In an age of globalization and connectivity, the idea of "mainstream culture” has become quaint. Websites, magazines, books, and television have all honed in on ever-diversifying subcultures, hoping to carve out niche audiences that grow savvier and more narrowly sliced by the day. Consequently, the discipline of graphic design has undergone a sea change. Where visual communication was once informed by a designer’s creative intuition, the proliferation of specialized audiences now calls for more research-based design processes.

Design Studies, a collection of 27 essays from an international cast of top design researchers, sets out to mend this schism between research and practice. The essays presented here make a strong argument for performing rigorous experimentation and analysis. Each author outlines methods in which research has aided their design — whether by investigating how senior citizens react to design aesthetics, how hip hop culture can influence design, or how design for third-world nations is effected by cultural differences.

This comprehensive reader is the definitive reference for this new direction in graphic design, and an essential resource for both students and practitioners.