Abstract
Graphic design influences and shapes the production and interpretation of cultural information and visual knowledge. The Australian Socio-Graphic AIDS Project (AGAP) locates graphic design as a social process in the production of epidemic knowledge, applying a textual-visual analysis to the images and messages of public health prevention campaigns, including brochures, posters and videos. It documents the influence of government policies and community-sector ideologies in the formulation of safer sex campaigns: how campaigns shape public knowledge of the epidemic; how graphic images generate social meanings about the epidemic; and how cultural responses influence designers in a morally charged arena. The research objectives of AGAP are threefold. (1) Empirical analysis of the diversity of Australian HIV/AIDS strategies and documentation of the contrasts in contents and texts of the campaigns. (2) Exploration of graphic designs of safer sex campaigns, official strategies and public responses to the initiatives. (3) Evaluation of the material culture of the campaigns and how they influence what can and cannot be said about safer sex practices.
Citation
Donovan, R., and Chan, L. (2004) Interpreting Graphic Design: Cultural Imaginaries and Social Productions., in Redmond, J., Durling, D. and de Bono, A (eds.), Futureground - DRS International Conference 2004, 17-21 November, Melbourne, Australia. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2004/researchpapers/178
Interpreting Graphic Design: Cultural Imaginaries and Social Productions.
Graphic design influences and shapes the production and interpretation of cultural information and visual knowledge. The Australian Socio-Graphic AIDS Project (AGAP) locates graphic design as a social process in the production of epidemic knowledge, applying a textual-visual analysis to the images and messages of public health prevention campaigns, including brochures, posters and videos. It documents the influence of government policies and community-sector ideologies in the formulation of safer sex campaigns: how campaigns shape public knowledge of the epidemic; how graphic images generate social meanings about the epidemic; and how cultural responses influence designers in a morally charged arena. The research objectives of AGAP are threefold. (1) Empirical analysis of the diversity of Australian HIV/AIDS strategies and documentation of the contrasts in contents and texts of the campaigns. (2) Exploration of graphic designs of safer sex campaigns, official strategies and public responses to the initiatives. (3) Evaluation of the material culture of the campaigns and how they influence what can and cannot be said about safer sex practices.