An Opening: Graphic Design’s Discursive Spaces

Abstract

A review of the particular problems which have been identified with the history of graphic design as a field of study and the emerging discipline of graphic design history is undertaken as an introduction to the special issues of Visible Language entitled, "New Perspectives: Critical Histories of Graphic Design." Operative definitions are provided to delimit the project and explicate the notion of critical histories. A case is put forward for the examination of graphic design through its relationships with larger discourses. A proposal is made for the exploration of graphic design’s discursive spaces as an alternative form of historical inquiry.