Longum iter est per praecepta, breve et efficax per exempla Teaching by precept is a long road, but short and beneficial is the way by example.--Lucius Annaeus Seneca"Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversations?”--Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventure in Wonderland, New York , Crowell
This narrative traces the remarkable genesis and evolution of a comprehensive educational resource in Graphic Design—a scholarly endeavor that has spanned several decades, crossed continents, and weathered the transformative currents of technological and pedagogical change. What began as a humble collection of lecture notes in Iran during the early 1970s has evolved into a dynamic, internationally recognized resource that continues to shape the understanding of graphic design history across global academic institutions.
Origins: Born from Necessity
The story begins in Iran during the nascent years of the 1970s, when formal graphic design education was in its infancy and quality reference materials remained frustratingly scarce. Confronted with a profound dearth of satisfactory educational resources for aspiring designers, these lecture notes emerged not from academic ambition, but from pedagogical necessity. The author, recognizing the critical gap between student needs and available materials, embarked on what would become a lifelong mission to create comprehensive, accessible design education resources.
The original notes reflected the unique challenges of teaching graphic design in a cultural and geographic context where Western design traditions intersected with rich local artistic heritage. This cross-cultural perspective would later prove to be one of the resource's most distinctive and valuable characteristics, offering students a more holistic understanding of design as a global, culturally-informed discipline.
A Journey Across Continents
The evolution of these notes mirrors the author's own extraordinary professional trajectory—a journey that has traversed continents, bridged cultures, and weathered the inevitable vicissitudes of time, political upheaval, and technological revolution. Each geographical transition brought new perspectives, methodologies, and challenges that enriched and refined the educational content.
The transformative moment came through a serendipitous encounter with former students in Vancouver—a meeting that would catalyze the resurrection and digital dissemination of this valuable pedagogical tool. These students, now established professionals in their own right, recognized the enduring value of their foundational education and encouraged the author to share this knowledge with a broader, international audience.
However, the intervening decades had witnessed profound paradigm shifts in both the technical infrastructure and conceptual frameworks of graphic design. The digital revolution had fundamentally altered not only how design was practiced but also how it was taught and understood. This reality necessitated a thorough, comprehensive revision to ensure contemporary relevance while preserving the historical wisdom embedded in the original materials.
The Wikipedia Challenge: Navigating Digital Gatekeeping
The initial attempt to publish this meticulously revised compendium on Wikipedia revealed the complex challenges facing independent scholars in the digital age. The platform's stringent editorial policies, while ostensibly designed to maintain objectivity and prevent copyright infringement, proved to be a formidable double-edged sword. These regulations, though well-intentioned in their mission to safeguard against unsubstantiated claims and maintain scholarly integrity, simultaneously risked stifling original scholarship and the nuanced artistic perspectives that make design education truly meaningful.
The author's extensive experience revealed how Wikipedia's editorial framework, while democratic in theory, could inadvertently create barriers to the dissemination of specialized knowledge. The platform's preference for secondary sources over primary expertise often conflicted with the author's deep, experiential knowledge of design history and pedagogy.
The subsequent transition to the English Wikipedia, while offering some respite in terms of copyright restrictions—particularly for educational materials that could potentially fall under Fair Use provisions—presented an entirely new constellation of challenges. The author's philosophical commitment to creating a visually rich, self-explanatory history of graphic design often clashed with Wikipedia's editorial practices and community standards, resulting in what the author perceived as arbitrary and ultimately detrimental alterations to carefully crafted educational materials.
The Independent Path: Reclaiming Educational Vision
This ongoing conflict between the author's pedagogical vision and the inherent constraints of collaborative digital platforms ultimately catalyzed a renewed effort to create an independent, comprehensive resource. This ambitious undertaking involved extensive outreach to artists and institutions for permissions, meticulous historical research, careful verification of sources, and the navigation of occasional technological setbacks that threatened to derail the entire project.
The process of creating this independent resource revealed the extraordinary complexity of modern educational publishing. Each image required careful sourcing and permission negotiations. Each historical claim demanded verification across multiple sources. Each technological decision carried implications for accessibility, longevity, and user experience.
A Testament to Perseverance
The resulting work stands as a powerful testament to perseverance in the face of bureaucratic obstacles and technological hurdles. It represents far more than a simple historical account of graphic design—it constitutes a fascinating meta-narrative on the challenges, opportunities, and responsibilities inherent in disseminating specialized knowledge in our interconnected digital age.
The author's unwavering commitment to maintaining this as a "living document"—continuously updated, refined, and expanded—speaks eloquently to both the dynamic nature of design as a discipline and the evolving possibilities of digital publication as a medium for educational innovation. This approach recognizes that design history is not a static collection of facts but a continuously evolving conversation between past innovations and contemporary practice.
Validation Through Academic Recognition
Perhaps the most compelling evidence of this resource's enduring value lies in the periodic surge of readership that occurs at the commencement of each academic year—a pattern that has persisted across multiple years and demonstrates the resource's practical utility in real-world educational contexts. This cyclical validation from the global academic community vindicates the author's decades-long dedication to this ambitious project.
The resource serves multiple interconnected functions: as a comprehensive educational tool for students encountering design history for the first time, as a reference work for established practitioners seeking to deepen their historical understanding, and as a bridge between generations of graphic designers, fostering continuous dialogue within an ever-evolving field.
The Ultimate Reward: Academic Citation and Influence
The author notes with profound satisfaction that this work has been referenced in lecture notes, graduate theses, scholarly articles, and academic publications across various countries and institutions. This international academic recognition—rather than any commercial success or popular acclaim—represents the ultimate validation of decades of scholarly dedication. Each citation serves as evidence that the resource has successfully fulfilled its foundational mission: to provide accessible, comprehensive, and reliable information that advances the field of graphic design education.
