What is Design? - Lecture 5 - 20-10-11

“We are all designers. All that we do, almost all of the time is design, for design is basic to all human activity."
Victor Papanek
This means that the most important factor about design is how it relates to people, and design is a problem solving activity that enables designers to determine creative solutions to communication problems.


Victor Papanek is the author of “Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change” and came up with The Function Complex, which consists of 6 factors:

• Method - how is it made?
• Use - does it work?
• Need - what do we need? Needs should not be neglected by the designer
• Telesis - using nature and society to gain certain goals
• Association - asking questions like, what gives a chair its chair-ness?
• Aesthetics - is it pleasing to look at?

This Function Complex is important for all designers, because everything links together, and all of the factors must be asked/answered when designing something new.

The Ten Commandments of Design outline some good points and factors that every designer should consider:

1. Remember, the most important thing about design is how it relates to people
2. Thou shalt endeavor to be a responsible designer and strive to make the world a better place
3. Thou shalt consider function; ‘What does it do?’, ‘Is it useful?’, ‘Does it do the job for which it is intended?’
4. Thou shalt consider audience; ‘Who is it for?’, ‘What id being communicated and why?’
5. Thou shalt consider the economic, cost effectiveness of manufacture with due regard to you client
6. Thou shalt not choose materials and processes that pollute the air we breathe, but appropriate eco-friendly ones
7.  Thou shalt not squander skills devising unnecessary gizmos and trinkets or consider fancy techniques that are not pertinent to the idea or concept
8. Thou shalt choose appropriate design methods and techniques that both solve the problem and are aesthetically pleasing
9. Thou shalt be self-critical and evaluate the political environment in which design takes place
10. Thou shalt always keep an ethical vision in mind and consider social consequences for the rest of society

When questioning the role of the designing, Mat Hunter, Chief Design Officer from the Design Council said: ‘Design is all around you; everything man-made has been designed, whether consciously or not.’ Therefore, the question isn't so much 'what is design and why does it matter?' but 'how can I use good design to make the world around me better?' 

Overall, I believe that design is not just designing what YOU want to design, but thinking of the world and society around you, and how your design fits in with it. You need to answer several questions to decide if your design is well-rounded for every part of The Function Complex. I have also learnt that everyone is a designer, every part of our society has been designed, and has gone through the same process to decipher whether the design would fit in.

The Constructivists/Suprematism - Lecture 4 - 18-10-11

The Constructivists were another artistic movement, which originated in Russia beginning in 1919. Kazimier Malevich was a Russian painter, printmaker, decorative artist and writer of Ukrainian birth. He is considered one of pioneers of abstract art. Malevich viewed the Russian Revolution 'as having paved the way for a new society in which materialism would eventually lead to spiritual freedom.'


The Last Futurist Exhibition (1915) showed a series of paintings with basic geometric shapes isolated or in groups on plain backgrounds.

The most austere painting from this exhibition, is regarded  among the most radical paintings of its day, yet it is not impersonal; the trace of the artist’s hand is visible in the texture of the paint and the subtle variations of white.

Two of the most interesting points pointed out in the Suprematist Manifesto of 1915 were:

“But a tree remains a tree even when an owl builds a nest in a hollow of it” and “The artist (the painter) is no longer bound to the canvas (the picture plane) and can transfer his compositions from canvas to space.”

Alexander Rodchenko worked as a painter and graphic designer before turning to photomontage and photography. He wrote: "One has to take several different points of view and in different points of view and in different situations, as it one examined it in the round rather than looked through the same key-hole again and again." Over 70% of the Russian population could neither read or write. Lenin had suggested during the civil war that each of his soldiers should carry not just a weapon, but a camera too, and by 1924, having worked mainly with paint, Rodchenko took this art form on. He said later, "It would seem, that only the camera is capable of reflecting contemporary life."

 Dive 1936

 Gears 1929

Girl with a lieca 1934

 El Lizitsky’s first Suprematist book is a story about how two squares, one red, one black, transform a world. The story of two squares, which was written in Russian and dedicated 'to all children', demonstrates the Suprematist integration of material and spatial that would later define the modern graphic arts. The story of 2 squares celebrates a moment in which the possibility of a better world seemed to lie ready and waiting for a young generation experienced in their imagination.

