The State Of GRAPHICAL DESIGN In Jordan
from web site
Jordan's unique geographical position results in its experts choosing self development, which include graphic design. Experts may also be involved with developments occurring in neighbouring countries and the internet was extremely useful in putting interested parties in these two fields in touch with one another and sharing possible development tools. The development of Graphic Design can be assisted by annual exhibitions and specialised conferences held both in Jordan and outside the Arab world.
The academic and professional specialists for the basis in developing graphical design through the forming of local learning institutions. In these institutions academics, programmers and graphic design teachers can talk with professional designers and discuss the way business is continue and requirements of the labour market.
Practical training is considered the foundation of GRAPHICAL DESIGN, upon which the academic skill of the student and his creativity are designed. Employed in a design office is considered to be the most important and effective tool in measuring the amount of academic learning. It also gives an indication of the potency of teachers in creating a generation of students capable of dealing with the academic ethos and engaging with certain requirements of the profession. This training provides the students with opportunities to polish and develop their skills by working with established practitioners. Today's graphical design tools rely on it for producing visualisations of scientific developments. This visualisation requires a knowledge of the scientific theory and the visualisation tools available, which relies on the expertise of graphic artists.
In this paper I will concentrate on the profession of graphical design and its own development by discussing its early development. I'll review the positive and negative areas of that development and how they linked to changes in the market and the size of the marketplace and labour force. I'll also discuss the academic concepts, and the necessity for graduate graphic designers.
In this paper I draw from my experience of working in Jordan since 1987 at the MIDAS Establishment and my roles in student training at Yarmouk University and the SYSTEMS University, which I have been attached to since 1999. This paper addresses many questions and aims to explore the mechanics of enhancing graphic design in the academic and professional sectors.
The historic and technical initial stages of graphical design in Jordan
Graphical design developed alongside the printing and information technology industries. Printing was taken to Jordan in the 1940s by people who had learnt the trade in other countries. Jordan's printing evolution was similar to that of other countries. Printing started using wooden moulds, then zinc clich�s and letterpress, as well as other printing tools, symbols and shapes. It had been the printing technology that restricted the scope for producing new designs. The number of items printed was limited to newspapers, cards and stationary. Printing started mainly in monochrome, and was then developed to make photo made clich�s by which the printers were able to print in full colour. Typolography, or raised printing was the primary method and is still used today. Offset printing enhanced the caliber of production, providing improvements in colour and picture reproduction. Round the same time the role of the graphic designer originated, relating to the preparation of makettes and then film montage and plates to be equipped for printing (prepress); this relied on the professionalism of the film montage technician for the preparation of backgrounds for the pictures and words. Prepress was considered the most important process in the production of the ultimate printed article. This process was carried out at the prepress service centre which was limited to an individual institution until 1987. This centre had the capability and technology to execute a range of techniques where an artistic touch was required.
In the late sixties, design pioneers weren't graphic designers, but had learnt the technologies of collage and calligraphy. They were able to imitate designs from abroad and in some instances reproduced them. Their work initially ranged from greetings cards, business cards, social stationary, letterheads and envelopes, then progressed to brochures and folders. The task was mainly limited by newspaper advertising which relied predominantly on the offset printing method. We shouldn't forget the air brush technology that provided designers with the use of graded colours, achieving 3d effects for some designs, although the number of people using this was limited.
From 1980-87 design was performed by specialists in Plastic Arts and Architecture, in addition to the first graduates of the faculty of arts at Yarmuok University and similar institutions. By the end of the eighties, the computer Linotype was used as a publishing tool by newspapers to get ready text for layout and paste it on the mandatory pages next to advertising. Some publishing houses have graphic design offices which also acquired these systems to guarantee the production of books and magazines to an identical quality. Linotype was also used to prepare the design of brochures and advertising materials that cannot be hand drawn. As time passes Linotype was also used for the preparation of other material by this technique, including greeting cards, posters and advertisements.
