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Audrey Williams

Professor Katherine Rowell

SOC 145

4 November 2020

Anthropology in Graphic Design: How Culture Influences Art

Anthropology and more specifically, culture, influences just about everything in life as

we know it. The culture one was raised in plays a huge part in not only how one perceives the

world, but how they interact with it on a daily basis. Understanding different cultures as well as

being open to their different lifestyles is becoming more and more necessary in today’s society.

With the use of the internet and ever-increasing globalization, people around the world are

becoming more connected. Humanity is being exposed to large amounts of information. With it

comes access to other ways of life, other belief systems, and the need to be understand each

other. The workplace is no exception to this. In this paper, I will be exploring how culture

influences graphic designers both in how they make their art and the different audiences they

may be trying to reach.

For the interview process of this paper, I reached out to my sister’s friend Gideon Meyer

who graduated with a degree in graphic design. Like others in the field, actual anthropology

classes were not a requirement for graduation (though they would be useful). Many of his classes

focused on technical skills involving things like electronic media, printmaking, studio

illustration, and drawing classes. However, he did learn about different cultures through the

various art history classes he took. Culture was also touched on in the classes focused on modern

art, which takes a look into how art may influence our current society.
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Gideon had more of a diverse cultural background than I originally anticipated going into

this interview. Gideon was adopted from Guatemala when he was three months old and went on

to live with his adoptive family in Iowa. He had five other adopted siblings from various regions

of Asia, like South Korea and Vietnam. Though his parents were your typical Midwest-

conservative type, they wanted him to know about his original culture, and provided him and his

siblings with all the information they may need.

After moving away to college, Gideon made friends with his roommate from China. He

says that more of his intercultural experiences first centered around the different kinds of foods

from various cultures. As he progressed more into the field of graphic design, it became apparent

the need to be more sensitive to different cultures in the workplace. Though there were no

outright cultural miscues, the need for open communication between a client and artist was

greatly emphasized in his classes. Because graphic designers work heavily in the public eye,

there is a need to be culturally sensitive. Many things could be potentially misconstrued, and

artists are becoming increasingly aware of this.

This cultural sensitivity also can be translated into the workplace. Gideon believes that

giving people a “clear and open outlet to celebrate and express their culture” is a good way to

start embracing the cultural diversity we all experience in our careers. Instead of shutting people

out and thinking our culture is somehow superior to theirs in a misguided attempt at

ethnocentrism, we should embrace other cultures and give them ample opportunities in the

spotlight.

Cultural diversity has not been prominent in graphic design until fairly recently. In an

article on raising diversity in graphic design (Shou 2020), in as early as 1991, a poll revealed that

93% of graphic designers were white. 30 years later, that number has gone down somewhat, but
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still remains relatively high at “71% identified as White, 36% as Asian, 8% as Latinx or

Hispanic, 5% as multiracial, 3% as Black, and less than 1% as Native American” ( Shou 2020).

Graphic design is not something that can afford to not be culturally diverse, especially in today’s

time.

According to (Ferraro and Andreatta 2018), because of slow technology and methods of

communication, earlier centuries did not have as much cultural diversity in art, due to slow

diffusion from other countries. This applies to places outside of the United States as well. There

just was not that many ways to experience art from other societies that was easily accessible to

the general public. However, entering the 20th and 21st century, “rapid and dramatic” changes

began to happen to the art world. Art and art techniques were being shared between countries.

The forward momentum is increasing in today’s day and age, in all aspects of art.

Because of this, diversity in graphic designers is likely to increase in the coming years. It

is more than likely it will shift from being white dominated to encompassing several different

races. With this will undoubtedly come different cultural perspectives and ways of creating

digital art. The horizons are ever expanding. With these new cultural perspectives, artists may

even begin to question exactly why they personally make art the way they do.

“So much of the knowledge that we share in any given society is tacit. So many of the

assumptions we make about ourselves and about others are unconscious. It is easy to say that

designers should uncover their cultural bias. But which methods are best suited to the task?”

(Burnett 2020). An artist’s upbringing without a doubt influences the way they make and

perceive art, as well as other cultures. In a way, how one makes art when influenced by other

cultures can be compared to postmodernism anthropology. Postmodernism, as described in the

textbook (Ferraro and Andreatta 2018) is “A school of anthropology that advocates the switch
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from cultural generalization and laws to descriptions, interpretation, and the search for meaning.”

