Visual communication or graphic design?
Fredy Polania
Founder & Principal Strategist
Introduction: The Message vs. The Tool
In the business world, terminology is often used interchangeably, which dilutes the strategic importance of each discipline. Confusing communication with design is a common mistake. For a product architect, understanding the distinction is key to flawless execution.
1. Graphic Design: Giving Sense to the Pictorial
By taking the literal meanings of the words design and graphic, we could define it as “giving sense to pictorial representations.” These usually manifest as illustrations, infographics, typography, prints, engravings, and other two-dimensional media.
Graphic design is the profession and academic discipline focused on projecting visual communication deliverables that transmit specific messages to defined groups of people.
Origin of the term ‘Graphic Design’
2. Visual Communication: The Broad Phenomenon
If we repeat the previous exercise and combine the meanings of communication and visual, it refers to “disseminating information” through digital, print, and audiovisual media.
Visual communication encompasses the use of graphic elements to transmit ideas and information. It operates through signage, typography, drawing, graphic design, illustration, industrial design, advertising, animation, and digital interfaces.
Origin of the term ‘Visual Communication’
3. Which Term is Correct?
As we have shown, both terms share overlapping disciplines and specialties. The term “Graphic Design” has been in use for over 50 years, originating when information media were primarily print-based. Its meaning is widely understood in modern society.
On the other hand, “Visual Communication” refers to the broader group of professions, disciplines, and specialties involved in creating informational deliverables for multiple media and formats. It includes graphic design as one of its key execution tools.
Design schools have adapted to these shifting requirements, updating their curricula to reflect this modern understanding. In my experience, market demands dictate that the professional in charge of a brand’s graphic assets must understand the nature of the discipline and its close, evolving relationship with technology.
4. Conclusion: The Value of Professional Execution
Visual communication is the general term for the various specialties and disciplines that disseminate messages through traditional and electronic media. Graphic design is the concrete method that allows us to execute and refine the deliverables we communicate.
Confusing the message with the tool dilutes the importance of technique. In my methodology, graphic design is the engine that drives strategic communication, transforming an abstract idea into a tangible and powerful visual asset.