These academic references create a ripple effect of educational influence, as students and scholars build upon this foundation to create their own contributions to design knowledge. In this way, the work achieves a form of intellectual immortality, continuing to educate and inspire long after its initial creation.
A Living Legacy
Today, this resource stands as more than an educational tool—it represents a living legacy that embodies the transformative power of dedicated scholarship, the importance of preserving and sharing specialized knowledge, and the enduring value of connecting historical understanding with contemporary practice. It serves as both a monument to the rich history of graphic design and a foundation for its continued evolution.
The journey from handwritten lecture notes in 1970s Iran to a globally recognized digital resource illustrates not only the personal dedication of one educator but also the broader democratizing potential of digital technology when wielded in service of genuine educational mission. As the field of graphic design continues to evolve, this resource remains a constant—a reliable beacon for students, educators, and practitioners seeking to understand not just what graphic design has become, but how it came to be.
Initial compilation: 2/9/10 — First major revision: 23/3/14 — Latest comprehensive update: 23/6/24
The following represents a selection of lecture notes, graduate theses, scholarly articles, and academic publications from various countries that have referenced this educational resource—recognition that the author considers the greatest possible reward for decades of dedicated scholarship.
Chetcuti Gabriel, (2014) Individual Work Essay – Alphonse Mucha and Milton Glaser, https://gabrielchetcuti.wordpress.com/author/gabrielchetcuti
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Guity! Thank you very much for your precious work!
ReplyDeleteHug from Brazil
Everly
It is so wonderful that we still have a scholar who has a heart!
ReplyDeletegood job
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the wonderful resource and your hard work!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your informative post! I was working as a web designer for two years, it's quite harder but it makes my life more challenging. It takes a long period of time to learn this skill but it's worth it.
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Thank you all!
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you find these notes helpful.
Very usefull educational materials. Thank You! (Arief Adityawan, Jakarta, Indonesia).
ReplyDeleteWhat I can say, thank, thank you for this blog. I was not aware there was a Cuban School of Graphic Design. Words are failing me at this time to express my appreciation for your information and the hard work it must have taken to compile it. The rich history and influence of Graphic Design in Cuba has blown me away, the intensity of the colors and perfect balance of esthetics can stand side by side next to any of the European artist of any style throughout the history of Graphic Design.
ReplyDeleteI have shared your site with friends. I am in awe of what you have put together and the work involved. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteThis work has been fundamental for my sons design studies, giving him the logic and base to work his dissertation, more than most other texts. Of course clearly and extensively quoted...
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic, thank you!
DeleteBy far better than many of the books I have checked out. Thank you so much for openly sharing and putting so much time and effort into this.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeletecould all of this beautiful material ever be complied into a book or would there be copyright issues?
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of live text. I am revising these material all the time. Beside, I love the fact that I am not causing a major environmental damage, using glossy papers etc.
DeleteA wonderful book on graphic designing. Ever since I have came across, this had been a primary source for my assignments in my PhD course work, my own lectures at the university where I teach and even helped me develop new content for the new courses I teach as a Communication Designer.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU VERY MUCH AND GOD BLESS YOU!
Thank you Annie! This means a lot to me.
DeleteHi! I'm from Brazil and I'm starting to study Design, your work seems precious to me, I'm delighted! sorry about my poor english skills :-/ and thanks so much! :D
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful collection. Many thanks for posting this. I will be using this resource for my design work.
ReplyDeleteDear Guity Novin! I am a teacher from the Kama Institute of Arts and Design (Russia), for over 10 years I teach the discipline "History of Graphic Design". Several years ago I met your lectures on the history of graphic design and I use your materials in my work. Your work is a very important source of information for me. This is very important, because in my country there are still no textbooks and teaching aids in this discipline.
ReplyDeleteI started work on writing a similar book, I propose to use translations of some sections of your work. Some time ago I wrote about this to you, however, I'm not sure that you received my message.
Already today, when teaching this discipline, I offer links to my students on the sections of your work. And, although you have a little written about. Thank you! And God keep you!
PS. Sorry for my imperfect English ...
Dear Aktas, Thank you for your kind words. I am sorry that I haven't seen your previous message. Please go ahead and translate the section you find useful. Love, Guity
DeleteDear Mrs. Novin, Thank you for your research. This is definitely the best graphic design website I encountered in a while. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWarm greetings from The Netherlands
Hello :)
ReplyDeletei just wanted to say thank you so much!! I'm writing my Bachelor Thesis in the field of Editorial Design and literally couldn't find any useful books about the history and the development of it whatsoever. You literally saved my life! You should publish you knowledge as a book!
谢谢你的无私奉献！我是一个来自中国的读者。
ReplyDelete谢谢您的鼓励。我很感激
ReplyDeleteDear Guity,
ReplyDeleteThis is a tremendous resource. I am teaching Graphic Design to at risk students in High School for only my second year and am always scrambling for resources. Your trove of information will without a doubt excite and inspire my students to use their Art for activism.
I am truly humbled and feel unbelievably lucky to have stumbled across your blog.
In gratitude from Silicon Valley,
Moya
Wow what can I say! Just discovered this amazing blog. I so busy making art that I seldom get on the net. I feel so privileged that fate lead me here. You restore my faith in human nature. I will be back again and again...Thank you!
ReplyDeletePenny Eamer. Australia.
Just discovered your work. Thank you for sharing it with the world!
ReplyDeleteYou should consider working with a publishing house and getting it printed!
Hello Guity Novin, my name is Willys and I speak from Brazil. I just discovered your blog and this fantastic content about design. I will take this opportunity to expand my knowledge. Thank you for sharing openly with us.
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