Designing For Every Day And Beyond

Industry Guru Pann Lim On The State Of Graphic Design Today And What Is To Begin With.

- KENG YANG SHUEN

It's an important part of so many things that we encounter on a daily basis: public signages; the user interface of any app; packaging; album art; the title sequence of your favourite movie (paging Wes Anderson); advertisements, including fashion campaigns; even this publication that you have in your hands. For a discipline that's meant to help articulate messages and meaning more clearly though, much of what happens in the world of graphic design often remains behind the scenes and within industry circles - if at all.

Consider the launch of Don't Mind If I Ask last year - a book put out by an independent group that refers to itself as Team Don't Mind If. Compiling essays as well as the results of surveys conducted among 506 individuals from the local design community, the handy paperback aims to unpack the inner workings of the graphic design industry here and, in turn, help chart its future. As Justin Zhuang author, researcher and co-founder of writing studio In Plain Words pens in its foreword: "Indeed, the profession also known today as communication design or visual communication remains poorly understood despite being one of the longest established in the city-state's creative industries." -

That some of the most in-demand and influential image-makers in the world in recent times traverse vocations, mediums and disciplines like a multiverse superhero adds both allure and myth to the scene. The late Virgil Abloh; Verdy, the artist-slash-streetwear whiz who was announced the artistic director of Blackpink last month; and some of fashion's most singular creative directors (cue Hedi, Demna and now Pharrell) every one of them have tapped and continue to depend on graphic design to help craft out their exacting vision. (Fun fact: Verdy, if you didn't already know, started out as a graphic designer.)