Graphic design has often looked to architecture as an intellectual model. We long to infuse our work with the same kind of dense theoretical knowledge and the same kind of broad ranging, legendary critiques. But we’re not architects. We’re graphic designers. Our role is less defined. We cross between print and web, 2-D and 3-D. Our work is easier to produce and more ephemeral. This fluidity, coupled with a discipline-wide pragmatic streak, makes it difficult to establish a defined body of graphic design theory.

Or does it?  Read the full article here >

About the Author: Helen Armstrong is the creative director of Strong Design and an assistant professor of graphic design at Miami University. Her design work—for such clients as Sage College of Albany, USInternetworking and New College of Florida—has won regional and international awards. Such work has been included in numerous publications in the United States and the United Kingdom, including HOW International Design Annual, The Complete Typographer, The Typography Workbook and Design Elements. Her first book, Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field, came out in spring 2009.