Abstract
Graphic design history is a territory where multiple interests converge but where views may diverge, especially those of design practitioners and historians.
How do historical narratives shape the definition of the field of practice? Conversely, how does graphic design practice contribute, or how can it contribute, to defining the ways to access and disseminate historical knowledge? How does history help to develop critical discourse about the design practice? How do designers use and embed history in their practice? Finally, are the visions and agendas of practitioners and academic historians really so incompatible and distant from one another?
The proceedings of the conference Graphic Design: History and Practice, held at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Faculty of Design and Art, in 2014, attempt to answer those questions through the voices of both designers and historians who have been extensively involved with the making of design history: Gerda Breuer, Esther Cleven, Richard Hollis, Annick Lantenois, Mario Piazza, and Adrian Shaughnessy.
The proceedings also include extracts from the discussions that followed each panel, as well as original texts by the editors.