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What is a Design Purpose?
What is a Design Purpose?
Every design has a reason or a purpose. Examples of purposes might include, but are not limited to: to influence, educate, inform, identify, guide, depict, promote, advertise, decorate and communicate. The way a designer chooses to present information can be influenced by the purpose of the design. A billboard viewed by passing traffic might need to be large and simplified, but a business card could include intensely detailed imagery or a logo and needs to be portable. A children’s storybook cover needs to attract the attention of a child so the imagery should reflect this by being colourful, and using simplified shapes and large, bold subject matter.
Examples
Examples
A product design or environmental design, such as a landscape plan, also serves particular purposes such as a specific function or to provide shelter.
The function of plans, scale drawings and concept presentations of products serves purposes such as to depict, inform and identify features.
The primary purpose of a concert poster might be to attract attention. But as a secondary purpose, it might also inform the audience of times and dates.
A shoebox does not need to promote, as the ‘audience’ has already made a commitment to purchase the shoes. The primary function of the shoebox is to inform the audience of the shoe style and size.
The three-dimensional design of a perfume bottle needs to be eye-catching to attract the target audience; however, it also needs to incorporate the logo or name of the product to inform the audience about their purchase. The bottle’s label would also contain information such as the volume of perfume and where it was made.
An interactive experience may have the purpose of informing, communicating or identifying options to interact with.
Different Purposes of Designs
Different Purposes of Designs
Advertising
Advertising
May Involve
Marketing or selling a product or service.
Examples
Illustrations, freehand drawing, signage, multi-media, postcard, packaging, logo, billboard, brochure, poster, publication, clothing, exhibition display or photography.
Depicting
Depicting
May Involve
Representing or portraying a product or company. Sometimes a designer will want to depict what something looks like to a client or target audience. At times there will be no other agenda, no message to be communicated, simply the illustration or presentation itself.
Examples
A map, symbol, chart, illustration, diagram, signage, multi-media, packaging, instrumental drawing, 3D model, brochure, poster, postcard, billboard, publication or photograph.
Guiding
Guiding
May Involve
Establishing a location, providing directions or assisting someone with a set of steps.
Examples
A map, symbol, diagram, signage, illustration, freehand drawing, multi-media, brochure or poster.
Identifying
Identifying
May Involve
Providing identification for a person, object, place or even an event.
Examples
Examples of designs that identify are a logo, symbol, icon, signage, map, diagram, poster, brochure, web page, multi-media.
Informing
Informing
May Involve
Conveying facts or information to an audience and may include information about an event, concept, process or opinion.
Examples
A map, symbol, chart, illustration, freehand drawing, diagram, graph, 3D model, brochure, poster, publication or postcard. The signage in Figure 9.8 informs users of where they are and where to go.
Promoting
Promoting
May Involve
Encouraging the target audience to participate in an event, organisation or something intangible, such as a belief or philosophy. A simple way to remember the difference between promotion and advertising is that advertising usually ends with the sale of goods or services.
Examples
Examples of designs that identify are a logo, symbol, icon, signage, map, diagram, poster brochure, web page, multi-media.
Decorating
Decorating
May Involve
To decorate is to enhance the appearance or beauty of something by adding ornamental or attractive features, including adding embellishments, accessories and the design elements and
principles.
Examples
Adding embellishments, accessories, colours, or patterns. Decorating can be applied to various things, including objects, environments and clothes, and to many different presentation formats such as packaging.
Teaching
Teaching
May Involve
Instructing or demonstrating information, so that the target audience will learn something from viewing or applying the information.
Examples
A brochure, poster, publication, multi-media, illustration, instrumental drawing, freehand drawing, map, symbol, chart, diagram, graph or 3D model.
Adobe Stock (n.d) Human heart anatomy illustration explaining blood flow. URL
Information on this page largely sourced from Patterson, J. (2023) VISCOMM: A Guide to Visual Communication Design, 3rd edition, Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom.
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