All art therefore is subjective; it has been influenced by the experience of the artists upbringing

and personal culture. Their interpretations of other cultures are just that: interpretations. It will be

interesting to see the kind of artwork that comes from more cultural diversity in the graphic

design field. Art from other cultures will become more prominent, rather than interpretations of

different cultures. Graphic designers must be aware that they might not know their audience as

well as they think they do. How they perceive the audience they are trying to speak to may just

reflect their own cultural upbringing and the assumptions they have.

I will not go too far into discussing how graphic design may theoretically be changing in

the future, as this is a tangent that could potentially be its own paper. For now, I will focus on

graphic design and culture in the current time. As previously said by Gideon in the interview, I

do agree that being respectful and aware of other cultures is important in the workplace. When

making any kind of art for the public eye, one must put themselves in the observer’s shoes. What

message is a work trying to get across? Is it doing it efficiently? How will this impact different

audiences? Humans are visual creatures. What we see and the context we are seeing it in will
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influence our lives. Keeping this in mind, it could be argued that ethics also plays a major role in

graphic design, alongside the obvious influences of the artists’ culture. This brings up the

question: Does art influence culture? Or does culture influence art? I believe they go hand in

hand.

Going back to the interview, Gideon made a good point that I agree with when asked

about suggestions he would make when working with diverse people. Many of us have our

comfort zones, and those can be hard to get out of. Other cultures may make us uncomfortable,

as ethnocentrism, the “practice of viewing the cultural features of other societies in terms of

one’s own” (Ferraro and Andreatta 2018) can be a hard mindset to get out of. No culture should

be viewed as greater than another. No matter how technologically advanced or wealthy one may

be, viewing one’s culture as “superior” simply is inaccurate and close sighted. To quote the

interview “Living in someone else’s shoes really makes you appreciate your own. And on the

contrary, you’ll be surprised how comfortable someone else’s shoes might fit!”

Graphic design, and art degrees in general, might have a larger focus on being culturally

considerate than say an engineering or zoology degree. However, that does not detract from the

fact that society as we know it is changing; many different cultures are mixing and diffusing into

one another. It is our responsibility to become more culturally aware and inclusive. Not just to

get ahead in our careers, but ethically as human beings as well. Art and how it is interpreted will

be changing in the years ahead with the influx of new cultures in graphic design. What was once

originally a white dominated profession is slowly becoming more popular with other races and

cultures. With it comes new viewpoints, ideas, and perspectives.

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Bibliography

1. Ferraro Gary and Susan Andreatta. 2018. Cultural Anthropology an Applied Perspective.

11th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning.

2. ArtCenter. 2020. “Raising Consciousness: Diversity in Graphic Design” Solvej Schou.

Retrieved October 26th, 2020. http://www.artcenter.edu/connect/dot-

magazine/articles/diversity-graphic-design.html

3. Current. “Anthropology & Design” Ron Burnett. Retrieved October 26th, 2020.

“https://current.ecuad.ca/anthropology-design

4. Discover Anthropology. “Anthropology of Art” Jeremy Coot. Retrieved October 30th,

2020. https://www.discoveranthropology.org.uk/about-anthropology/specialist-

areas/anthropology-of-art.html

5. Being Guided. “Design Anthropologists” Ian H. Smith. Retrieved November 3rd, 2020.

https://www.beingguided.com/blog/design-anthropologists

6. Material World. “Reconciling Anthropology with Graphic Design: Postcards from

Bilbao, London and Oslo” Olga Neva. Retrieved November 4th, 2020.

https://materialworldblog.com/2007/03/reconciling-anthropology-with-graphic-design-

postcards-from-bilbao-london-and-oslo/
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Interview Answers (copy/pasted from e-mail)

Full Name?

Gideon Gabriel Meyer

Career?

Critical Account Maintenance and Entry Legal Document Review for Wells Fargo Bank

N.A.

Why did you choose this career?

I actually didn't originally choose this career. I graduated from Minnesota State

University (Moorhead) in 2010 with a BA in Graphic Design. I wanted a job in the

design field but the program at the time was going through a transitional period to include

more electronic media like building websites/designing mobile apps. Things just didn't

work out with my class schedule so I could focus on that aspect of design media more,

for a more complete portfolio and job opportunities. I also loved art when I was growing

up. It was always my goal to utilize art for my job, but as I finished my degree, I didn't

really care for how "commercial" art became for me and how I would not be able to

utilize my creativity to my fullest, with the prospects of an actual studio design job.

What education or technical training did you get for this field?