Wedding Photography and printing sectors found the computer to be an effective way of improving productivity. In 1988 with the arrival of the first design computer by Apple Macintosh, the amounts of workers in the field increased and performance progressed in the pre-printing stages such as film making and separation. However, the trouble of computers meant that there use was still limited. The production of personal computers by competitors of Apple Macintosh and also the ease with which film can be processed through its programs, created an enormous increase in the number of professionals interested in graphical design. This became evident by the growth in the amount of agencies, design offices, publishing houses and service centres.
Personal computers affected the technical and artistic aspects of production. Some production centres could actually develop their skill base and by recruiting experienced designers and developing them by organising training courses. These experienced individuals achieved high standards of work within and outside Jordan and could actually compete with others in the Arab regions and captured a share of the markets, producing many publications. Jordanian specialists became serious competitors against other Arab countries which had previously monopolised the fields of design and printing. Jordan is rolling out so that it can meet up with the demand for design and printing within the united states. Jordan has become a magnet for many publishing houses in the Arab region. Many production and publishing organisations were able to catch up to the levels of the most recent technology. There is plenty of evidence to claim that they will develop further, using modern production tools, which will ensure you can find enough local specialists who can continue steadily to produce work of the highest quality.
The pace of technological development managed to get necessary for the academic institutions to provide the Jordanian market with the skilled workers who is able to work to the high standards required. These institutions need to continually adjust to the advancing technology in addition to support the academics in their quest to enhance the artistic, scientific and technological areas of production and publishing. Relationships must be strengthened by co-operation between business leaders and academic institutions to be able to provide the mutual advantage of improve standards, with the ultimate aim of maintaining both local and international developments.
The easiest way to guage the standard of design and printing in a country is through the newspapers, magazines and books published. Television also offers a showcase for visual communication through locally produced advertisements. The speed of printing development has made impositions on graphical design and the designers themselves. Designers have to continuously update their training to help keep abreast of new technology. This permits them to be at the forefront of improving quality and creativity in all respects of production.
The advantages and disadvantages of sectors allied with graphical design
When discussing the organisations involved with design and production in Jordan you can easily become overwhelmed by the variety and abundance of these. These organisations saturate the market. One of the known reasons for the number of organisations is the variety of production formats, each of which has its own structure. Computerisation has result in many operators being made unemployed.
Production sources could be divided into;
- Design
- Commercial printing
- Publishing houses
- Pre-press services centres
- Computer software training centres
They are the organisations where people often search for graphic designers, although most of them do not have academically trained staff who specialise in graphical design. Many of the people who own these organisations have chosen to specialise. Some of them specialised as the profession does not need a large capital outlay, others specialised since they had a knowledge of the various tools used. Most appear to have specialised because this gives them with status in their community.
Although there are many organisations working in graphic design, the workers and owners in these establishments often lack awareness of the professional graphic design concepts as they have not studied the subject in depth. Occupations for graduates only begun to develop after 2000 when some organisations recognised the need for such skilled workers and academic institutions could actually produce professionals of the standard. The impression of graphic design graduates has changed so companies are no longer choosing graduates who studied abroad. Design establishments have noticed the high quality of products which trained graduates can produce with their competence and skills, and their ability to use the full selection of design and printing equipment. Without this properly structured training program, experience had been gained through hap-hazard face to face training.
Among the weaknesses of those producing the designs is they are not always confident about how exactly to use the most recent techniques. They often ask advice and would rather work within their comfort zones, failing woefully to produce designs that could demand significant amounts of time, effort or care. Graduates are much more comfortable with change and willing to develop new skills. There are a few professionals, however, who have been invaluable in the development of graphic design by training others and developing their very own technical and professional skills. These people have also monitored the pace of development in the fields of printing and graphic design.
A lot of the professionals have established themselves thorough the high quality of the work they produce. This is simply not possible with out a capable, aware and educated body of co-workers, who've scientific knowledge and are creative instead of imitating the task of others.
