In response to this post, I have to say that the readings and video expanded my idea of what graphic design really is.

I work in an environment where what we do as designers is greatly limited to what will sell to our clients. We really only get to do “personal work” twice a year at our art show in the fall and auction/fundraiser in the spring.
After awhile, I got myself into a bit of a rut with my design work. Same ol’ stuff day after day, mostly. (I mean, I love logos, t-shirt designs, and websites to death, but I realize there’s so much more than that. Especially since watching that video. Man, I wanna be more awesome than ever now!)

My definition of graphic design before seeing the video was very limited and narrow. Because I don’t do much design work outside the realm of what my job requires.
But I want to change that. (That’s why I’m in school; to rediscover my creativity that got me here in the first place.)

I think everyone in the graphic design world has a somewhat loose idea of what to say when people ask “so, what do you do?”
I just kinda rattle off all the tasks I do at work because “graphic design” isn’t a sufficient answer for most people. They usually just reply with “so… you make signs and stuff?”
That’s where I say “Yeah. But mostly the ‘and stuff’ part.”

The video and reading from the aforementioned post gave me a bit more to pull from when I want to put a definition to the words graphic design.
Stefan Sagmeister sums it up pretty well when he shows his work in the video and on his website. He has done lots of analog, tangible stuff, by the way – not the purely digital comfort zone that I’m familiar with.
The tangible aspect of his definition of graphic design is what changes the game for me.
Tangible.
Touch it.
Taste it.
Feel it.
Be it.

That’s what it is.
Graphic design is an experience.

No matter how broad or precise my definition is of graphic design, it’s still damn near impossible to explain to my mom what graphic design actually is. (Yes, mom, I do computer stuff, but that’s not all…)