Vol. 12, Nº. 1 | 1º semester | Published: 01/01/2014

Coordinador del monográfico: Roberto Gamonal Arroyo (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, España)

The enormous complexity of the world today (both digital and analog) requires simplify and do intelligible all things around us. This mission is the design task. Abraham Moles argues that the main function of design is to make readable our artificial world. Graphic Design, also called Design in Visual Communication, is in charge of making legible the visual environment surrounding the human being. Meanwhile, the Multimedia Design does the same in the virtual environment through the different screens (television, computer, tablet or smartphones). Both work how an interface whose function is improves the relationship between people and devices.

This role of design as an intermediary in the use or action has changed in recent years to focus thus not on the object itself, but what the user does with it. Rather than designing tangible objects, now think more about designing experiences, in example, how a user feels when using a product. What is designed is the interaction (in the broadest sense of the term), and in this, the visual component plays a key role providing people's approach to technologically complex devices. This has led to a paradigm shift in the design of current products makes us understand that the important thing is not the object, but the people. It is designed from what the people say when they test a new product and not thrown just to see if it succeeds or not. This perspective implies that the design is increasingly introduce research techniques from the social sciences to better understand what to do and which way to go.

From this number special is opened exploration and investigation in the fields of Design in Visual Communication and Multimedia. Since the processes and methods to applications and case studies. From planning and strategy to creations and uses. Because everything around us is designed and communicated to us, because the design becomes a part of the communication from analog to digital format support, we are interested in exploring into the keys and the reasons from a more analytical, social and scientific.