The increasing gap between academic designers and employers, or art directors and creative managers is often due to misunderstanding the role of graphic designers. In industry, the priority of some designers or agency owners is profitability whatever the quality of the outcomes.
The first problem is that some of the art directors or creative managers have no idea of the importance of these position, and frequently the employer is equally ignorant of this. Job titles tend to be arbitrary so artistic or creative managers frequently lack experience and expertise.
There is an absence of a standard language between academic designers and managers or employers. This often frustrates designers, creating insecurity and hindering creativity. This environment can be an try to reduce a designers` status and restricts him from participating in the creative thinking he'd have been taught and university.
Adequacy of the professional reality
Graphic designers are distinguished from other fields when you are just about the most creative professions; they use information technology and visual communication. In addition, it involves dealing with the business world, in which credibility and ability are necessary to attain the creative work. Qualifications and talent are essential for this.
A graphic designer isn't only an artist but also a technician who's able to use software and ways to tackle the project in hand. His approach is going beyond communication with the audience, to effective promotion and display. His aim would be to produce clarity and he will be able to do this from the info using the techniques open to him. The aim is to connect the info and to carry out this must understand the development and design of the software that may be used. He has to comprehend all the innovations and ways of designing texts.
The design sector requires professionals to really have the experience to be able to select and classify information, and to create links between related elements. However, this won't be enough if they cannot interpret this and change it into definite forms. Additionally it is vital that you understand the vocabularies of with language, sound and music as they are the main tools of communication. Added to this, the designer must understand how to use the specialised design software to write texts, prepare drawings, animated cartoons and websites. The designer should know about design, timing, transformation, rhythm and visual presentation.
The potential of the design sector ought to be realised by understanding of the required theories and ways to improve communication with the audience, enrich the design proposals and understand the reflective aspect of the design process, studies and research.
There's much variation in the qualifications of staff within the look sector. You should differentiate between your craftsman and the academic designer. The graphic designer is really a complete cultural and intellectual entity that's noted in the sensational theory, linguistic theory, visual eloquence and the cultural history of art, literature, science, technology, industry and humanity. They can not isolate themselves from developments in theories of communication, information development, and from management and criticism. Moreover to improve the added value of the final product, all methods and tools found in production and publication ought to be understood. They need to understand the stages before the design, plus they must understand the printing process and its implications on the look.
The market is crowded with many people working in graphic design. As a result of wide use of graphical design in many fields of work, the widespread use of computers and availability of basic software packages you will find a role for folks using graphic design without any prior knowledge. The expression of graphical design is still not adequately understood by some employers in industrial and commercial firms and organisations that need graphic design services.
I really do not doubt the potential of the vocational sector but this can be a reality of graphic design. It must be remembered that well qualified people now occupy high status positions in the Jordanian market, showing its expertise and its own ability to demonstrate the best levels of graphic design.
The size of the marketplace and people working in graphic design
There are now more than five hundred establishments working in graphic design. There are several who not classify themselves being an agency, centre or office, as they have found their very own market niche. Therefore these classifications can not be meaningfully applied in Jordan.
The sector is large compared to the market. The establishment of new graphical design organisations peaked in 1999. Since then, some have declined while some have expanded. Some have stagnated or changed management, while some have merged.
A quick consider the design sector will show that 85% of these employed in the field could be classified as;
- Computer science graduates
- Architecture graduates
- Interior design graduates
- Graduates in 'Computers and the Fine Arts' from community colleges
- Fine arts graduates (both graphical design specialists and non-specialists)
- Graduates of design courses run by computer centres
- Unemployed those people who are interested in computers
University educated graphical design graduates fulfil an important role because;
- Universities produce Graphic Designers with another outlook to those mentioned previously.
- Organisations run by individuals who understand graphic design will undoubtedly be better in a position to develop designers skills and adjust to the future
I am concerned for students who study graphical design at university but do not try to improve his rate of innovation and creativity in order to improve. This will affect whether he is employable.
