What is environmental graphic design?

What Is Environmental Graphic Design?

Environmental design is a field without borders, and is therefore commonly misunderstood. As a multidisciplinary profession merging so many different fields, it’s easy to understand how anyone not directly involved would get confused. That lack of clear definition, however, is arguably one of the profession’s strengths. As we go through its history and spectrum of design disciplines, we’ll try to plainly answer the question on most people’s minds: “What is it?”

What It Isn’t — Common Misconceptions

Before we dive into the blurring boundaries and overlap of disciplines, let’s start with a few common misconceptions. Over the past couple weeks I did some research and on-the-spot interviews, asking folks what they thought “environmental graphic design” meant, to help determine where people are experiencing a disconnect.

Here are the most common responses to my question:

01.Environmental = Green — using recycled or “green” materials, focusing on sustainability or your environmental footprint.

02.Designing or improving the natural environment; confusion with landscape architecture or environmental engineering.

03.Hippies. Earth-loving hippies.

Clearly the most widely misunderstood aspect of environmental design is that it is often mistakenly associated with sustainability and the recent “green” movement. While it’s important to consider sustainable materials and be environmentally responsible regarding our design practices, the word environmental bears no relationship to the natural environment. Using the term “environmental graphic design” is a way to distinguish the practice from that of “conventional graphic design”, or rather designing in the three-dimensional environment as opposed to a two-dimensional medium such as printed paper or the screen.

In talking about three-dimensions don’t confuse it with package design either — while packaging is three-dimensional design as well, we’re talking about the built environment.

AND THE ANSWER OF YOUR QUESTION IS NO- Environmental Graphic Design has nothing to do with math