The article shows that the study of design process as a special activity in graphic design is an art history problem and requires special research methods. It is scientific methodology that makes it pos-sible to achieve reliability in art history knowledge. Attention is drawn to the fact that since the 1960s the methodology of systems theory and activity theory has been a keynote for the development of the design process knowledge in various schools of graphic design. This methodology meets academic criteria and has not lost its value in our days. Based on the principles of this methodology the article analyzes different types of the graphic design process. The objective processes associated with the use of computer technologies in design appear to be the norm and the paradigm of functioning in modern graphic design. Thus, the idea of existence of numerous computer-aided design types is justified. The design objectives of diverse complexity serve here as criteria. On the basis of these objectives traditional, original, and innovative designs are out-lined and comparatively analyzed in the article. It is noted that computer technologies, first, act as an effective tool for the implementation of the forms envisioned by the designer. Second, a computer can be regarded as a creative partner, an agent. Computer technologies possess a unique set of properties and features that open up new opportunities for a creative practice in the field of graphic design. The boundaries of the design practice are changing, and new areas of collective creativity are being estab-lished. In this case the graphic design process is a process that involves efforts of many people. So, individual creativity of professional designers appears to be replaced by the collaboration of interdisci-plinary experts. It is also noted that the growth of computer-aided technologies is too fast for graphic designers to develop a theoretical understanding of them. It results in the duality of assessing the role of methodol-ogy and experience in the graphic design process. On the one hand, the use of design methodology improves efficiency of the design process in comparison with the approach based on experience. On the other hand, there occurs the “extraction” of methodology from the design practice. Research meth-ods of the graphic design process are created under the influence of not only intradisciplinary process-es but also with a view to the messages from other areas of academic knowledge. An example is the use of synergy as a special way of understanding empirical facts accumulated in various fields of aca-demic knowledge. Namely, computer-aided design reveals the non-linearity, a large variety of forms. Herewith, any calculations applied to a huge number of graphic elements change the visual result, creating a new version of the form. It is noted that the use of high-tech computer technologies is quite specific about training designers.
Variant Designing in the Preliminary Small Ship Design Process