|
What is Design? |
|
Design is the organisation of visual elements (shapes, colour, typography etc.) to communicate ideas, feelings. The better a design is the more layers it may work on, although the visual may be very simple (reduced to the basics) or complex. It is an open ended conclusion. There is not one solution. No two designers would arrive at the same design given the same brief. You might even have great difficulty saying one was better than the other. Le Cluse & Cheshire
design’ noun. a mental plan; preliminary sketch for picture etc.; delineation, pattern, artistic or literary groundwork, general idea, construction, plot, faculty of evolving these, invention. [f. 15th-c. F.desseing f.desseigner see following] design’ verb. contrive, plan; make preliminary sketch of (picture); draw plan of (building etc. to be executed by others); be a designer; conceive mental plan for, construct the groundwork or plot of, (book, work of art). [f. F.designer f. F.designare F.desseigner F.dessiner draw] The Concise Oxford Dictionary
“At the root of it, design is a language just as French and German are languages. Whilst some people are able to understand design fluently, there are those who just use phrase-books. They don’t understand the words they’re using, but the phrase meets their need. Up to a point, you have to use a common language, and to meet people at least halfway.
Communication exists on far more levels than the simple communication of an idea, but I can’t see it as problem-solving. You become a scientist, a technician, performing a service. What that does is to destroy the emotion of communication, which is the thing that is most lacking in the first place. Neville Brody
“I listen to my client because he is the closest person to the product or service and often has terrific ideas, even though he might not even realize it. When the client comments or proffers an idea, the designer must have a clear and exact answer, especially if it is contrary to the client’s opinion. This is where the most controversial word enters the design process - compromise. Many designers just can’t handle it. But I find the more honest you are, the more able you are to recognize a positive idea and refute a bad one.” John Norman, NIKE Inc.
“Ideas are everywhere for the taking, dreams, trash on the sidewalk, snippets of conversation, word etymologies, even mistakes, such as images you thought you saw or phrases you thought you heard. I try to learn from other designers, but I try not to be influenced by them, otherwise everything starts to look the same, which is rather dull. Duchamp said, “I felt that as a painter it was much better to be influenced by a writer than by another painter”.
Mark Fox |