What is Design?

This is the question that has consumed the designers of both the past and the present and will most likely still be an issue in the future. Are we upholding the standards and concepts of what design is still allowing for progress and innovation?  Are the rules of simplicity and individuality more important than the ideals of progress and economic growth? These are all questions we need to decipher in order to be the designers we aspire to become.

In order to answer these fundamental questions we need to acknowledge the history that has brought design and its principles to where we are today. That “creativity” needs to be lodged somewhere within that history and what the future holds.

Design although somewhat believed to be led by Western Civilization is actually a product of many different cultures. Design has been around since the beginning of humanity.  The discovery of tools for weapons and vessels led to the creativity that evolved into design and communication.  With this evolution, design and its decoration came to be associated with wealth and symbols of a cultures distinction and power. Design was in a sense driven by the power of the country not necessarily individual creativity but with the Modern Age that began to change. Design began to get back to creative simplicity and individuality at the hands of talented craftspeople but machine production seemed to threaten this concept.

“According the book ‘Pioneers of Modern Design’ by the art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner (1902-1983), the concept of design arose from the thinking of two figures:  John Ruskin (1819-1900), an advocate of social thought, and William Morris (1834-1896), a theorist and the founder of the Arts and Crafts Movement”(pg. 416). Ruskin and Morris were against this modernism thought and machine age and for that time perhaps rightly so. But there needed to be a balance.

The Bauhaus Movement in Germany was a symbol or beginning of that balance. Designers in this movement embraced the machine production age in a positive way and took a closer look.  They were able to combine the principles of individual creativity with modernistic culture. As the future progressed, design started to be fueled or redirected towards economic growth. This brought about the need for “standardization and mass production” to compete in the world. Devastated by war, Japan grew as a strong economic power with this theme of “standardization and mass production” at its forefront.

The United States looked at design with influence from Europe and the Bauhaus Movement as a way to shape its style and identity. Design was a tool for corporate management.  In Europe, they seemed to try to get back to the original concepts of individuality, creativity, originality and superb craftsmanship.

So all this brings us to the short-lived age of Postmodernism.  This was the new chic term in the 80’s.  Here again, we are faced perhaps with a new generation of designers trying to strike that balance with modernism and the current era.

Design today is flooded with ever changing technology and a need to keep up with these advances to remain competitive. So as designers where do we find that balance without being a slave to the economy or driven by technology? I think we need to embrace the original concepts of design, merging them with all the advanced technology that is before us. We can put all this knowledge and innovation together still maintaining our creativity and individuality.  We can still be great.

High Concept, High Touch:

As we have progressed through time, there have been basically four periods or ages in which we have evolved from the eighteenth century to our current time. These ages are the Agricultural age, Industrial age, Information age, and the Conceptual age. The progression of these ages is demonstrated by how workers have developed in their thinking and accomplishing tasks. For example: workers from the Industrial age were mass producers relying on physical strength. The Information age worker was more dependent on knowledge and information or “L-Directed Thinking” utilizing the left (L) side of the brain. “  R-Directed Thinking” or right (R) sided thinking involves empathy and creativity and are the characteristics of the Conceptual age. According to the author, these ages have been directly influenced by three primary factors:  affluence, technology, and globalization.  However, as progression continues more is needed. We need to progress to utilizing both sides of the brain or whole brain utilization. What does this mean? We still primarily utilize our right side but do not discount the left. We must be able to integrate high tech abilities and high touch. High tech abilities allow us to “…create artistic and emotional beauty.”  High touch abilities are those which “…involve the ability to empathize, to understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in one ’s self and to elicit it in others…”.    High concept and high touch is demonstrated currently in medical schools where the medical students are receiving additional training in such things as listening to patients stories, looking at patients conditions after training in painting, and developing empathy.  Japan and General Motors have also progressed from basic knowledge and memorization by using pop culture and art, respectively.

