Design is multidisciplinary

As a student, one of the books that inspired my career choices was Grafica: La Cultura del Progetto (Graphics: Design Culture, 1989). In the book, Roberto Pieraccini, who was head of visual design at Olivetti, reflects on the role of a communication designer:

“I have the opportunity to talk about our profession, about that profession that I consider to be undefined and undefinable, which is Communication Design. […] It is not definable, because the type of professionalism required of the operator depends on knowledge of not one but multiple subjects, analytical and operational skills. […]

Graphic Design today is publishing, industrial publishing, advertising, interior design, corporate identity, typography, signage, computer graphics: everything. Each field of intervention has its specificity, history, and methodology, and this is the main quality of our profession today: the ability to control and determine the bases, the fundamental structures of information with political, psychological, and aesthetic choices […] to be therefore an operator capable of dealing with diversified interventions at the same time.”

Rediscovering these words now is remarkable. Pieraccini recognises the multidisciplinary nature of the profession, crossing boundaries between strategy and creativity, research and craft, art and science, psychology and aesthetics. While all disciplines require focus and dedication—specialisation—dealing with complex problems also requires working across them with a certain degree of depth.