Between Art and Design: the Stages of the Transformation of the Graphic Faculty of KhSAI into the Department of Industrial Graphics and Packaging of KhIAI (1962–1972)

The article analyzes the first ten years of the existence of the Department of Industrial Graphics and Packaging of KhIAI (now the Department of Graphic Design of KSADA). The formation of the department continued for five years on the basis of the Graphics faculty from 1962 to 1967 within the framework of the famous reform of Kharkiv Art Institute in 1963. The stages of renewal of the staff of the department and gradual changes in the teaching methodology are shown – from a visual and easel approach to a more functional one, mediated by the needs of society. According to the curriculum, over the course of five years, industrial graphics students got acquainted with sign making, worked on a poster, designed a “corporate style” and packaging. At the same time, they had to learn all the traditional graphic techniques. As a result, when working on practical issues, they focused mainly on illustrative and pictorial components. Much less attention was paid to the work with the font. Only at the end of the 1960s, trends towards complex design became noticeable in teaching, and the influence of current trends in world art and design spread. Applied graphics, as a new type of creativity, gained authority, influence and respect very gradually. In conclusion, the author asks two key questions: why did the Kharkiv school of applied graphics in the 1960s not identify itself with the field of design? And also: why did the graduates of KhIAI of those years (artists-designers or industrial graphics) have limited opportunities to implement their professional skills in the conditions of real production? The answer is as follows: the appearance, in the late 1960s, of the first generation of domestic designers was ten years ahead of time. In the marketless USSR, industrial and graphic design became a “stumbling block” for most enterprises. It was extremely difficult to implement the designer’s idea in the material, in the printing, even with minimal losses. As a result, out of 90 specialists trained by the industrial graphics department during the first decade of its existence, only a few remained in the real profession... After receiving a diploma with the qualification Artist-Designer, a significant part of the graduates looked for any opportunity to move into another branch of creative activity: in pedagogy, easel painting or graphics, book illustration, decorative arts, etc.