Nicholas Young
MA Graphic Design and Art Direction
I have been a professional graphic designer for over 15 years. My job was to convey the benefit of products or services in a compelling way. This is where the trouble begins. Clients who have paid a lot of money for creative work want to say as much as possible to as many people as possible. But by trying to say everything they often end up saying nothing. My instinct has always been that less is more. My MA intention was to test whether reducing the amount of information one communicates can be more effective. I defined reductionism as ‘storytelling through absence’. I want the audience to bring what is absent and leave space for them to participate. This led me to develop a Reductionist Manifesto. A way of working that would go beyond my MA project, and a method that I, and others, could use again and again.