Academically and scientifically talented students will have few problems because good employers need students who are able to form ideas quickly, use appropriate design programs for his ideas and in a position to produce those. Other organisations are not useful for the academic designer. They are the push-pull level of the graphical design sector which reflects the degrees of awareness of the concepts and functions of graphic design.
The market is capable of absorbing all graduates. This is influenced by the development of visual communication methods through graphic design. Such development requires the presence of skilled workers capable of meeting the needs of the market. This places incentives for educational organisations that deal with design to plan to suit the graphical design market.
The academic reality of graphical design
The emergence of academic institutions that specialised in the arts started at the Yarmouk University where in fact the first arts and music department was established in 1980. This became a faculty in 2001, teaching drama, design (industrial, interior and graphic), plastic arts and music. The university awards bachelor degrees. It were only available in 2001 at the height of the computer revolution within the look sector in Jordan. In1991 teaching graphic design started as an independent specialisation within the Arts Department at the Applied Sciences University. This was accompanied by the Ahiya Amman University, the Petra University, Philadelphia University, AlZaytouneh University, the University of Jordan, and later the Israh University.
Apart from universities, during the time when graphic design became popular and a profitable profession, community colleges started teaching graphical design. These included the Al-Quds College, Granada College, Middle University College and Princess Alya College.
The work of the universities that award bachelor degrees is comparable to colleges that grant two year diplomas, because both produce students with a certificate in graphical design. But in reality where creativity and technical skills are concerned we find differences. The differences come in the course curricula, and include understanding the production process, product identity, understanding of software and design innovation.
There is confusion between graphical design and graphic art. These differences affect the student, particularly when he enters employment. He could be judged by both his creativity and innovation in producing new ideas and his ability to use technology which now involves the computer, the primary graphic design tool.
The reason for these differences becomes clear when we look at the number of workers available in the market and where they graduated from. At that time that the largest amount of graduates were being produced, the highest quality graduates were made by well-known institutions and we were holding recruited by the most successful companies.
A distinction has developed between technicians and designers. This is because some academic institutions concentrate on technology and the practical areas of design software, whilst others developing the ability to use knowledge and understand how to connect ideas to the psychological and social context you need to include qualitative studies of theories and design curricula.
The reasons for this are;
- The lack of specialised academic experts in graphic design and the indegent quality of some of the teachers.
- The lack of appropriate study plans for creating graphic designers
- The absence of a system defining the role of universities and colleges in teaching graphic design
- The lack of entry examinations to graphic design courses, unlike courses in the art specialisations
- The absence links to the exterior world, other than through books.
- Some universities and colleges don't realize the concept of graphic design within an industrial context.
- The absence of official government support for finding ways to set up a core curriculum for university courses.
I have taught in the art departments of a number of universities and have assessed many graduation projects. These gave me the chance to discover more regarding graphic design teaching, the standards of students, and showed the need for appropriate study plans. There is a lack of competitiveness which may improve educational standards and there's an arbitrary usage of teaching methods. Objectives can be clear, but often mistake in not utilizing the appropriate teaching methodology results in them not being achieved.
As a way to develop and improve, the graphical design sector needs skilled and competent workers. The workers will never be able to react to the changes in technology unless they have a formal academic training. To experience this advancement it is essential that graduate students are employed as graphic design specialists.
Conclusion
There exists a requirement in the Jordanian arena for the academic and professional sectors to examine their experiences and identify their strengths and weaknesses. This is used by them to set a strategy capable of giving graphic design the respected position it deserves.
There is a requirement of government intervention to supply arena where specialists in graphical design may discuss most of the concepts that help them make company owners and managers alert to how to make the very best use of graphic artists.
And teaching graphical design, universities and community colleges must support the markets needs for designers and artisans within the brand new specialisations which ought to be introduced so that you can reduce unemployment.There exists a need for a professional body in graphic design to give support to designers, co-ordinate educational and technical preparation and to make contacts with the exterior world. You should hold workshops and symposiums that improve the competence of teaching staff, designers and students; these ought to be held with the help of international institutions which are respected in this field.
