Back Office 5: Graphic Design and Digital Practices

The fifth issue of French design journal Back Office considers the increasing importance of 3-D technologies among graphic design productions. 3-D has never been as accessible as it is today, thanks to the increasing processing capacities, to the wide-spread use of open-source softwares and of “real-time” creation environments. Often limited to a search for photorealistic performance, 3-D is slow to offer a graphic language of its own. What are the effects of this trend on the reader, in cultural, cognitive and sensitive terms ? What is the relation between image and text in a simulated environment, whether figurative or abstract ? This issue is an attempt to propose diverse answers, through interviews and articles, illustrated with numerous examples, taken from video games, interfaces or movies (Terminator, Mario Kart, etc.). Back Office is an annual review, encompassing graphic design and digital activities. It explores the creative processes at work in the diverse fields of contempo