Graphic Communications...Huh?

As freshmen, we enter the world of college with a fresh start from high school. In many cases, it is a different environment to get used to, and new people to meet. Whether it is at orientation, the first hall meeting, or the first day of classes, we see new faces and learn new names. We are bombarded by the typical “freshman questions”. What is your name? Where are you from? Why did you choose Clemson? What is your major? The list goes on. The question that I get further asked about is the major one. My major is graphic communications; a concentration that often puzzles people when first mentioned. Many classmates I have come across are often studying in the fields of engineering, biology, or business. When mentioning graphic communications to people, their usual response is either “that’s cool” or a confused, “what exactly is that?” When asked, it is usually hard to come up with a basic definition in a quick second answer, for the graphics industry is more than just design and people who play around on Photoshop all day long. The industry is a lot more technical. Here at Clemson, our GC department states graphic communications as being “The processes and industries that create, develop, produce, and disseminate products utilizing or incorporating words or pictorial images to convey information, ideas, and feelings. GC products facilitate learning, enjoyment, motivation, and commerce. Graphic Communications includes the family of market segments embracing the technologies of printing, publishing, packaging, electronic imaging, and their allied industries; they are often referred to as the graphic arts, print, or imaging industries.” This gives a good description of what we do and how our field should be perceived, but imagine trying to whip this information out in a moment’s notice. Complicated, right? It is important to share this field and the developments in technology we are reaching in order to break the stereotypes of simply being graphic designers who make brochures. Graphics involves the realm of printing that we see every day. There are various stages involved in the graphic production process, starting from basic ideas and concepts, to prepress and presswork, to the delivery to the customer, and the many steps in between. Whether in advertising and promotional materials, publications, packaging, or web related, GC uses rhetorical appeals, innovation, and creativity to convey certain messages and visual substance to the public. It is artistry with a technical side. The field of graphic communications does just that—communicates. It’s a bit misunderstood, but it has an importance in society. Without visual material around us, product and brand identities would not exist, and the world would become a much duller and bland place.