Overall, I believe the Constructivists similar to the Futurists, but just had new perspectives. They had a new take on art based on geometric shapes and mathematics. They made art with a purpose, and this purpose is continually used today. I believe Constructivists are more inspirational to the Graphic Arts, due to their use of geometric shapes etc, but it is still a useful movement to look at for every aspect of art and history.

The Futurists - Lecture 3 - 11-10-11

The Futurists were an artistic movement, which was founded by a group of young and rebellious Italian writers and artists determined to celebrate industrialisation. The ringleader was Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. They sought order and meaning, in a world of chaos. The artists spoke through manifestos, and created books, posters, magazines and typefaces using 'strikingly new vocabularies'. They were well practiced in almost every field of art including painting, illustration, ceramics, sculpture, graphic design, interior design, theatre, film, literature, music and architecture. The movement hated anything that wasn't a totally new idea. Artists that were part of the Futurist movement include: Umberto Boccioni, Luigi Russolo and Giacoma Balla.

Umberto Boccioni                    

"Unique Forms of Continuity in Space" 1913

Giacoma Balla

"Streetlight" 1909

The most important/interesting points made in the Futurist's manifesto, published 29th February 1909, were:
9. We will glorify war—the world’s only hygiene—militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of freedom-bringers, beautiful ideas worth dying for, and scorn for woman.
10. We will destroy the museums, libraries, academies of every kind, will fight moralism, feminism, every opportunistic or utilitarian cowardice. The propellers chatter in the wind like banners and seem to cheer like an enthusiastic crowd.

Overall, the Futurists were non-conformists, and it is this aspect that I admire about them. The fact that they didn't care what people thought about their work, or what they did, and did it anyway. I also admire the fact that they didn't like or agree with the way something was going, or the way something was, and instead of just sitting there moaning about it, they actually got up and DID something about it. They stood up for what they believed. I don't agree with their sexist, fascist ideas, but I believe that the Futurists were an important part of where art is today, and without it, there wouldn't be as many artists now who push their boundaries and inspire us to push our boundaries.

Beautiful Losers - Lecture 1 and 2 - 6 & 13-10-11

So, for the first lecture we watched a film/documentary called the 'Beautiful Losers'. The film follows a group of American artists, who began their own movement in the 1990s that derives from skateboarding, graffiti, and underground music such as punk rock. They explain their lives, and what and how they got into art etc. The artists included in the film include: Thomas Campbell, Cheryl Dunn, Shepard Fairey, Harmony Korine, Geoff McFetridge, Barry McGee, Margaret Kilgallen, Mike Mills, Steven "Esp" Powers, Aaron Rose, Ed Templeton and Deanna Templeton. They made art that reflected the way they lived, and didn't conform to what was the norm of that time. They did what they wanted, and didn't care for the consequences. I admire this part of their attitude, and would love to take this aspect into my own work, but I can't seriously see it happening, as at the moment I am a bit too shy to break the boundaries etc. Maybe in the near future this will start to have a more predominant factor in my work.

The movement leans more towards the Post-Modernist movement, and because of this, a lot of people disregarded them, because it was a relatively new concept, and wasn't accepted by a lot of critics etc. The Beautiful Losers set up many exhibitions and galleries in disused, or run down buildings, and even used train carriages as some of their canvases. I also like this fact; that they would just draw wherever they are, and wouldn't care about where they were. They wouldn't just stick to pen and paper, they would use what they had, and make the most of it.

The film started off by the artists answering two questions: "What was your first memory of making something?" and "What did you want to be as a child?".  And then went on to show the lives of the artists, and their struggles, and how they evolved as artists through their shows, work and exhibitions.

Overall, the beautiful losers were a group of innovative artists, who made art from the way they lived, and their circumstances.  They were a influential part of the Post-Modernist movement, and are probably part of changing the way people see art and what to accept.

Welcome...

So, this is my new blog, as you've probably guessed. This is for a new assignment from our Contextual Studies module at uni; to create a reflective journal on the lectures etc we have attended during this module.   I'll try not to waffle on too much, but each entry has to be at least 200 words. Hope you find it interesting. I will be posting the first proper post shortly. Bye for now.