Graphic communication is the result of a long evolution of tools and techniques.
That evolution was greatly accelerated by the establishment of modern,
industrial societies—and graphic communication itself greatly contributed
to modern social and economic development, to the extent that today visual
communication is a readily identifiable force in the growth of both Western and
Eastern “postindustrial” information economies.
According to historical literature, graphic communication has taken as long
as 30,000 years to evolve (Meggs 1998). The role of the visual communicator—
and the function of communication—developed slowly: cave paintings
done between 15,000 and 10,000 B.C., the invention of writing with pictographs
in Mesopotamia (3100 B.C.), the invention of paper and Chinese relief
printing (second century A.D.), the rise of late medieval illuminated manuscripts
(eighth century A.D.), and the breakthrough of movable type in Europe (1450
A.D.) all contributed to that development. Investigation of communication
design over the last century reveals patterns of technological, economic, occupational,
spatial, and cultural development that can be attributed to the creation
of an information-driven economy and society that relies on communication
design and technology for stability and growth.
Although enhanced and changed by modern technology, including software
and computers, the basics of communication have essentially remained the
same through the millennia. Communication is a process that requires a sender
(the designer), a message (information or an effort to persuade), a medium (the
delivery platform), and a receiver of that message (the audience). Communication
comes in various forms and is delivered in various media, or platforms for communication
delivery. These media include all forms of printed paper or material
(books, magazines, newspapers, brochures, flyers, signage, and billboards), the
Internet, mobile phones and handheld devices, television, radio, CDs and DVDs,
videos, video games, and films. Media transmitted to mass audiences is called
mass media; it includes television, film, recordings, mobile technology, magazines,
books, the Internet, and radio. Conversely, a brochure, part of a collection of collateral
material, may only be seen by a few people.
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