Symbolism — Blog — The Disciples Of Design

This semester staff have introduced two new projects to the end of the DD1101 module. These projects have been designed to bridge the gap between lateral thinking exercises, encourage the development of individual process and ultimately be resolved as a formal pieces of graphic design. As such though billed as one week projects, they have been extended to two weeks.

The first of these projects is underpinned by the theory of symbolism, in particular vexillology. The objective was to design a flag on behalf of any place, group or organisation of the student’s choosing. For those seeking some background of flags and vexillology in particular, then we highly recommend this Ted Talk by Roman Mars – host of the excellent design & architecture podcast 99% Invisible.

Like much of the world of design, flags are seemingly simple; but actually represent incredibly complex ideas. With this is mind, the brief required the students to remove all design representations of their chosen subject (and sometimes even more) to reveal an absolute purity of form and concept. The following five criteria outlined by the vexillology society were communicated by staff as a method of pressure-testing any design, and to also offer guidance on how to be self critical of a design.

Keep it simple
Use meaningful symbolism
Use two to three basic colours
No lettering or seals
Be distinctive

But beyond that, and quite simply…does it look like a flag? Can it be seen and understood visually from distance? And can it be made from cotton?

At the final crit all the flags were printed out at A2 and hung in the studio to test impact, message and above all design.

Process

Below is the process undertaken by one student who chose to create a flag on behalf of Cats Protection. All students were required to draw – specifically trace – to get their ideas underway. Also demonstrated in these sketches is a recognition of the symbolism of cats, protection and the task of graphically resolving the two as one design.

Final Crit