeniably allowed the FFF to be "elevated" from vernacular to graphic design, and put it in the forefront of the Euro-American design scene. This situation is identical to how my education at RISD has allowed my work and practice to gain traction and legitimacy in both U.S. and Philippine contexts. Nevertheless, this doesn't disqualify the FFF and HWGL's broader practice, which paid homage to Filipino design languages and allowed for the work of Filipino sign-painters and authors to take the forefront of the publication.

Once sign-painting was put in the spotlight by numerous U.S. design publications in 2017, there was a sudden resurgence in an appreciation for Filipino typography in the local design scene. Instagram accounts like FilipinoType and Type63 emerged with the aim to highlight Filipino typographers. In the continual rise of self-taught designers and typographers, there was a concurrent rise in the production of typefaces that directly pulled from sign-painting and hand lettering.

This occurrence can be explained by A.A. Philip's theory of cultural cringe, which Filipino cultural worker Clara Balaguer defines as the phenomenon "by which the culture produced in an ex-colonial or colonial country is seen as inferior to that being produced in the colonial seat." In this case, the United States' fascination with Filipino sign-painting has led to the rise of the local Filipino appreciation for sign-painting. In the cultural cringe framework, we understand that the local Filipino design community does not necessarily appreciate sign-painting; they may cringe at it-that is, until an ex-colonial power, in this case the U.S., places value on that very thing.

The framing of signage, restaurant menus, bumper stickers, decals, memes, etc. in the U.S. and Europe as "unpolished" or "bad" design is innately connected to the classification of postcolonial design languages as "vernacular." Most "raw" or vernacularsignage, especially those of restaurants in immigrant communities, are often the target of criticism by the design community. There is an obsession to dissect design choices that lead to the use of default fonts like Comic Sans, Papyrus, Curlz MT or Arial. This constant overcritical analysis is the underlying foundation for diminishing postcolonial design as vernacular.

The understanding that defaultfonts and seemingly unintentional design choices are "bad"assumes that all design within this aesthetic can be reduced to the realm of "vernacular" or seen as design that is not professional.In the case of the Philippines, a majority of our visual design shares this same voice: the co-opting of the "default," and the piling on of our own voices in the most maximal sense until it serves its ornamental and aesthetic purpose. Yet the Filipino voice continues to be discounted with little to no understanding of our unique culture, which continues to be affected by the legacy of Spanish, British, U.S., and Japanese colonization.

In the continual process of decolonizing my design practice and my own mind, I reject the term "vernacular." I mustalways question what design canons I continue to operate under, even when I believe I am centering decolonial theory. For a time, I found empowerment in using the term. It provided me with the necessary vocabulary to function within Euro-American colonial education and cultural institutions to validate my own practice before it was discounted. Yet in unpacking its etymology, it helped me understand how I continue to use the language of my colonizer to describe postcolonial and decolonial design. It further provoked me to be critical of the words that I use to describe not only my own practice, but also that of other cultures and peoples. The categorization and quantification of "vernacular" v.s. "professional graphic design" is reductive, and only undermines the deep cultural history of the many design languages exhibited and existing in postcolonial nations. The widespread and misguided use of the term further perpetuates the colonizing notion that other graphic design languages must be categorized to enforce and assert the power of the Eurocentric Canon.

As I continue to realize my dreams for a decolonial future, I explicitly reject the term and actively recognize that-from the immigrant restaurant signage in the United States, to the large scale billboards and fleets of jeepneys in Metro Manila- all forms of visual design languages should be considered "graphic design."

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Javier Syquia (he/him) is a born-and-rasied Queer Filipino graphic designer currently living in the ancestral lands of the Canarsie and Munsee Lenape people (Brooklyn, NY). His practice-as designer and researcher-aims to center decolonial theory and is informed by his identity as a postcolonial Filipino based on the stolen-land of his ex-colonizer, the United States.

Cover image sources: Works byJasmin Chaves and Kookie Santos (through Type63), Hardworking Goodlooking and Javier Syquia. Photograph by Marcy Vincent.

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If I was told that the design in postcolonial nations was graphic-not "vernacular"-design, how would this have shifted my design educational experience? My interest in graphic design began when I lived in the Philippines. My work was always viewed as "Art" or "Marketing," but was nonetheless valued for its aesthetic qualities that aligned with Filipino culture.

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These typography artists are introducing vernacular fonts to their creations

Words not only convey language but also embody visual narratives rooted in history and culture.

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These typography artists are introducing vernacular fonts to their creations

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From the flowing curves of Devanagari to the intricate loops of Tamil, these scripts not only convey language but also embody a visual narrative deeply rooted in history and culture.

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The authors conduct a systematic study of Cantonese language in their dual roles as observers and designers. They have visualised their research results to form the ‘Cantonese Language Observation Exhibition’. Unlike textbook-style language studies, ‘Cantonese Observation’ uses everyday Cantonese conversation as an entry point to show secular life and peek into social reality.

