02. Reading Group #2 Non-western Graphic Design

Introduction

Our main topic was Non-western examples of Graphic design in a cultural sense, as well as ways that design has been utilized in ways other than corporate capitalistic gain.

Viewing #1 → Saki Mafundikwa TEDTalk on African Typography

Ingenuity and elegance in ancient African alphabets↗

African typography has an integral part to not only historical design but for heritage and connection to language/communication as well. These articles lay out each country on the continent that has striking typography with visual and cultural depth.

TedTALK by Saki Mafundikwa who is creating an Afrikan Renaissance where designers across the continent look within themselves for inspiration as typography and graphic design has been a part of their history and it continues to evolve.

Viewing #2 → Juan Villanueva ATypI talk on Peruvian and Latin American Design

This video is a recorded talk by Juan Villanueva, a Peruvian-born typeface designer and educator. He gave it at a major international typography conference (ATypI) in Paris. Juan explains that Peru and many Latin American regions have rich visual and written traditions, but their history of typography and design isn’t included in textbooks or mainstream design history — largely because those histories have been shaped by European perspectives. He uses the word decolonial to describe what he’s trying to do; rethink and expand typography history so it doesn’t only center on Western Europe. He argues that colonialism has shaped the world’s understanding of design, and that this limits how we see and value visual culture. Decoloniality is a mindset, praxis, and theoretical perspective focused on undoing the enduring effects of colonialism, often termed "coloniality". It seeks to challenge, disrupt, and deconstruct Western, Eurocentric knowledge hierarchies, and ways of being, which remain dominant even after the end of formal colonial rule.

Reading #3 → Jiarui Wang Issu Essay on Chinese Design

A Brief History Of Chinese Graphic Design by Jiarui Wang ↗

Brutalism, Maximalism and Amateurism of The New Ugly in Chinese Graphic Design by Jiarui Wang↗

This article showcases the history of Chinese graphic design, it also highlights the fact that influence from China and other regions of the world often gets overlooked by the Euro-American graphic design history

Questions

• How do you create a design culture or relatability when your demographic consists of a wide diaspora of languages and cultures?
• How does the common society in the respective countries interact with typography and art?
• How do we go about decolonizing design as a whole to open a perspective on other countries other than the primary western countries like the US and Europe?