GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PHOTOGRAPHY: VERITABLE TOOLS FOR MASS COMMUNICATION

Abstract

Visual communication has become invaluable in our busy world today, owing to several factors which is made possible through graphics and images, where photography is one of the basic sources. This paper underscores the imperatives of graphic design as a veritable tool for mass communication. This is through the use of graphic variables such as typography, photography or images, and colour for problem-solving in both learning and human development. Graphic design uses images to convey emotions that capture attention, and it is seen as the life wire of technological advancement. Graphic design as a media convergence, considers its audience's culture, religion, geographical location and level of exposure or image perception. The paper enumerates the types of graphic design which include: brand identity, marketing and advertising, user interface, publication, packaging, motion graphic, art and illustration, and environmental graphic. It sees mass communication as a process of impacting and exchanging information through mass media to a large segment of the population, and lists its media as print, broadcast, outdoor, transit, and digital media. Word economy, appeal to human emotion, images over words, non-literacy, geographical, religion, language and cultural differences are components that help project graphic design as a veritable tool for mass communication. The paper concludes that graphic design in mass communication is the
best media to disseminate information in the area of global development communication campaigns. It recommends that in addition to the elements and principles of design, graphic designers should consider theories of visual communication when developing such media to avoid visual communication-noise. Key words: Graphic Design, Photography, Veritable Tools, Mass Communication.