It is also important to hold national and international competitions to encourage creativity and innovation. This can develop a competitive atmosphere where graphical design can flourish.
Finally, it is important to develop a national identity in graphic design, which can cement its position in the international arena.
The academic and professional specialists for the basis in developing graphical design through the forming of local learning institutions. In these institutions academics, programmers and graphic design teachers can talk with professional designers and discuss the way business is continue and requirements of the labour market.
Practical training is considered the foundation of GRAPHICAL DESIGN, upon which the academic skill of the student and his creativity are designed. Employed in a design office is considered to be the most important and effective tool in measuring the amount of academic learning. It also gives an indication of the potency of teachers in creating a generation of students capable of dealing with the academic ethos and engaging with certain requirements of the profession. This training provides the students with opportunities to polish and develop their skills by working with established practitioners. Today's graphical design tools rely on it for producing visualisations of scientific developments. This visualisation requires a knowledge of the scientific theory and the visualisation tools available, which relies on the expertise of graphic artists.
In this paper I will concentrate on the profession of graphical design and its own development by discussing its early development. I'll review the positive and negative areas of that development and how they linked to changes in the market and the size of the marketplace and labour force. I'll also discuss the academic concepts, and the necessity for graduate graphic designers.
In this paper I draw from my experience of working in Jordan since 1987 at the MIDAS Establishment and my roles in student training at Yarmouk University and the SYSTEMS University, which I have been attached to since 1999. This paper addresses many questions and aims to explore the mechanics of enhancing graphic design in the academic and professional sectors.
The historic and technical initial stages of graphical design in Jordan
Graphical design developed alongside the printing and information technology industries. Printing was taken to Jordan in the 1940s by people who had learnt the trade in other countries. Jordan's printing evolution was similar to that of other countries. Printing started using wooden moulds, then zinc clich�s and letterpress, as well as other printing tools, symbols and shapes. It had been the printing technology that restricted the scope for producing new designs. The number of items printed was limited to newspapers, cards and stationary. Printing started mainly in monochrome, and was then developed to make photo made clich�s by which the printers were able to print in full colour. Typolography, or raised printing was the primary method and is still used today. Offset printing enhanced the caliber of production, providing improvements in colour and picture reproduction. Round the same time the role of the graphic designer originated, relating to the preparation of makettes and then film montage and plates to be equipped for printing (prepress); this relied on the professionalism of the film montage technician for the preparation of backgrounds for the pictures and words. Prepress was considered the most important process in the production of the ultimate printed article. This process was carried out at the prepress service centre which was limited to an individual institution until 1987. This centre had the capability and technology to execute a range of techniques where an artistic touch was required.
In the late sixties, design pioneers weren't graphic designers, but had learnt the technologies of collage and calligraphy. They were able to imitate designs from abroad and in some instances reproduced them. Their work initially ranged from greetings cards, business cards, social stationary, letterheads and envelopes, then progressed to brochures and folders. The task was mainly limited by newspaper advertising which relied predominantly on the offset printing method. We shouldn't forget the air brush technology that provided designers with the use of graded colours, achieving 3d effects for some designs, although the number of people using this was limited.
From 1980-87 design was performed by specialists in Plastic Arts and Architecture, in addition to the first graduates of the faculty of arts at Yarmuok University and similar institutions. By the end of the eighties, the computer Linotype was used as a publishing tool by newspapers to get ready text for layout and paste it on the mandatory pages next to advertising. Some publishing houses have graphic design offices which also acquired these systems to guarantee the production of books and magazines to an identical quality. Linotype was also used to prepare the design of brochures and advertising materials that cannot be hand drawn. As time passes Linotype was also used for the preparation of other material by this technique, including greeting cards, posters and advertisements.
Wedding Photography and printing sectors found the computer to be an effective way of improving productivity. In 1988 with the arrival of the first design computer by Apple Macintosh, the amounts of workers in the field increased and performance progressed in the pre-printing stages such as film making and separation. However, the trouble of computers meant that there use was still limited. The production of personal computers by competitors of Apple Macintosh and also the ease with which film can be processed through its programs, created an enormous increase in the number of professionals interested in graphical design. This became evident by the growth in the amount of agencies, design offices, publishing houses and service centres.
