Introduction

Does one serve the client or oneself? And who should really be served, the patron or the muse? (Heller, 1993, p.15)

These two sentences sum up, yet simplify, perhaps the main questions of principles faced by anyone who goes into the graphic design profession. John Bielenberg recons that, 'Graphic Designers are generally drawn to the profession for reasons that have little to do with the engineering process and lots to do with creativity and self-expression.' (1995, p.185) This suggests that they would rather serve themselves, that is to indulge in self-expression, rather than serve the client. Hughes C. Boekraad questions the mind-set of this tendency, stating that, 'the self-centred ethic of the designer yearning for the status of an artist should be avoided.' (1992, p.229). Boekraad is implying here that by focusing on personal creativity designers are in some ways imitating or aspiring towards the life style or reputation of the artist. The relationship between graphic design and art, hinted at in this example, is the focus of the first chapter of this dissertation. The discussion is based around two famous graphic designers, Paul Rand and Neville Brody, who embody many of the issues surrounding the art/graphics debate.

Chapter two is linked to Heller's second question as to whether the patron or the muse should be served. With Tibor Kalman as the main example, I can look at attitudes to design from a different angle. Kalman is perhaps most interested in serving the muse, that is, the target-audience. Rather than thinking about design and art, his main concern is how he can use design to communicate social and political messages. Over his lifetime he also had a notable relationship with the patron, in this case, the corporations who funded his social and political endeavours. He provokes the question of who was exploiting who? Whether Kalman used the corporations for their resources or they used him for advertising purposes.

The third chapter rounds up the main topics discussed in the first two chapters and puts them under the headings, the client, the target audience and creativity, then looks at how these affect job satisfaction. The concept of job satisfaction is only introduced in this chapter, this is due to the unique and more intimate perspective gained from the research method of interviews. The relevance of considering job satisfaction is that we can view designers' principles in relation to their real working conditions; to see if they are able to maintain their values as much as they would like to in an environment where they are not in complete control and to see if they are content, despite their restrictions. The issues are discussed from the point of view of the, so far ignored, what could be defined as 'ordinary British graphic designer'. These are the people working as graphic designers in this country who are not written about to the extent that famous designers are, but who make up the vast majority of the industry and who, just as the other designers discussed in previous chapters, inevitably have their own set of principles when it comes to design. The research for this chapter is based on interviews with six graphic designers working in various cities, for companies of various sizes, with varying perspectives on the design profession.

It is important to note here that there is some dispute as to whether designers should be discussed individually or not, whether design is essentially about something bigger than the autonomous designer. Steven Heller describes graphic design as 'the anonymous profession' due to the fact that graphic design is 'still a service to businesses and institutions' (1993, p.15). Adrian Forty suggests the opposite, that, 'because designers generally talk and write only about what they do themselves, design has become regarded as belonging entirely in their realm.' He finds it most unsettling that it is taught in this way at design schools, 'where students are liable to acquire grandiose illusions about the nature of their skills, with the result that they become frustrated in their subsequent careers' (1986, p.241). He believes that design is not entirely about the designer because it is also 'determined by ideas and material conditions over which designers have no control' (Forty, 1986, p.242).

However, this essay is not about the products of design, it's about the values and principles of the people who create those products, graphic designers. In essence, this essay is not about design it's about designers.