I took multiple semesters of art and design classes while finishing my degree. This

included multiple types of print (physical) media, with minimal electronic media.
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Printmaking, multiple studio illustration and technical drawing classes, as well as some

classes that focused on professional Adobe Creative Suite programs for digital processes.

For my current job, I received quite a bit of in-house training with certain certifications

taken through the same channels.

Did you ever take an anthropology class? If so, when/what was it?

Not formally. The most similar classes I took were art history classes which touched base

on some fundamentals of anthropology, in how art affects how we function and progress

as a society. Some of my "modern art" classes also focused on how art and design

currently affects our social structure also.

What is your cultural background? How long has your family been in the United

States?

My cultural background is definitely not standard. I was adopted from Guatemala when I

was three months old. My adoptive family lives in southwest Iowa. I have five other

brother's and sisters who were adopted from other countries in Asia (South Korea and

Vietnam) so I feel like I've had the true "melting pot" experience. My parents are

European descent and were already living in the States. I and my siblings were

naturalized into the US at an early age as US citizens. My parents are very midwest-

conservative, but they were always open with my own cultural (Guatemalan) background

and tried to ensure that I had as much information as I was comfortable with. They've

always been supportive of my curiosity for any further info otherwise.

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Do you have any intercultural experiences? Examples could be friends from

different cultures or places you've traveled to with different cultures.

Absolutely! When I moved two states away from my hometown and attended University,

I made many friends from outside the US. They regularly brought their own cultures with

them and educated our friend group with that diversity. Quite often we found that food

tended to be the most common introduction for external cultures. Another example of

exposure to diversity was from having a roommate who was an exchange student from

China. I learned a lot about their societal expectations and intimate family

structures/expectations from just interacting with him on a daily basis. We still talk about

this stuff to compare and contrast our lives, as we still maintain contact on a regular basis.

How would you rate your knowledge of other cultures? Are there any cultures you'd

like to learn more about?

I could always do better with my education of other cultures. I will say, my current job

provides daily opportunities to experience diversity and culture as a crucial part of our

team structure. Being in an environment like this, has helped me keep an open mind to

know more about other cultures. I'd like to learn more about South American culture(s).

How often do you think other cultures came into play with your job? Do you have

any examples? Were there any cultural misunderstandings?

Quite often. As I stated before, the company I work for, thrives on celebrating individual

cultures that our team mates bring with them to help them feel included and comfortable
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to promote a healthy work environment. Working in banking, this comes into play

especially if there's a language barrier or if a customer prefers working with someone

who can understand their thought processes better from knowing their cultural

expectations etc more intimately.

From a Graphic Design aspect, if I was working in that field, understanding other cultures

would definitely be key to appeasing client needs. Graphic Design is all communication

based, (pictures with words and sometimes without). Understanding how a client may

want their designs to appear, in order to display the right message, would rely on

understanding culture also! We discussed this many times during my studio classes to

ensure we weren't being insensitive to the public eye which could include many cultures.

I'm sure there are many instances where there were misunderstandings, though I cannot

think of any specific ones for my current job or while I was still in school for design.

What do you think the best way to deal with cultural diversity in the workplace may

be?

As with any aspect of education, having a good line of communication to help overcome

ignorance is key. It seems that giving people a clear and open outlet to celebrate and

express their culture is a good way to ensure we are inclusive in the workplace. This

should also be expressed with the notion that despite differences, we still value each other

in the workplace as we're all on the same team, working towards the same goals.

Besides cultural diversity, what are some other kinds of diversity you may have

experienced in the workplace?  In any public environment you will always run into

situations where someone might go about different thought processes or problem solving
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methods which aren't necessarily related to cultural diversity but rather individual

diversity. This interpersonal communication is a pretty common level of diversity I deal

with on a daily basis.  

Finally, do you have any suggestions for working with diverse people?

People often make the mistake of complacency when it comes to cultural diversity. Being

willing to constantly educate yourself and rewrite the "norm" is a mindset that everyone

should have for success in any aspect of life. Being willing to compromise that comfort

zone is difficult for people, especially since folks do not enjoy change in routine.

However, flexibility and sincere sympathy/empathy is key. People are always going to

have differences, but looking for similarities to find a common ground will never stop

being what I believe, one of the more effective means to bridge any cultural gap. It just

takes self-discipline to try to recognize and go beyond your limitations for the sake of

improving community. As my grandmother used to say, "Living in someone else's shoes

really makes you appreciate your own. And on the contrary, you'll be surprised how

comfortable someone else's shoes might fit!"

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Screen Shot of Thank You E-mail