This study examines how graphic design has evolved from being a visual arrangement practice within the current cultural and technological context to becoming a multi-layered field of meaning production centred on image, data, and visual narrative. The primary aim of the study is to analyse the conceptual and practical transformation occurring within the discipline of graphic design from a historical and theoretical perspective, thereby revealing the designer's changing role and production methods. The scope of the study encompasses a transformation trajectory that begins with the principles of simplification and functionality in modernist visual language, extends to the postmodern understanding of plurality, and then moves on to data-driven design approaches that have become prominent with digitalisation. On the other hand, the concepts of image, data, and visual narrative are not treated as separate elements but as structures that interact with each other within design practice. The study, based on qualitative methods, was conducted through literature review and conceptual analysis. The data obtained showed that graphic design has evolved from a static surface understanding to dynamic system constructs, from singular images to data-based structures, and from linear communication models to interactive narrative forms. This process also observed a shift in the designer's role from that of an implementer to a strategic, editorial, and research-oriented position. Consequently, it has been emphasised that in the future, graphic design will be understood more in terms of process, experience and relationality than object production, and that the discipline must be evaluated not only aesthetically but also cognitively, culturally and as a system-building field.