Imitate, Cite, Contextualise. Approaches and the Use of History in the Teaching of Graphic Design

Abstract

There are no such things as originality and authorship when it comes to the production of images, and what appears as an original artwork is always, explicitly or implicitly, a product of borrowings. The work of great masters of design plays a crucial role in the academic training of visual communication designers. Design masters themselves quoted each other, for instance, Jan Tschichold referenced what he regarded as respectable colleagues to exemplify a certain design task, supplementing his discussion with examples. The practice of imitation embedded in visual designers’ education – which in itself resonates with artists’ and craftsman’s training in the traditional workshop of the past – contributes to the integration of models from the history of design within their coursework and beyond. Yet how does this corpus of references inform the practice of visual designer? How does history affect the projects and ideas of graphic design students? Starting from my own experiences as lecturer teaching to design students (from 2013–), and taking in particular consideration the visual communication courses held in the academic years 2018–2019 and 2019–2020, this paper examines different approaches to history from the perspective of graphic design education and how these feed future image-makers in developing their own visual language.