More Than Problem Solvers

It is often said that graphic designers are problem solvers. The client has a problem and graphic designers are to find the solution, but is that really the best description for designers? The term problem solver could really apply to many occupations. When you have a leaky roof, you call a roofer to fix the leak. When you feel sick, a doctor will make you well again. When you need a package to travel across the country and arrive tomorrow, a delivery service will solve your problem. The term “problem solver” for graphic designers seems too general.

As graphic designers, we work with our clients to make their product reach the intended audience. We combine the client’s thoughts and our ideas to translate this into a visual form of communication.

When Sylvia Harris redesigned the 2000 US Census, she worked with the government and the general public to ensure the redesign successfully made things clearer. The census response rate was regularly declining since the 1970’s, and it was mostly minority groups that were not responding. Harris branded the census and created a campaign to inform the public how the census benefited them. Further more, her group designed the forms to be user-friendly for the average person. Harris combined research findings from the client, the product and the target audience to create successful visual communication.



The Center for Urban Pedagogy makes complex policy issues accessible to the public. By using graphic design, they created the Social Security Risk Machine, a folded poster printed on the front and back explaining the mystery of social security using short bits of text and pictograms. CUP used visual communication to explain a complex topic to the public.



If the government tried to solve either of these problems, they probably would create long books filled with confusing legal text. Their solution would technically solve the problem, but it wouldn’t be a successful graphic design solution. Harris and CUP are solving problems, but more specifically, they are visual communicators. So instead of graphic designers labeling themselves as problem solvers, maybe we should better define ourselves as visual communicators.