Visual Communication

Jonathan Baldwin is the Associate Head of School of Art and Design, University of South Wales, Cardiff. He teaches and writes on issues related to popular culture, the media, graphic design and higher education and has experience working as a professional graphic designer and has contributed to many publications and conferences on art and design in higher education. Lucienne Roberts established the design studio sans+baum after a brief period at The Women's Press, hoping to ally a commitment to accessible and engaging design with a socially aware agenda. Roberts' new studio LucienneRoberts+ started at the end of 2006. Roberts was a signatory of the First Things First manifesto, has taught at Yale and the London College of Communication and was a D&AD judge in 2008. She is a regular contributor to Eye magazine and Grafik.

I love the way AVA lays out the content in their books. The quality of the books themselves as well as their content have been key factors in my using them as course materials.

• How to use this bookThe Theory Foreword: Isn’t design simply all about ‘the visual’?The PracticeForewordChapter One: CommunicationAims of chapter 1The TheoryIntroduction: Even natural processes have explanationsCommunication as a processSemioticsAll design is political: part oneAfterword: No more rules?The PracticeIntroductionNeville BrodyMichael BierutQuestions in summaryChapter Two: CultureAims of chapter 2The TheoryIntroduction: Everyday visual communicationWhat is culture?All design is political: part twoStyle and identityAfterword: ‘Meaningful’ is not the same as ‘full of meaning’... The PracticeIntroductionJoan FarrerShin Azumi and Tomoko AzumiQuestions in summaryChapter Three: ConflictAims of chapter 3The TheoryIntroduction:Form versus function: Styling as communicationAll design is political: part threeThe political designerDesign under threat?Afterword: Beneath the surfaceThe PracticeIntroductionErik SpiekermannEmmi SalonenQuestions in summaryDesign/photography biographiesBibliographyIndexCredits