To what extent is design a reflection of the nation and what is national identity?

Working in the field of graphic design, I increasingly wonder why we like certain solutions? There can be no one answer. Nevertheless, I observe certain common things with my customers. Everyone is approximately attracted by the same thing, but something, on the contrary, repels, but here, too, groups of people stand out that can be divided according to the class, origin, level of education, political views, tastes, colloquial dialects, and so on.

For example, everyone knows that business is now divided into two large camps, divided for political reasons. But here and there people interact and reason with you in about the same way, despite the obvious difference in views. Surface values seem to be different, but human passions, emotions, and desires become evident in almost all cases of communication with a client. It is interesting to observe some of the customers who still rate the work on the "like it or not like it" principle. Sometimes you think that if you discard the client's general level of his erudition, views, and beliefs, what would then be guided by when choosing this or that decision? Probably, he was counting on his taste and the opinion of his environment with an orientation towards what is generally acceptable for the product of his category. This is approximately what happens until the project task is defined more specifically. This is followed by the workflow, and if the client and I understand and are not tired of each other, then the successful delivery of the project is guaranteed.

When, after graduating from "Mucha" I came to get a job at a well-known Scandinavian design bureau, I was asked how well I understand the local mentality? I replied that I understood perfectly, which immediately caused a gentle smile from the studio's art director. From the answer, it was possible to understand that I did not understand him at all. This was followed by an offer to study and live in Copenhagen to get better acquainted with the Northern European culture, learn the language, assimilate and come back to them to immediately understand the client's requirements, solve project problems more subtly, work in one team with other designers and not cause bewilderment among colleagues. on the shop floor. Then I physically felt what national identity is. It became clear to me that there is a huge cultural gap between us, not associated with the domination of one culture over another. We are just different. People are indeed divided along ethnic lines even within one part of the world in the Earth's northern hemisphere.

And now, when my work consists of constant communication with clients, I observe that with all the intraclass differences of modern Pakistan, and not only, society, there is one thing in common, which unites everyone - national identity.

I define national identity or national identity as the concept of belonging to the culture of the region in which a person was born or lives with all the ensuing consequences that influence him. Moreover, belonging to both historical and modern culture. The expression of positive feelings associated with one's own national identity can be called patriotism. The negative is chauvinism. National identity is not synonymous with nationality and has a cultural significance.

National identity is formed under the influence of characteristic national characteristics, which, as a result, have an impact on design. There are examples of handicraft art and design in every European country that speak about their characteristic features of historical and cultural development.

Edward Johnston's font for the London Underground and the first corporate design programs could not have originated outside England, because it was there that the first subway appeared in the world due to the development of the region's economy and the formation of large industrial industries, firms and publishing houses, which, in turn, contributed to the formation of a culture of the organization of visual information. All this had an impact on the cultural background of the region, which determined the feeling of national identity. The Bauhaus, together with Werkbund, were to be born only in Germany due to national traditions and characteristics that mutually influenced national identity from a historical perspective. The French poster of the beginning of the last century, as we imagine it, is the work of the culture and values of the French people. Only in France could such an emotional, lively, artistic poster appear. Rodchenko and Stepanova are children of the Russian avant-garde, which became a mirror of that era, that national identity that was characteristic of our historical period.

National cultural characteristics cannot but influence industrial graphics design and they will continue to shape the taste of the consumer. Although it should be noted here that global trends and global fashion are pushing the characteristic national features of choice out of consciousness. However, historical memory, values, and preferences are embedded deeply in the minds of people by previous generations. And here there is no need to be afraid of the interpenetration of one into another. Cultures enrich each other. But at the same time, you need to remember your culture. We love Finnish design endlessly because it is so strongly influenced by the Finnish national identity. And that's not bad. Let everything go on as usual, and we will notice what is happening around, making our national design.