Inter Graphic View
The research project Inter Graphic View, directed by Prof. Ingo Offermanns (Klasse Grafik, HFBK Hamburg) – which is part of the Hamburg Open Online University (HOOU) – asks graphic designers belonging to different generations and geographical locations about their professional backgrounds. What are the ideals that motivate their work? When one compares internationally, how are attitudes and ideals similar or different? Can a dialogue of cultures relativize, sharpen and/or expand thinking in graphic design? By pursuing these issues, Inter Graphic View tries to overcome cultural centrisms (and especially Eurocentrism in graphic design discourse) and to resist indifferent work and mediocrity. Inter Graphic View collects interviews with designers (e. g. Tetsuya Goto, Osaka, Xiao Mage, Peking, Farmgroup, Bangkok and Kwangchul Kim, editor of the magazine Graphic, Seoul) from different cultural contexts (Japan, Thailand, South Korea, China, Holland, Nigeria and South Africa et al.) and lists the important concepts in these dialogues and their derivations. Additionally, the research project invites guests to give their response to the dialogues and artifacts. The website also selects essays in the form of short films which give an impression the places where the designers live and work. The website thus functions as a virtual discourse space for dialogue and exchange, as a source of inspiration and also a meeting place for different design cultures. Over time, it is expected that a growing online archive will accumulate to address questions relating to the professional identity of graphic designers, presenting very individual but comparable answers.
Concept + editing: Prof. Ingo Offermanns
Graphic design: David Liebermann
Text, image and film contributions by: Laurens Bauer, Edward Greiner, Caspar Reuss, Juliet van Rosendaal, Andreas Schlaegel, Shuchang Xie et al.