Faculty of Design

Graphic Design

JoYcelyn Wong

Think Outside of Rectangle

[Graphic Design is Angst: A Leap of Faith Facing “It” series]If the primary role of graphic language is to serve the purpose of commercials, will we lose our ability to communicate graphically in a broader spectrum of messages? Often, commercial graphics promote products—essentially inanimate—in different ways, such as branding, flyers, and social media posts. Such practices co-opt human sensitivities, repurposing symbols and emotions as mechanisms to amplify product appeal, effectively commodifying and transforming human nature's intrinsic aspects into “it”. This reorientation of graphic design seems at odds with its foundational ethos of serving human connection, veering instead toward an “it”-centric narrative. Gradually, this shift alters the essence of visual languages, transforming them into something that, while visually appealing, carries a limited meaning. This engenders a sense of disconnection and desensitization between humans and graphic design, undermining its communicative and emotional essence.Advertisements skillfully use shapes to evoke specific feelings—take the Nike logo, which links cleanliness and dynamism. Moreover, reliance on standard images or shapes, such as emojis or hearts, can limit our creative freedom and expression in graphic design by making us conform to these familiar symbols. Unfortunately, for those outside the graphic or art sectors, these conventional graphics are predominantly what they're exposed to, building a graphical landscape that lacks depth and humanity—a rather lifeless world. This situation nudges people towards a limited perception of how graphic design can express emotion and humanity. Graphic design objectifies humanity and therefore loses it. We are close to losing this language to leave our story in the world.In this work, I prompted 30 people from various industries to draw a shape translating their feelings or reactions in specific scenarios. With just a pencil and paper, they created unique shapes that I hadn't anticipated, demonstrating a collective and unorthodox approach to graphic design. By asking them to avoid drawing familiar shapes like hearts or smiling faces, I noticed their minds became more engaged, as they took some time to think before drawing, indicating a reawakening of their innate visual communication ability. This experiment is a small step away from the influence of standardised graphic design and linear narrative, moving towards reclaiming our natural ability to communicate through graphical language, and an effort to rediscover the human essence and spontaneous narrative at the core of graphic design.To bring these emotions and perspectives to life, I 3D printed the shapes they created, giving physical form and weight to their expressions. This allows others to physically interact with these graphics, introducing a non-daily way to engage with graphic design. Interacting with other people’s graphic language may initiate the comeback of graphic design being an organic and spontaneous language in other stiff minds. Graphics could be more than just perceived in sight; they could come to our physical world and “speak” to you. When you hold up these 3D prints and look through them, you will see a world cropped by these unique shapes, adopting the perspectives of others, rather than the world constructed by standard rectangular commercial posters and social media posts.So, what is your shape and view of the world today?

“You will see a world cropped by unique shapes, adopting the perspectives of others, rather than the world constructed by standard rectangular commercial posters and social media posts.”