Is Graphic Design Marketing? [RESPONSE POST]

This is a response article to "Is Graphic Design Marketing?" by Bryan Lindenberger on LinkedIn.

As a person who was previously a designer until I got exposed and professionally trained by qualified business trainers into business and entrepreneurship discipline including getting out there applying those knowledges successfully for the past 3 years (door-to-door sales, telemarketing, SMS marketing, email marketing (eDM), multi-level marketing and internet marketing), I will have to say graphic designers are only a piece of the whole marketing puzzle.

Designers speak their visual lingo.
Copywriters speak their literature-ish lingo.
Marketers, on the other hand, like an entrepreneur or a business founder: cover everything right from the acquiring business accounts, market research, SWOT analysis, project implementation calendar, setting up the goal of the marketing techniques, identifying the communication channels, strategic planning, and so many others.

As the marketers identify the right communication channels and the potential audience of that channels, this is where a point of balance needed to be present between a good marketing element and a good visual artistry within the design that serves as the execution mean of transporting the message across the public.

When making the final call on what works, copywriters will speak the benefits of their copywriting, designers will speak the strength of their visuals, while in the end, marketers will have to ensure the copywriting and the design meets the targeted end-goal : which is a CTA that serves as a definitive answer of a design that works.

In reference to my article that I wrote about, "How to Find that Point of Balance Between A Good Design, A Good Music and A Good Marketing" (http://linkd.in/1okqwN6) I stated that there are two types of designs out there:
a) The abstract artwork - the artwork that mainly focuses on artistic value as a whole. the type that may not get the interest of the mass market - but it will certainly be ideal to the lovers of art and creativity

b) The commercial artwork - the artwork that has that point of balance between keeping the artistic value as meaningful so that to get the message across the targeted audience in which in return, it will bring commercial value (the ones that lead to sales generation)

In conclusion, is graphic design marketing? Yes, graphic design is an integral part of marketing from the whole 360 communication plan. With the condition that the implementation of the graphic design must be well-balanced between a good art and a good marketing. In short, a graphic designer must acquire a certain level of marketing basics in order to execute a design in the perspective of a business founder/marketer. Should the designer does not have the marketing basics, it is the responsibility of the managers/directors to brief the designers with a proper guideline, a goal of the design and a rational behind the design so that the designers can create something that is both visually attractive and in line with the marketing goal.