MASTERS OF EDITORIALISM
Last year, the Dean of the Utrecht Graduate School of Visual Arts and Design, Dr. Henk Slager, asked Max Bruinsma to rethink the educational considerations for the graduate course of Editorial Design, and re-write its course plan. In the short essay below, Max Bruinsma summarizes his view on the discipline and outlines the principles on which the new course, which will start September this year, is based.
If, as Gui Bonsiepe holds, all design is at root interface design, then all design is editorial. For what is more editorial than turning disparate data into meaningful information, which is what an interface should achieve? In connecting these two terms, editing and interfacing, I define the bias of Editorial Design as an interdisciplinary craft concerned with structuring information for publication media.
'Editorial design' - or
'editorialism', as I like to term it - is the craft of organizing
complex aggregates of information into a meaningful and accessible
totality, balancing function (the interface aspect) and aesthetics (the
expressive aspect). Literally, the Latin word 'editor' means
'producer': 'edo' (edere) means 'to bring forth', 'bring out in the
open', 'make known', 'publish', 'present', 'deliver', 'reveal',
'cause'. All these associated words suggest that editorial design is
concerned with preparing structure, form and accessibility of
publications.
Traditionally, the term 'editorial (graphic)
design' is associated with publication media such as newspapers and
magazines (recently supplemented by the Web), which are characterized
by complex information structures and short production cycles. In such
media, transparency of editorial structure, clear formal hierarchies
and ease of use are central values in giving form to, not only the end
result, but to the processes of lay-out and production as a whole.
Principally,
editorial design means to prepare design's potential. From the vantage
point of editorial design, structuring the design and production
process has a priority over giving form to the definitive outcome of
that process. In today's design practice, with its concentration on
formal aesthetics, this is not as evident anymore as it sounds.
Within
the interdisciplinary environments of design, editorial design in my
view holds the position of a 'meta discipline'. It is not solely
concerned with (graphic) design for publication media, although that
remains a focus, but also looks at editorial structure in any design
process and product, from urban signage systems to database management
systems, from the design of instrument panels to that of electronic
displays, from advertising campaigns to newspaper lay-out, from
information graphics to web design. The central ambition of the
editorialst is: to organize culturally relevant understanding.
Editorial
designers perform a key function in today's complex information
environments by providing structure and overview, and by translating
abstract data into meaningful forms. By visualizing editorial
hierarchies, editorial designers make visible the content driven
choices made by them and their natural partners, (text) editors,
authors, and publishers. In doings so, they also prepare the way for
colleagues they are collaborating with: photographers, illustrators,
information architects, screen designers, database constructors,
etceteras.
In addition to this process-oriented core of
the profession, editorial designers act as mediators between the
contents of the material they work with and the cultural contexts of
which their products are part. They are 'cultural catalysts'. They
balance content with context; they design the processes that organize
the 'traffic' between various layers of information and meaning; they
mix media and contexts, even from very diverse sources, with the aim of
enhancing awareness of the connectedness of information.
That is the editorial core of design: the activity of making meaningful links.
Construction
This
kind of linking requires a deep knowledge of and insight in the
(con)structional aspects of design. Before the actual construction of
any material artifact can even be conceived, the parts that will
constitute that construction will have to be defined, their meaning and
hierarchies will have to be established and analyzed, and - most
importantly - the various ways in which they can be connected to a
meaningful whole will have to be explored from the vantage point of
both the internal brief of the product and a vision towards aims and
objectives concerning the users of the product, and their contexts.
Editorial
design is the craft of engineering meaningful vehicles for information.
The underlying structure of (publication) designs greatly biases not
only their formal outcome, but also their accessibility and meaning. In
other words: not only should form follow function, but from an
editorial point of view, form = function.
Narrative
Editing
is (almost) synonymous to interpretation. This, in turn, implies that
information needs to be argued (i.e. interpreted) in order to become
meaningful in a communicative way. Editorial design analyzes the
structures and forms of visual interpretation, argumentation, and
formulation as aspects of (visual) narrative. Taking references from
classic rhetorics to modern cinematographic scenarios and hypertextual
environments, visual narrative is seen as a way of translating
information into a structured whole that can be experienced by its
intended audience or users as a 'story'. The meaning of the 'story' is
not only constructed from within (i.e. in terms of argumentation,
'flow' and consistency), but also produced by making meaningful links
to its external contexts. As any storyteller of all ages and cultures
will confirm, the success of a story (i.e. the ease and readiness with
which it is understood by its audience) lies in the way it succeeds in
connecting its own contents to the actual contexts, culture and history
of its audience.
Editorial design is the craft of
constructing meaningful and culturally rooted narratives. Visualization
is a core-skill needed here, based on a thorough insight into the
techniques and models of (visual) narrative. Editorial designers are
trained in preparing the ground for visual narrative; they are
'storytellers of information' in today's visual culture.
Interfacing
The
kind of products that are the focus of editorial design can without
exception be considered interfaces. A newspaper or magazine, a website
or signage system, a dashboard or an information campaign; all are
interfaces which enable their users to access information easily and
rewardingly. In editorial design, interaction and the design of
interfaces serve not only as a digital craft but more importantly as
the craft of organizing links for and actions by 'users'.
Editorial
design is the craft of enabling users to act with and on information.
Editorial designers organize and orchestrate actions by users.
Catalysis
In
today's dense information societies, the way information is embedded
into its cultural and social surroundings is crucial for its
communicative success. Editorial designers must have a deep insight in
cultural processes and include these meaningfully within the structure
of their designs. A thorough insight into the theoretical bases of
cultural and media processes is needed in order to be able to see
topical and specific occurrences of cultural and social phenomena as
part and parcel of the bigger picture of western mediated culture.
Also, the skill to mediate between abstract conceptions of cultural
structure, theory and history, and everyday cultural expressions will
enable the editorial designer to combine clarity of structure and
cultural meaning.
Editorial design is the craft of
embedding information into cultural contexts. Editorial designers are
cultural catalysts in the sense that they are able to translate
information and information structures into culturally active
communication. As cultural catalysts, editorial designers activate
citizens by enabling them to not only consume information, but to
participate in the processes that the information serves.
Editorial Design, Utrecht Graduate School of the Arts and Design
Teaching staff (provisional):
Chris Vermaas - course leader Editorial Design
Harmine Louw - lecturer Visual Narrative
Yuri Engelhardt - lecturer Information Design
Willem van Weelden - lecturer Cultural studies / Media Theory / Thesis
Max Bruinsma - guest lecturer Visual Culture / Cultural Agency
Steven Heller - visiting lecturer
max bruinsma editorialism
maxbruinsma.nl
editorial design masters
graduate school of visual art and design,
MAhku utrecht
www.mahku.nl