The adjacency matrix of a graph can be interpreted as the incidence matrix of a design, or as the generator matrix of a binary code. Here these relations play a central role. We consider graphs for which the corresponding design is a (symmetric) block design or (group) divisible design. Such graphs are strongly regular (in case of a block design) or very similar to a strongly regular graph (in case of a divisible design). Many constructions and properties for these kind of graphs are obtained. We also consider the binary code of a strongly regular graph, work out some theory and give several examples.