Personal computers affected the technical and artistic aspects of production. Some production centres could actually develop their skill base and by recruiting experienced designers and developing them by organising training courses. These experienced individuals achieved high standards of work within and outside Jordan and could actually compete with others in the Arab regions and captured a share of the markets, producing many publications. Jordanian specialists became serious competitors against other Arab countries which had previously monopolised the fields of design and printing. Jordan is rolling out so that it can meet up with the demand for design and printing within the united states. Jordan has become a magnet for many publishing houses in the Arab region. Many production and publishing organisations were able to catch up to the levels of the most recent technology. There is plenty of evidence to claim that they will develop further, using modern production tools, which will ensure you can find enough local specialists who can continue steadily to produce work of the highest quality.
The pace of technological development managed to get necessary for the academic institutions to provide the Jordanian market with the skilled workers who is able to work to the high standards required. These institutions need to continually adjust to the advancing technology in addition to support the academics in their quest to enhance the artistic, scientific and technological areas of production and publishing. Relationships must be strengthened by co-operation between business leaders and academic institutions to be able to provide the mutual advantage of improve standards, with the ultimate aim of maintaining both local and international developments.
The easiest way to guage the standard of design and printing in a country is through the newspapers, magazines and books published. Television also offers a showcase for visual communication through locally produced advertisements. The speed of printing development has made impositions on graphical design and the designers themselves. Designers have to continuously update their training to help keep abreast of new technology. This permits them to be at the forefront of improving quality and creativity in all respects of production.
The advantages and disadvantages of sectors allied with graphical design
When discussing the organisations involved with design and production in Jordan you can easily become overwhelmed by the variety and abundance of these. These organisations saturate the market. One of the known reasons for the number of organisations is the variety of production formats, each of which has its own structure. Computerisation has result in many operators being made unemployed.
Production sources could be divided into;
- Design
- Commercial printing
- Publishing houses
- Pre-press services centres
- Computer software training centres
They are the organisations where people often search for graphic designers, although most of them do not have academically trained staff who specialise in graphical design. Many of the people who own these organisations have chosen to specialise. Some of them specialised as the profession does not need a large capital outlay, others specialised since they had a knowledge of the various tools used. Most appear to have specialised because this gives them with status in their community.
Although there are many organisations working in graphic design, the workers and owners in these establishments often lack awareness of the professional graphic design concepts as they have not studied the subject in depth. Occupations for graduates only begun to develop after 2000 when some organisations recognised the need for such skilled workers and academic institutions could actually produce professionals of the standard. The impression of graphic design graduates has changed so companies are no longer choosing graduates who studied abroad. Design establishments have noticed the high quality of products which trained graduates can produce with their competence and skills, and their ability to use the full selection of design and printing equipment. Without this properly structured training program, experience had been gained through hap-hazard face to face training.
Among the weaknesses of those producing the designs is they are not always confident about how exactly to use the most recent techniques. They often ask advice and would rather work within their comfort zones, failing woefully to produce designs that could demand significant amounts of time, effort or care. Graduates are much more comfortable with change and willing to develop new skills. There are a few professionals, however, who have been invaluable in the development of graphic design by training others and developing their very own technical and professional skills. These people have also monitored the pace of development in the fields of printing and graphic design.
A lot of the professionals have established themselves thorough the high quality of the work they produce. This is simply not possible with out a capable, aware and educated body of co-workers, who've scientific knowledge and are creative instead of imitating the task of others.
The increasing gap between academic designers and employers, or art directors and creative managers is often due to misunderstanding the role of graphic designers. In industry, the priority of some designers or agency owners is profitability whatever the quality of the outcomes.
