From The Archives

What Should Designers Study?

by Martha RetallickJuly 14, 2004

Young people who are contemplating a design career often seek advice on what they should study. To them I say, "Anything and everything!" Why do I offer this advice? Because you never know when something you've learned may come in handy. Here in Arizona, there has been much controversy surrounding Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne's recent suggestion that fourth-year high school math should be dropped as a state university admission requirement. Mr. Horne was even quoted in the newspaper as saying that calculus and trigonometry are not useful to most adults. Permit me to share the story of a recent problem I encountered in my graphic design practice: I was designing a postcard, and wanted to add an accent to the lettering in the card. But nothing I tried had the right look. So, I decided to apply a bit of knowledge that I'd gained in a college calculus class taken more than a quarter century ago. Voila, the accent came out perfectly. The moral of my story is that you never know when you're going to need to use some advanced mathematics. This graphic designer is very glad that she has the problem-solving tools of calculus at her disposal.

About the Author: Martha Retallick is a Web and graphic designer who also publishes a line of e-books on postcard marketing. When she's not designing, she's out on her bicycle, exploring Tucson and its environs.

  1. link to this comment by Mysticpixels Thu Nov 17, 2005

    I fully agree with the above quoted words by martha. According to me being a designer, no matter graphic, web, multimedia, video, even print, is a great advantage. It is coz, the designer is open to all the topics for learning. He can go through a lot of topics and gain knowledge which ofcourse will come handy in a later stage of the design career. After all creativity can be squeezed out only if there is a vast pool of resource available in your mind.

    Just try to go through whatever you gets to read and learn to convert them into your advantage as a designer, and that gives you the edge over other ordinary designers :-)

  2. link to this comment by Vince Navarro Sun Apr 02, 2006

    I personally study anything I can get my hands on that even remotely intrests me. I find inspiration for design in everything! From building my own guitar amps to splicing genes :-)

  3. link to this comment by Anna Blueberry Wed Jun 11, 2008

    I love this. As a former would be math major, I totally agree! Anything that teaches you how to think is a very good skill to have.

  4. link to this comment by Gary Shum Sat Jun 21, 2008

    I agree with Martha that a thirst for all knowledge is beneficial, because a thinking designer is what is most sought after in our profession. But I believe knowledge should be total and detailed. Advice I'd give to young people contemplating a career in design, who want to narrow their concentration of study and build a strong foundation of design knowledge would be: art, art and design history, design theory, typography, grid systems, photography, and design thinking.

    Art- drawing helps train the eye to see detail, which is a critical skill to have. Designers should have keen observation skills. Art classes work on building hand eye coordination and craftsmanship skills, useful later as you sketch out design ideas, as you practice design and make design comps. Color theory is learned painting, and also in a limited degree in drawing.

    Art history and the history of graphic design- know the past to have sure footing for the present and future. A knowledge of history should be an essential part of building any designer's foundation. A History of Graphic Design by Philip Meggs is a must read.

    Design Theory- the system of ideas and principles that enables you to visually communicate and solve design problems. You'll learn the elements of design- line, shape, space, texture, value, and color. And the principles of design- movement, emphasis, rhythm, proportion, scale, balance, and unity. You'll learn form follows function. You'll learn color theory. You'll also learn that math does come into play in design as it does in nature, music, art, and architecture when you learn about the Golden Mean and the Fibonacci sequence.

    Typography- is the most important part of a designers foundation. Typography is the key to good design. What is design? Design is visual problem solving, combining text and imagery to communicate in a clear and compelling way. You'll learn elements and principles of typography- parts of type, letterfit & letterspacing, vertical and horizontal movement, rhythm and proportion, scale, typographical grids, etc. Robert Bringhurst's book, The Elements of Typographic Style, is an essential read for any designer. Here is an excerpt from the book- "The typographer's one essential task is to interpret and communicate the text. Its tone, its tempo, its logical structure, its physical size, all determine the possibilities of its typographic form. The typographer is to the text as the theatrical director to the script, or the musician to the score."

    Grid Systems- What is a grid and why is it useful? It is a system that enables a designer to tackle "visual problems and solve them in terms of conception, organization, and design with greater speed and confidence." –Josef Muller Brockmann. Grids are essential to learn in order to design many kinds of design projects, including any kind of sequential design- magazines, books, catalogs, brochures, etc. The essential read on this is Grid Systems by Josef Muller Brockmann.

    Photography- helps with composition, and is useful if you ever need to art direct photo shoots, or photograph your work to show for your portfolio, although most designers trade services and have their work shot by a professional photographer. You'll need to know a little bit of photography to art direct a shoot- what angles work, different types of lighting, different lensing options, and your sketching skills will come in handy when you do sketches on tracing paper of how and what angle you want your object shot. Photography, like drawing helps the designer to see and observe with increasing measure.

    Design thinking- study it! I love this quote from Ellen Lupton, "Think more, design less. Many desperate acts of design (including gradients, drop shadows and the gratuitous use of transparency) are perpetrated in the absence of a strong concept. A good idea provides a framework for design decisions, guiding the work." There are many good books out there to add to your cache of design thinking. Creativity is what separates good designers from average designers. The ability to come up with good ideas and concepts that are appropriate to the design problem and letting that guide the work is favored over looking at what is hot and trendy and applying a style. The former is design in the truest sense, the latter is decoration.

    Experience- if all of the above is the foundation for a designer, then experience is the framework of which build your house on top of that foundation. The best way to gain experience is to absorb the knowledge, thinking, design process, and experience of others. Find jobs that will provide you with good mentors, read essays on typography, design history, how to build relationships with clients, how to get business by partnering with clients, communication and presentation skills, design process and thinking.

    Formal education in design at a respected art school is the best way to go, but on-the-job work experience, good mentors, and access to essential design textbooks is also great way to learn the craft as well. Both options are tough and hard work. You can expect late nights and some tough critiques along the way.

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