This course will explore the historical dimension of graphic design fundamentals and the cultural dynamics within which designers operate. Historical context will be approached as an interaction of social forces, institutional strategies, technological factors, and intellectual developments that have shaped and continue to shape the conception and making of individual works of graphic design and the identity of the field as a whole. In turn, graphic design will be studied as a cultural practice that contributes to the production, maintenance, and representation of this context (the present tense of any historical moment). Students will practice historiography as critical inquiry and interpretive writing in weekly assignments aimed at building an archive for further study. Text: Graphic Design History: A Critical Guide by Drucker and McVarish.

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