This text presents the important contribution that visual communication design can make to society, beyond its usual commercial applications. It identifies successful socially orientated projects, demonstrating the human and economic benefits that can be achieved through good communication design. The book also discusses a user-centred approach to Design, Including Notions Of Social Marketing, Design Methods And different information-gathering techniques.; The book closes with a discussion of a new professional profile for the graphic designer which reflects the complex cultural, psychological and often political issues that in turn affect, construct and contextualize our daily communications.

User-Centred Graphic Design: Mass Communication And Social Change

Arts & Photography

van Toorn, Jan

Frascara, Jorge

Meurer, Bernd

Winkler, Dietmar

Graphic Design

CRC-Press

A PRINT magazine and Design Observer Best Book of the Year The first English translation of a famous 1972 debate between Dutch graphic designers Wim Crouwel and Jan van Toorn, a public clash of subjectivity versus objectivity at Amsterdam’s Museum Fodor that helped set the stage for bold philosophical showdowns to come in design culture. Held in response to an exhibition of Van Toorn’s work at Stedelijk Museum, including student posters protesting the Vietnam War—in an era of youth culture and increasing resistance to authority, capitalism, and the power of media—the stakes were aesthetic, ethical, and politically charged. Crouwel defended his approach of neutrality and austere rationalism, attention to typography and worksmanship, and professionalism in service of the client’s message. Van Toorn argued for his use of chaos, collage, and photographs of everyday life; that a designer’s ideas, personality, and political commitments are integral to the work. Dialogue on The Debate has reverberated in graphic design circles for the four decades since, and it is often referenced in modern design criticism as a key marker for the philosophical positions that continue to define the profession. The first English transcript of this key event in design history will allow a contemporary audience to discover the ongoing relevance of The Debate in an increasingly complex visual culture. Along with the transcript, this pocket-sized clothbound book contains a foreword by prominent design critic Rick Poynor, and essays from Dutch design historian Frederike Huygen, who discusses the historical context of the debate, and curator Dingenus van de Vrie, who looks more closely at these two giants’ different perspectives on graphic design. A color gallery juxtaposes a representative selection from the oeuvres of Crouwel and Van Toorn, including exhibition designs, calendars, posters, brochures, artist book designs, postal stamps, and fascinating works such as the script of a 1969 stage production based on a story by Jorge Luis Borges, sealed in a tin can, and a many-gatefolded catalog for Ed Ruscha’s “Dutch Details” at Groninger Museum.

The Debate: The Legendary Contest of Two Giants of Graphic Design

Crouwel, Wim

The Monacelli Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by van Toorn, Jan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by van Toorn, Jan