Camille Baudelaire and Olivia Grandperrin
The interlacing of the body and the city, the interlacing of major and minor
In context of large cities questioning the possibility of entrusting independent graphic designers to design their identities, regions and territories institutions who collaborate with designers, we can observe how in city space, art meet design: anti-feminicide collages, non-profit organisations actions in the wake of Act Up. We need to rethink the position of graphic designers in the society.
Frequently described “art mineur”, graphic design in space arises today as a powerful possibility to increase the scope of signs and design. Born in the wake of graphic art, advertising, poster design, commercial sign painting, it is now tarnished by the image of an “art mineur” subject to commercial instrumentalization (advertising) or simple function (signage). This stigmatizing and devalued vision is all the more damaging as this precious public commission and support for graphic design commissions is gradually disappearing. In this context, it is more necessary than ever to open up various spheres of graphic design.
Future generation of graphic designers will have to adapt to the market and seize the orders reserved for major accounts, to re-infuse intelligence, finesse, meaning and ethics. Echoing François Rabelais, “si les signes vous fâchent, Ô quand vous fâcheront les choses signifiées!”*, carry the commitment through an embodied, committed, and large-scale practice.
