Answer 1

Q: What is answer 1 to your EQ? Be specific in your answer and write it like a thesis statement.
In order to have an impact, one must design with purpose; graphic design is not just decoration on a page. It's not enough to simply know how to use Photoshop and whatnot; a designer needs to know what exactly they are designing and why they are doing so in order to draw inspiration from tangible and credible sources/emotions.

Q: What possible evidence do you have to support this answer
I read this in the book Graphic Design: Brainstorming, by Ellen Lupton, where they examined a case study of the 3419 project in Baltimore, in which they wanted to raise awareness about the growing homeless population in the city. They broke down the interview process with the chief organizer, Charlie Rubenstein, and the questions they asked not only associated to how the client wanted the project executed, but also about the cause itself– statistics, stories, history, etc etc. From there, they were able to come up with a really clever awareness campaign. Had they not conducted the interview or done background research, the impact wouldn't have been the same because the client, not the designer, knows about the cause; it is the designer's job to become knowledgable with that cause in order to make a successful product.

I guess more evidence would be from my Independent component with Yearbook as well because our theme, which drives the whole book, relates to this by making us dig deeper into the student body in order to relate and connect to make a successful book.

Q: What sources did you find this evidence and/or answer?
Firstly, my service learning, Mimi Orth. There was this one instance that sticks with me. Before my sophomore year, I attended an editor meeting in August to establish that year's theme of the yearbook. I pitched that we should use something with "poly" in it and maybe play around with words. We came up with Polyphonic. However, when we got to yearbook camp, we had to scrap that because Mimi had pointed out that there was no real connection to our audience, the iPoly student body. Without that connection, there would not be a strong impact on OUR audience because a yearbook is supposed to mark the history of a certain year at THAT school; a weak connection could make it so that the book could be about ANY high school in the US. I guess this was when I first learned that there needs to be purpose behind a yearbook, or in my case, a design.

Secondly, the book Graphic Design: Brainstorming, by Ellen Lupton. That was where the case study was found. I'm still researching so there will be more info to come, but there seems to be an agreement that interviewing the client is necessary before designing for them.