Précis: Graphic Design Theory “Design and Reflexivity” by Jan Van Toorn, 1994
Précis: Graphic Design Theory “Design and Reflexivity” by Jan van Toorn, 1994.
Verbal and Visual Rhetoric, University of Baltimore
Publication Design Master's Program, Spring, 2011
Dutch graphic designer Jan van Toorn is known for his radical ideas about what the function of design should be, and what qualities designers should possess and promote with their designs. Van Toorn’s distinctive style is messy, peculiar, and deeply interwoven with political and cultural messages, unapologetic with their intent to force critical thinking upon viewers. Van Toorn advocates design which encourages the viewer to reach their own conclusions, insisting that designers shouldn’t function as objective bystanders, but instead, designers have an important contribution to make. Design is a form of visual journalism and van Toorn urges designers to take responsibility for their role as “journalists.” Van Toorn begins his argument by stating that all professions contain a certain level of schizophrenia––inescapable contradictions, including graphic design, which must balance the interest of the public with the interests of the client and the general expectations of the media profession. To survive, design must “strive to neutralize these inherent conflicts of interest by developing a mediating concept aimed at consensus [....] to accepting the world image of the established order as the context for its own action.” (Page 102, first paragraph)
By reconciling the differences of various ideals and opinions, and establishing a cultural norm, design develops a “practical and conceptual coherence” in mass media, thereby legitimizing itself––legitimized “in the eyes of the social order, which, in turn is confirmed and legitimized by the contributions that design make to symbolic production.” (Page 102, second paragraph) The cultural industry, comprised of corporations, the wealthy, the educated, and the powerful elite, dictate to the rest of society what is popular, distasteful,
Verbal and Visual Rhetoric, University of Baltimore
Publication Design Master's Program, Spring, 2011
Dutch graphic designer Jan van Toorn is known for his radical ideas about what the function of design should be, and what qualities designers should possess and promote with their designs. Van Toorn’s distinctive style is messy, peculiar, and deeply interwoven with political and cultural messages, unapologetic with their intent to force critical thinking upon viewers. Van Toorn advocates design which encourages the viewer to reach their own conclusions, insisting that designers shouldn’t function as objective bystanders, but instead, designers have an important contribution to make. Design is a form of visual journalism and van Toorn urges designers to take responsibility for their role as “journalists.” Van Toorn begins his argument by stating that all professions contain a certain level of schizophrenia––inescapable contradictions, including graphic design, which must balance the interest of the public with the interests of the client and the general expectations of the media profession. To survive, design must “strive to neutralize these inherent conflicts of interest by developing a mediating concept aimed at consensus [....] to accepting the world image of the established order as the context for its own action.” (Page 102, first paragraph)
By reconciling the differences of various ideals and opinions, and establishing a cultural norm, design develops a “practical and conceptual coherence” in mass media, thereby legitimizing itself––legitimized “in the eyes of the social order, which, in turn is confirmed and legitimized by the contributions that design make to symbolic production.” (Page 102, second paragraph) The cultural industry, comprised of corporations, the wealthy, the educated, and the powerful elite, dictate to the rest of society what is popular, distasteful,