Many of us were taught to consider the ‘history’ of graphic design as essentially linear, a series of ‘ages’ that conform to a process of maturity. Being reborn as ‘graphic design’ in the ferment of modernism allowed commercial or ‘applied’ art to finally break free from any lingering connection to the ‘dark arts’ and the feudal world of printing. And so western graphic design progressed through early professional conquests and a postmodern ‘identity crisis’ before finally arriving into the digital, globalised arena of Bourriaud’s ‘Altermodern’. This paper begins by describing a series of student-led seminars that aimed to introduce both graphic design history and the professional and philosophical context it now operates within. The author reflects upon the difficulties of adopting the linear model when considering contemporary practice, arguing that such a simplified, narrow summary is flawed and unable to fully represent the complex landscape of practice that graduates actually enter.

As an alternative, the author will consider how graphic design might be represented in more inclusive terms, accommodating complex and multivariate factors shaped over time by shifting ideologies, technologies and professional contexts. Attempting to represent these through the symbol system of a map, the author seeks to acknowledge an organic, complex arrangement of ‘regions’ that reveal the histories, habits, values and traits of the ‘peoples’ and ‘tribes’ that co-exist, sometimes peacefully, within the wider graphic landscape. The author will argue that a more inclusive perspective is now critical to accommodate professional and cultural diversity and help design educators break free from the loop of outdated and meaningless arguments that so easily distract and confuse. Accepting such a picture could, for some, lead to a reconsideration of delivery, a shift from institution-centred, tool/task orientated timetables towards a pluralistic, culturally sensitive, student-centred model that reflects the differing forms of intent and intelligence that operate in the design community. To be truly effective, such a model would seek to identify individual intelligences and aim to connect these to appropriate forms of practice in the professional world. The author will reflect upon a subsequent restructuring of curriculum that has followed this thinking and propose that such a model is well suited to the needs of future reflective practitioners.

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