MBA’s and MFA”s:

The utilization of art has been more pronounced in the educational system where universities are looking for fine arts students (MFA) versus business students. The reason being is as we have already discussed, creativity versus traditional business thinking (MBA). Those who have achieved MBA degrees are finding that many of their jobs are being shipped overseas, while jobs needed here are incorporating creative thinking or artistic vision. For example, the number of graphic designers in 10 years has increased tenfold.   CPA professionals and lawyers are far outnumbered by professions in the arts.  This concept is now also being demonstrated in other countries. “Creative “ industries are more sought after and are producing large amounts of money.  The new qualities needed are “ingenuity, personal rapport, and gut instinct.”

IQ and EQ:

The educational system here in this country has focused primarily on ability and potential through testing for IQ and using SAT tests focusing on L-Directed Thinking. It has been discovered that the IQ test for example, only demonstrated 4-10% career success.  Goleman and the Hay group find more success with leaders that were funny. Sternberg has developed the Rainbow Project.  As it currently stands, poor performance on the SAT can have a profound effect on someone’s career path. Many are now recognizing that the SAT result can exclude people with certain aptitudes.  These aptitudes are the high touch abilities. This would include jobs in nursing, counseling health assistance or “caring professionals”.

Money and Meaning:

As we grow older, we have a tendency to increase our emotion and connectedness and focus on quality and meaning of life, family, and  self-meaning. As the Baby boomer generation ages and is faced with looking at their lives, more attention is placed on the R-Directed thinking.

For the 100 solutions project, I chose a bandana as my object. It was a challenge to find so many uses for one object because my mind was overflowing with ideas. I faced many obstacles when it came time for me to photograph all the uses. It was easier to write out the idea than to show it. From the 100 photographs,I chose these 10 as my favorites. Each of these photos share a certain beauty and joy in their surroundings. When you see the mother caring for her child, she exemplifies to important qualities: love and compassion. The puppy shows pure joy in laying down while wearing his collar. The mannequin and purse represent the styles of todays generation of how people express themselves through clothing and acessories.Life is full of simple entertainments like flying a kite or sitting on a picnic blanket looking out to the world. The kite represents enjoyment in little pleasures. As for the lady cleaning the glass, she does it with a smile on her face because she considers herself lucky to even have a job. All of the photos show you the simple joys and laughs in the world. Not everything needs to be perfect or extravagant, a simple smile and laugh are pure happiness.

A mother using a bandana as a burp bib for her child.

A mannequin using a bandana as a shirt.

A puppy using a bandana as a collar.

A bandana as a kite.

A bandana as a nap sack for a nomadic life.

Bandanas tied together for a purse.

A bandana used as a dog leash.

A bandana used as a seat on concrete.

Cleaning glass with a bandana as a rag.

A mother dresses her baby with a bandana as a bib.

1. Do you have grit, or is this something you need to work on?                                                               On a scale from 1 to 5, my grit score was a 4.75. I would consider myself to have a lot of grit. Of course there is always room for improvement but for the most part, I have grit.
2. List a couple of things you could do to increase your level of grit.                                                        A few things I could do personally to improve my grit are:      

•  Facing my fears
• Having a moral compass
• Relying on my faith

1. What are the main points of each article?                                                                                              The main points for the first article is to show the important characteristics that artist have and business people need to expand on. It also addresses the fact that like art, innovation has the ability to change our lives for the best. In the second article, you see more of a relationship between the two. You see the comparisons of how the two go hand- in -hand. Both articles cover the fact that even though artist and entrepreneurs are separate professions, artist are entrepeneurs and they feed of each other.
2. What can artists learn from their “entrepreneurial cousins”?                                                        Artists can learn to influence the many resources they have and to remove any burdens of being an independent artist.
3. Do you agree that artists are entrepreneurs? why?                                                                             Yes, I agree that artists are entrepreneurs because they share common goals and similarities. Both artist and entrepreneurs see passed the horizon and think outside the box, they are doers and not daydreamers, and lastly they share a common passion and love for the work they are invested in. 
4. Which of the 12 characteristics of artists do you agree with?                                                                  I agree with all 12 characteristics of artists but I agree the most with the statement that artists are humanists. Artists have to be able to relate to their audience and have a high degree of empathy.
5. What others would you add to the list? Other characteristics that I would add to the list are:                                                                                                                                                                              1. Love of adventure
   2. Willingness to step into the unknown
   3. Desire to discover