My first 2 cents.

Here's a familiar scenario:

Uncle: So what do you do?
Me: I majored in design, been doing mostly graphic design.
A distant uncle: oh. graphic, eh..
Me: …
Uncle: so… what field is that in?
Me: ...design?
Uncle: Riiight, so you do fashion design too?
Me: Yes, I print the clothes from my printer. (ok i didn't really say that) —no.
Uncle: Ok. Is it artsy?
Me: Yes, it can be. There are no boundaries in graphic design, it's—
Uncle: —you never thought of going into commerce?
Me: Um, no. Nor medicine, law, commerce, chemistry, biochemistry, dentistry, biology,geologyphysiologypsychology….
A distant uncle: Exactly what do you do?

My dad just recently suggested I design purses. I'm pretty dead certain he thinks I'm going end up poor and starving. Sigh. To think of it, some of my non-creative friends still have yet been able to decipher my major/profession, let alone my traditional Chinese relatives. Sigh. I digress. The ones that say they know what graphic design is, aren't really grasping it. Sure, if images are juxtaposed with blocks of text on a piece of paper can be called graphic design, per se, what's not to get? Anyone can do it in Microsoft Word. Is it odd to see someone majoring in the language of placing texts and images in coherent unison for three to four years? To nurture better designers, firstly they must be guided. Without designers, the world can indeed stop turning. From the days I worked at my mother's fast-food restaurant, I quickly learned humans are impatient and oblivious. Needless to say, stupid. Humans need other humans to help them decode visual information into an intelligible manner in order to comprehend their next move, ex. a menu board and a map. (Of course it goes beyond image and text). Is it absurd these designers-humans get paid to do it? No! Jealous? You better be! Moreover, we are lacking good designers. There's an ongoing epidemic of horrible graphic designers, usually conceited ones, producing floods of eyesores, simultaneously downgrading our competence. Does it mean anyone can be graphic designers? If a pill, conjured of creativity, intuition, meticulousness, passion and skills of problem-solving is created, maybe.

Why is graphic design such an enigmatic profession when we everyday wake up to it and go to bed with it? I'll leave that question for you to answer, but I assume you are still stalled at "exactly what do you do" question. That's alright, simply stay on this blog, take my hand and I'll try my best to guide you into the world of graphic design* because that's my job, isn't it? To decode information for you humans? :)

* Definitely not limited to graphic, I'll drag anything in here that breathes creativity and inspiration.