The first problem is that some of the art directors or creative managers have no idea of the importance of these position, and frequently the employer is equally ignorant of this. Job titles tend to be arbitrary so artistic or creative managers frequently lack experience and expertise.
There is an absence of a standard language between academic designers and managers or employers. This often frustrates designers, creating insecurity and hindering creativity. This environment can be an try to reduce a designers` status and restricts him from participating in the creative thinking he'd have been taught and university.
Adequacy of the professional reality
Graphic designers are distinguished from other fields when you are just about the most creative professions; they use information technology and visual communication. In addition, it involves dealing with the business world, in which credibility and ability are necessary to attain the creative work. Qualifications and talent are essential for this.
A graphic designer isn't only an artist but also a technician who's able to use software and ways to tackle the project in hand. His approach is going beyond communication with the audience, to effective promotion and display. His aim would be to produce clarity and he will be able to do this from the info using the techniques open to him. The aim is to connect the info and to carry out this must understand the development and design of the software that may be used. He has to comprehend all the innovations and ways of designing texts.
The design sector requires professionals to really have the experience to be able to select and classify information, and to create links between related elements. However, this won't be enough if they cannot interpret this and change it into definite forms. Additionally it is vital that you understand the vocabularies of with language, sound and music as they are the main tools of communication. Added to this, the designer must understand how to use the specialised design software to write texts, prepare drawings, animated cartoons and websites. The designer should know about design, timing, transformation, rhythm and visual presentation.
The potential of the design sector ought to be realised by understanding of the required theories and ways to improve communication with the audience, enrich the design proposals and understand the reflective aspect of the design process, studies and research.
There's much variation in the qualifications of staff within the look sector. You should differentiate between your craftsman and the academic designer. The graphic designer is really a complete cultural and intellectual entity that's noted in the sensational theory, linguistic theory, visual eloquence and the cultural history of art, literature, science, technology, industry and humanity. They can not isolate themselves from developments in theories of communication, information development, and from management and criticism. Moreover to improve the added value of the final product, all methods and tools found in production and publication ought to be understood. They need to understand the stages before the design, plus they must understand the printing process and its implications on the look.
The market is crowded with many people working in graphic design. As a result of wide use of graphical design in many fields of work, the widespread use of computers and availability of basic software packages you will find a role for folks using graphic design without any prior knowledge. The expression of graphical design is still not adequately understood by some employers in industrial and commercial firms and organisations that need graphic design services.
I really do not doubt the potential of the vocational sector but this can be a reality of graphic design. It must be remembered that well qualified people now occupy high status positions in the Jordanian market, showing its expertise and its own ability to demonstrate the best levels of graphic design.
The size of the marketplace and people working in graphic design
There are now more than five hundred establishments working in graphic design. There are several who not classify themselves being an agency, centre or office, as they have found their very own market niche. Therefore these classifications can not be meaningfully applied in Jordan.
The sector is large compared to the market. The establishment of new graphical design organisations peaked in 1999. Since then, some have declined while some have expanded. Some have stagnated or changed management, while some have merged.
A quick consider the design sector will show that 85% of these employed in the field could be classified as;
- Computer science graduates
- Architecture graduates
- Interior design graduates
- Graduates in 'Computers and the Fine Arts' from community colleges
- Fine arts graduates (both graphical design specialists and non-specialists)
- Graduates of design courses run by computer centres
- Unemployed those people who are interested in computers
University educated graphical design graduates fulfil an important role because;
- Universities produce Graphic Designers with another outlook to those mentioned previously.
- Organisations run by individuals who understand graphic design will undoubtedly be better in a position to develop designers skills and adjust to the future
I am concerned for students who study graphical design at university but do not try to improve his rate of innovation and creativity in order to improve. This will affect whether he is employable.
Academically and scientifically talented students will have few problems because good employers need students who are able to form ideas quickly, use appropriate design programs for his ideas and in a position to produce those. Other organisations are not useful for the academic designer. They are the push-pull level of the graphical design sector which reflects the degrees of awareness of the concepts and functions of graphic design.
