Reflective Essay on Workshop in Graphic Design

Graphic Designers have their own approach in order to deal with social issues and other societal, national and international aspects. It is seen that graphics have the power to demonstrate various aspects that are required to be taken in front of the people. This study focuses on an event I attended on October 15th, 2019 at San Francisco public library, Koret auditorium about “The Roles and responsibilities of graphic designers in the Trump era”. The building was so big that I almost lost my way inside the building before I was directed to the right room where the presentation/ meeting is being held by one of the security men at the entrance of the building. I was amazed by the beautiful lightnings and rugged floor that enables the seats to be arranged to give a reasonable perspective of the stage. There was a projector at the center of the stage which enables the audience to see what is being presented. I heard when the organizer of the event called and introduced the speaker (Sabiha Basrai) to the audience. I did not participate in the event as I was too shy to ask questions in a public meeting full of strangers. The presentation/talk was conducted by a Graphic Designer named Sabiha Basrai. Approaches undertaken by the graphic designer is the focus of the study. Future Graphic Designers will find this workshop helpful. A descriptive evaluation of the workshop along with personal reflection will also be the focus of the study. Analytical evaluation of the overall workshop will also be structured in this essay.

The entire workshop is about the presentation of posters regarding different social issues in the United States. The focus of the workshop was on social issues for which mass involvement and mass protest is highly required. It has been observed that graphic designers have the power to portray a protest with the touch of their pen. Visual representation also has the power to demonstrate a situation in a way that elicits deep responses (Rodríguez, Fabiola and Lloyd Spencer, p. 142). The workshop has been organized for future graphic designers. Highlighting the approaches driven by different graphic designers was also the objective of the workshop.

Two major preparations have been made by the speaker in case of dealing with the mass movements against Trump. After the presidential inauguration of Trump, there were comments made against black people. Princess Leia poster has been made by the group to protest the racist comments made by the President of the United States. 2017 Women’s March has also been targeted as a worldwide protest the speech thrown by Trump. This protest has been demonstrated as one of the biggest one-day protests in the United States. The whole tension rose due to the statements made by the US President. Such posters are social motivators and inspirers (Paterson, 65). This protest was an opportunity for graphic designers to stand against Donald Trump. Princess Leia poster did the same thing against the president. Each struggle is important when it is related to graphic design and presentation.

Another big movement has been carried out through posters against the statements on Muslims. The views were divisive and held the potential to divide the entire community. The entire protest has been conducted against Donald Trump with the help of colorful graphic designs. After the President’s statement, the entire team had created and printed the poster and taken it to San Francisco airport the very next day. It was also a big movement where the poster was held for 48 long hours with all the details. According to Rodríguez, Fabiola and Lloyd Spencer (140), such posters have enough power to demonstrate the protest socially detrimental statements. I have participated in the workshop and gathered knowledge about the life of a graphic designer.

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The entire workshop had a slow reaction to me. I was very excited about the workshop as the main speaker (Sabiha Basrai) of the workshop was the one whom I keep in high regard. Before the workshop, I did not have much idea about mass movement through graphic design and posters. I always thought that protests are conducted with anger. This workshop allowed me to demonstrate that images and graphics also have speaking power. Images and graphics can talk and act against any statements. I had observed that both the protests have been made through the posters and the entire community was attached to the protests. In this scenario, I have learned that effective posters can fight against an evil in society. I heard about these movements and know that the speaker related to these movements. I had eagerly waited to know the inner story of these two posters.

In a major part of the workshop, I was curious to know about the association of other people who were connected to the movement too. I have also learned that each protest has a democratic view and many people relate to each movement. I have learned that each social issue should be demonstrated through the poster movement. As a trainee graphic designer, it is my duty to keep a focus on protests each incident which is morally wrong. I have ensured that I will apply beach trick in my career and will talk against every wrong thing which will be associated with social issues. Graphic Designer has power to speak up against social evils with the help of designs and graphics and I will also follow this path.

The entire workshop has been made with good governance techniques. It was the influential power of the speaker that helped in conducting the workshop effectively. It is a sign of good governance by the speaker. Both the protests mentioned by the speaker have power to motivate upcoming graphic designers. Each such workshop is very important for the students who are related to this field. Workshops have the power to motivate students about their future goals and career (Walker, 550). The speaker had done the exact same thing with her influential power. Within the meeting, I observed that the speaker conducted the workshop in the form of stories. The speech delivering approach utilized by the speaker was appreciable.

The entire workshop had been conducted over democratic values. It has been observed that exploring the two major movements were the main objectives of the speaker. Both movements have democratic values in society. Each poster and each movement have the power to make the community strong (Paterson, 62). At times, it has been observed that most people demonstrate their voice with the help of a movement. Democratic values have been presented in the workshop effectively. The entire event supported American democracy.

Based on the approaches driven from the above evaluation, it is concluded that the workshop related to the graphic designing process had effective consideration for future designers. Graphic design approaches always have the potential to portray different types of social issues in the best possible way. Mass movements are required against anything wrong within the society and graphic designers can play a vital role in instigating the masses with their graphics. The workshop made by the speaker had good governance value as the entire content of the workshop was motivating for all the students. The goal of the workshop has been met properly with the help of proper guidance from the speaker. It is now concluded that graphic designers should always make their protests through their power of design and images.