Ithas been argued philosophically that deconstruction is not a style or ‘attitude’ but rather a m o d e o f q u e s t i o n i n g t h e technologies, f o r m a l d e v i c e s , social institutions, and metaphors of representation. Deconstruction belongs to both history and theory; It has been embedded in visual and academic culture, but at it’s core, it describes a strategy of critical form-making which is performed across a range of p r a c t i c e s , b o t h histor ical and contemporar y.

Deconstuctionsim in graphic design also aimed for a distinct breakaway from the old standards of design that were found i n p r e v i o u s m o v e m e n t s such as Constructivism and Modern i sm . I t was an opposition to the prior graphic design styles and to the past’s purist aesthitic ideals. The world was changing, the ideals of society as a whole were c h a n g i n g , a n d technology was changing. The entrance of the computer into the graph ic des ign field was a powerful catalyst for change.

The body of work within

Deconstructionism is far more

informal than that of the other

schools of design. This seems

to be a reaction to the technical

perfection and stylistic mannerism

of the professional mainstream of

graphic design. The mainstream

prefers ordered, structurally refined,

and typographically proper design,

whereas Deconstruction prefers

the intentional chaos of

unmannered, hand drawn, and

initially disorienting design.

Deconstruction is characterized by

it’s use of fragmentation, layering,

non-linear shapes, distortion, and

dislocation. Deconstruction also

utilizes an unorthodox manipulation

of typographic elements in it’s designs.

Some of these manipulations include

irregular kerning, overlapping text,

non-linear text

placement, inc

onsistant

typeface, exaggerated sizes, and

mulit-directional/flipped/inverted text.

Deconstruction In Design

“How does the external image of things get inside the internal essence of those things? How does the surface get under the skin?”

Design can critically engage

the mechanics of representation,

exposing and revising its

idealogical biases; design can

also remake the grammer of

communication by discovering

structures and patterns within

the material of visual and verbal

writing. Deconstruction shows the

multiple layers of meaning at work

in language. In Derrida’s view, text

has contradictory meanings and

different interpretations, which

shows language is constantly changing.