Design and Art

But , is it Art?

            Dorst isolates the identity of the designer and that of a visual fine artist. He stresses that both extremes would not make one as successful in their profession as would the collaboration of both fields. In the contemporary art schools, fine art is taught separately from design, thus narrowing the students knowledge to almost a one sided street. Designers are taught to create art within prescribed limitations, while the fine artists have to sometimes create their own limitations in order to create a successful piece of artwork.

-       design tends to be inferior to art in the contemporary society.

-       Artists often do not work within strict limitations given by the client as the designers do.

-       “all art is designed even if it endeavors to appear  otherwise

-       The process of the artist and designer ultimately become the same as they progress to convey the subject matter.

M/M Discussion

The diversity between fine art and design is getting more clearer as the articles follow up on each other. This time, different ideas about the role of artist and designers is being pointed out. It is made evident that artists have created a new place for their identities. Because of their freedom of expression, they no longer belong in the world of restrictions designers have to abide by. However, because of that, designers create work that relates to the world and to the audience more so than some of fine art does, which in contrast is appreciated more by the society. Once, design and art went hand in hand together, as artists had to abide by the client’s rules when ordered to decorate a ceiling of a cathedral. The artist was able to design the walls and still express his own particular style guided by his principles of creativity.

• Art and design should be respectful of one another
• Art has become more separated from everyday life
• The interviewees work together with a variety of artists and designers
• Some designers do not want to be looked at as artists
• Designers solve others' problems while artists solve their own.

Art's Little Brother

Art is given a much higher status than design. This particular article supports it and adds that they are separate in ways mentioned in prior readings. Designers deal with the reality and artists create their own. The article brings about the fact that there were artists who chose to specifically separate art and design, such as Judd, and people such as Arad who tried to put the two together. While it has been also pointed out that design is closer to furniture than art, Personally I believe design is just a branch from a tree called art, along with illustration or sculpture.

• Art doesn't have to be beautiful, but design should
• Often times art takes from designs, but still dominates it.
• Art stands on higher ground than design
• Designers must deal with function and practicality
• Matisse suggested the continuity of art and design but not its conjoining. 

Design: Sustainability Practice

1.      Use non-toxic ink when printing.

2.      Use Recycled paper.

3.     Recycle used paper.

4.     Use smaller sized paper.

5.     Write and design in smaller fonts, so more can fit into a single page.

6.     Proof print as little as possible, in order to save paper.

7.     Utilize as much space as possible, when possible , double sided printing.

8.     Use internet instead of regular mail, where the same services can be provided by both.

9.     Use staples or tape instead of glue when papers need to be attached.

1    Do not use plastic bags when shopping.

Proposed sustainable way to design a project: Steering away from paper all together when designing would help decrease the amount of wasted paper by others, and even encourage them to use other surfaces other than paper, when printing graphics and such. There is an acrylic medium, which can be used to transfer images unto surfaces such as a canvas, or wood. A designer can use this process to paste his designs unto such surfaces and therefore save paper. Although it would take some more time and dedication, the results would be jolly and green.

Design: Vernacular Design

Professionalism, Amateurism, and the Boundaries of Design

As seen in the title, the most striking factor of this particular article was the back and forth play between amateurism and professionalism in the world of design. Describing the role of professionalism in earlier centuries depicted the transition of its meaning to the contemporary times. Before, one with a set profession was looked upon as a royal, and most even were. However, now profession belongs to those who engage, succeed, and later immerse themselves in their favored studies to a point where it becomes their career. On the other hand amateurism links to those who engage themselves in a field out of passion, but for whatever reason do not have the proper education to back it up. Amateurs create out of their own expression, disregarding what others might say or think. This gives them freedom of expression, and broadens the horizons in designing, whereas the professional designer usually must conform to the authority who lays out the paycheck, and therefore, is strangling the ever so important freedom of expression the amateur designer possesses.

·      -Artists promoted their individuality, whereas artisans were anonymous workers.

·      -Amateurism presents the designer with a greater freedom  of expression as opposed to the professional.

·      -Amateurs have a better relationship with their clients

·      -Whether professional or amateur, both belong to the same structure of design as art form.

We’re Here to be Bad

Focusing solely on praising amateur or ‘inappropriate design’, the article seemed almost as a call for designers to stand up and fight against the corporate world who have artists trapped within their worlds and not letting them create what the designers truly have the potential to create.  The basic aim of this particular call for change is to free designers of the boundaries they are constrained to when creating. In this case amateur or unconventional design is the way to reform and be ‘bad’. It is interesting to see, that even the design of the article itself seems unconventional and goes hand in hand with the idea of a designer’s revolt. The way the images were placed randomly throughout the pamphlet, along with the continuously changing fonts, it gives the reader a hint of an attempt to get a provocative message out, not only through the meaning of words but their design, and the inappropriately designed environment they are set it.

·      -Vernacular is slang, an invented language rather than taught

·      -Professional/appropriate design appeals to the large mass of people

·      -Amateur/inappropriate design questions the view of the large mass off people they have on the normal design

·      -Rules about what is appropriate narrows down the possible

·      -Designers are supposed look and think outside of their limitations to create something unique

Design: Sustainability

Sincerest Form of Flattery

The creator of biomimicry, Janine Benyus has initiated a new trend for a variety of industrial designers.  Such designers now consider biologists and others, who are knowledgeable of nature’s works to have their pitch at projects.  Benyus understands that nature as a self dependable entity has answers for problems the contemporary world resolves with other means of technology.  For example, nature’s own spiders produce such complex and whimsical structures such as their webs to survive right around us, and could be the basis of a major architectural project.

·      Janine Benyus is the founder of Biomimicry Institute

·      Biomimicry is the practice of imitating nature’s ways of design to create sustainable projects in the society.

·      Biomimicry can help design evolve  with the help of nature’s wonders.

·      The philosophy suggests heat and explosive forces aren’t te only way to create.

·      Natural resources should as important to the contemporary world as the artificial ones.

Speculative Prehistory of Humanity

 Buckminster Fuller truly believe the society has come to appoint of taking energy for granted. He believes people do not use the products to their full potential, and because of that, energy is wasted.  The average household wastes 95/100 units of energy that is consumed. Because energy is not seen by the naked eye, the consumer becomes oblivious to anything relating to it. Fuller strongly believes society should take more interest in science and understand the workings of energy and how it’s being used or wasted.  In the contemporary world, industries should be able manufacture products that are environmentally efficient, it is then that public would become more conscious of their environment.

·      -Efficiency can be found in simpler forms of physics

·      -Scientist should change their focus from creating new weaponry to creating better life for humanity

·      -Technology which nurtures us is the most valuable asset to our live, not money.

·      -An efficient society leads better and happier lives

·      -Contemporary societies don’t understand science.

A Question of Design

William McDonough and Michael Braungart focused on displaying the importance of the Industrial Revolution and the impact it made on the contemporary technologies and design. The initial innovations evolved as people were trying to solve problems that fought nature’s way. That eventually proved to be a significant factor in today’s mistreatment of it. They imply that manufacturers began manufacturing products with the intent, that they would last for a certain period of time and it was to be expected for them to stop functioning, as they should at one point.  This suddenly stared the ’throw away’ culture, which ultimately encourages people to keep buying new products.

·      -Industrial revolution initiated the overlooking of the negative aspects of technology

·      -Working against nature, making own rules

·      -Public is harmed by the design of production during the industrial revolution

·      -The industrial revolution led to the depletion of artisan skills

·      -The initial belief was that nature can provide sustainability forever, however, now the world sees otherwise.