The market is capable of absorbing all graduates. This is influenced by the development of visual communication methods through graphic design. Such development requires the presence of skilled workers capable of meeting the needs of the market. This places incentives for educational organisations that deal with design to plan to suit the graphical design market.
The academic reality of graphical design
The emergence of academic institutions that specialised in the arts started at the Yarmouk University where in fact the first arts and music department was established in 1980. This became a faculty in 2001, teaching drama, design (industrial, interior and graphic), plastic arts and music. The university awards bachelor degrees. It were only available in 2001 at the height of the computer revolution within the look sector in Jordan. In1991 teaching graphic design started as an independent specialisation within the Arts Department at the Applied Sciences University. This was accompanied by the Ahiya Amman University, the Petra University, Philadelphia University, AlZaytouneh University, the University of Jordan, and later the Israh University.
Apart from universities, during the time when graphic design became popular and a profitable profession, community colleges started teaching graphical design. These included the Al-Quds College, Granada College, Middle University College and Princess Alya College.
The work of the universities that award bachelor degrees is comparable to colleges that grant two year diplomas, because both produce students with a certificate in graphical design. But in reality where creativity and technical skills are concerned we find differences. The differences come in the course curricula, and include understanding the production process, product identity, understanding of software and design innovation.
There is confusion between graphical design and graphic art. These differences affect the student, particularly when he enters employment. He could be judged by both his creativity and innovation in producing new ideas and his ability to use technology which now involves the computer, the primary graphic design tool.
The reason for these differences becomes clear when we look at the number of workers available in the market and where they graduated from. At that time that the largest amount of graduates were being produced, the highest quality graduates were made by well-known institutions and we were holding recruited by the most successful companies.
A distinction has developed between technicians and designers. This is because some academic institutions concentrate on technology and the practical areas of design software, whilst others developing the ability to use knowledge and understand how to connect ideas to the psychological and social context you need to include qualitative studies of theories and design curricula.
The reasons for this are;
- The lack of specialised academic experts in graphic design and the indegent quality of some of the teachers.
- The lack of appropriate study plans for creating graphic designers
- The absence of a system defining the role of universities and colleges in teaching graphic design
- The lack of entry examinations to graphic design courses, unlike courses in the art specialisations
- The absence links to the exterior world, other than through books.
- Some universities and colleges don't realize the concept of graphic design within an industrial context.
- The absence of official government support for finding ways to set up a core curriculum for university courses.
I have taught in the art departments of a number of universities and have assessed many graduation projects. These gave me the chance to discover more regarding graphic design teaching, the standards of students, and showed the need for appropriate study plans. There is a lack of competitiveness which may improve educational standards and there's an arbitrary usage of teaching methods. Objectives can be clear, but often mistake in not utilizing the appropriate teaching methodology results in them not being achieved.
As a way to develop and improve, the graphical design sector needs skilled and competent workers. The workers will never be able to react to the changes in technology unless they have a formal academic training. To experience this advancement it is essential that graduate students are employed as graphic design specialists.
Conclusion
There exists a requirement in the Jordanian arena for the academic and professional sectors to examine their experiences and identify their strengths and weaknesses. This is used by them to set a strategy capable of giving graphic design the respected position it deserves.
There is a requirement of government intervention to supply arena where specialists in graphical design may discuss most of the concepts that help them make company owners and managers alert to how to make the very best use of graphic artists.
And teaching graphical design, universities and community colleges must support the markets needs for designers and artisans within the brand new specialisations which ought to be introduced so that you can reduce unemployment.There exists a need for a professional body in graphic design to give support to designers, co-ordinate educational and technical preparation and to make contacts with the exterior world. You should hold workshops and symposiums that improve the competence of teaching staff, designers and students; these ought to be held with the help of international institutions which are respected in this field.
It is also important to hold national and international competitions to encourage creativity and innovation. This can develop a competitive atmosphere where graphical design can flourish.
Finally, it is important to develop a national identity in graphic design, which can cement its position in the international arena.