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Another article：

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24053510?searchText=art+and+cultural+hong+kong+or+the+creation+of+a&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dart%2Band%2Bcultural%2Bhong%2Bkong%2Bor%2Bthe%2Bcreation%2Bof%2Ba%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A6c118e31d7d6fbd489071e0f8c3a9b74

Conclusion：

1.‘International Postmodernism’ with a Chinese Flavour

2.Early retro design

3.The common denominator: the narrative of Chinese history

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The following three sets of cases each analyse vernacular typography

Each of the three groups featured designers in a hands-on discussion of vernacular languages and typographic cultures in India and the Philippines. As well as molly's presentation of her own collection of vernacular design elements and her visual analysis of these dying vernacular typographies.

Additional Extension Topic: Cultural Heritage

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My RP：Exploring Grassroots’ Vernacular Graphic Design in Contemporary China- A Study of Informal Aesthetic Practices

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My RP：Exploring Grassroots’ Vernacular Graphic Design in Contemporary China- A Study of Informal Aesthetic Practices

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Key Words：Visual language/Vernacular/

Individualised aesthetics/Bottom-up

The main focus of my RP was to discuss contemporary grassroots vernacular graphic design in China. These designs possess their own unique styles, but such styles are still much questioned and discussed in terms of traditional aesthetics. What is the significance of this non-aesthetic form of design? What are the reasons for its emergence? What impact has it had on the field of graphic design? These are all questions worth thinking about

I will be discussing and analysing:

Fonts Language, Visual Signs And Symbols, Typography, Historical And Contemporary Graphic Design, and Vernacular Typography.

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Through these three narratives, designers in many countries have begun to use their vernacular language and fonts to visualise their designs, and they are more than keen to spread their vernacular culture. They define their vernacular as an endangered art form, and at the same time, they are exploring the cultural heritage of vernacular design. At the same time, we also find that the design field lacks in-depth research on contemporary Chinese vernacular design.

Reflections：

1. do vernacular designs such as RP have the nature of visual cultural heritage?

2. why should the aesthetics of such designs be categorised separately and defined as informal designs?

3.This typeface is being phased out little by little due to ‘unprofessionalism’ and ‘aesthetic inconsistency’, will it become a visual cultural heritage?

4. In terms of visualisation, can the formal typography of the designs described in RP be presented through a 2D to 3D transformation? Can this type of non-aesthetic design style be visualised in a more intuitive way?

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As can be learnt from the above literature and practical examples, fonts play a vital role in the overall form of typography. Many designers have begun to study the design extensibility of text, especially for dialectal characters with unique cultural flavour. Because it brings together the influence of the times and regional environment development. China is a multi-ethnic country with many dialects and cultures, and there is no lack of cases where stall owners use dialectal characters to promote themselves in the night market signboard design mentioned in the RP. These dialects are easier for local customers to recognise and increase visual recognition.

Reflections:

1. How can typefaces be integrated with modern design while ensuring the development of their specific culture?

2. There are so many dialects and cultures in China, how should we go about categorising them and choosing which form to study?

3. For non-local customers, how to help them visually recognise the dialect through what type of design form?

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The above literature, as well as the section on the ‘language of type’, discusses the fact that different groups of viewers/clients have different levels of visual understanding and acceptance of visual signals. Therefore, when designing about vernacular type, consideration should be given to whether the specificity that its object has can be recognised. Data on the acceptance of visual images by various groups of people should also be collected and analysed.

Reflections:

1. Can my RP of Chinese vernacular design mentioned in the RP become a visual symbol?

2. If it is a symbol for cross-language communication, what kind of characteristics should it have? How to communicate with the audience efficiently?

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As with the layout design discussed in the literature above, which is more about sensory impact, most of the signage designs for night markets in RP are designed to be simple and brutal and zoom in on the logo and product images, and then designed with vibrant colours, so that people will pay attention to it at the first glance and get a sense of visual freshness.

At the same time there are many brands nowadays pursuing personalised aesthetics, and some designers are also using vernacular for their designs, but are only pursuing novelty without considering the audience's long-lasting attention to it. (You can survey and collect the audience's opinion on novelty and what they think the novelty is related to).

Reflections:

How do the stallholders in the night market understand the word novelty? And is the typography of their own signboards novel?

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The development of graphic design in China was influenced by the political closure and open attitude of the times, so after a period of stagnation in design forms, the attitude of learning and imitation has been maintained for many new design situations and design movements since 1970. However, more design inspirations were taken from Hong Kong design, for example, the design of neon signs. Nowadays, many designs are imitating these forms of design, more on the theme of nostalgia to create attention and promote their brands.

Reflections:

1. Is the vernacular design form in RP also a nostalgic design? What are their similarities? What are the differences?

2. are they nostalgic designs recognised by the audience?