Forms and Resonance - Peter Kery

Icon designs, George Mason University, Fall 2025

Creating visuals that resonate is one of the ultimate goals of graphic design. It moves the discipline beyond decoration and into the realm of meaningful visual communication. Designers deliberately select and arrange visual elements to establish emotional and intellectual connections with their audience. Solutions emerge either through the creation of original artwork or through the development of a personal vocabulary of visual forms.

Designers who possess the ability and confidence to create their own imagery become more adaptable to a wide range of client needs. This flexibility allows for the development of more powerful visual communication and a broader range of potential solutions to fulfill project objectives.

The examples on this page feature student work from first-year Graphic Design courses at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) and Boston University’s Center for Digital Imaging Arts. Students were asked to create either a poster or splash page using primarily vector-based elements. Project themes included a mask exhibition, music application, mathematical society, mechanical expo, nautical theme, and book expo.

Students were encouraged to avoid literal representations of their subject matter and instead explore abstract forms, shapes, and compositions that could resonate more conceptually with an audience. Abstract visual language can suggest different meanings to different viewers; however, within the context of the project and in combination with typography, these forms begin to communicate tone, mood, and narrative. The audience is invited to interpret what is implied rather than simply consume what is directly stated.

Through research and experimentation, students investigate how imaginative and aesthetic responses can communicate independently of literal representation. In some cases, the visual vocabulary developed through form alone becomes expressive enough that additional explanation or typography may feel unnecessary. Abstract elements in graphic design can communicate directly to emotion and intuition.

An additional assignment for students with a stronger interest in illustration involved rendering an object entirely within Adobe Illustrator.