Design
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
"There are the famous and in many ways notorious aphorisms of recent history, such as 'form follows function', 'less is more', and 'less is a bore' and this book is filled with many more. The tendency to aphorize seems to arise in part as a device ..." --The Theory of Architecture: Concepts Themes & Practices (1994) by Paul-Alan Johnson, page 294 "Art made by the people, and for the people"--William Morris "In the 20th century, as beauty was banned from the arts, it found refuge in consumer culture, cinema, Hollywood marketing, product design, advertising, fast-moving consumer goods, consumer electronics, and the car industry."--Sholem Stein "Modernist architects, in particular, took to their hearts the idea that 'ornament is crime', first professed by Adolf Loos, and ... Designers such as Duquette, Piero Fornasetti and David Hicks preferred a more expressive approach to the home, ..."--The Secret Life of the Modern House (2021) by Dominic Bradbury "Kitsch is a by-product of the Industrial Revolution which made it possible to mass-produce cultural artifacts. See also this passage in Baudelaire's essay "The Painter of Modern Life" (1863) hinting at the relation between Baudelaire's views on art consumption and the idea of kitsch." --Sholem Stein "Hence would arise a second Principle of Design in architecture: it would be desired, with the useful to connect the graceful, the splendid, the awful, and to avoid the offensive and the mean. It has been questioned, among the learned and ingenious, Whether Utility has any essential connection with Beauty, or with picturesk effect ? Gilpin, discussing the subject, has shown himself strongly inclined, though without complete decision, to say No. On the contrary Akenside asks, Can beauty dwell Where health and active use are wanting ?--Principles of Design in Architecture Traced in Observations on Buildings (1819) by William Mitford "His [the American’s] clipper-ships, fire engines, locomotives, and some of his machinery and tools combine that equilibrium of lines, proportions, and masses, which are among the fundamental causes of abstract beauty . . . and is an indication of what may happen to the rest of his work when he puts into it an equal amount of heart and knowledge." --Art Thoughts, The Experiences and Observations of an American Amateur in Europe (1870) by James Jackson Jarves "It is but recently that any opportunity has been afforded, through the medium of a public institution, for the improvement of our artisans in works of design."--The Principles of Design and Colour (1847) by Rudolph Ackermann "Ornament and Crime" (1910) by Adolf Loos |
Photo: North-Western face of the Parthenon, said to be taken by H. Beck in 1872
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Design, usually considered in the context of the applied arts, engineering, architecture, and other such creative endeavors. In the context of this wiki design is defined as "the art of designing", as in Danish design of furniture is world-famous. As such, we will consider the fields of industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design, and decorative art. Design differs from industrial design in that the latter is always meant for mass production, whereas the former may also mean one-off production.
Contents |
Design and art
Today the term design is widely associated with the Applied arts as initiated by Raymond Loewy and teachings at the Bauhaus and Ulm School of Design (HfG Ulm) in Germany during the 20th century.
The boundaries between art and design are blurred, largely due to a range of applications both for the term 'art' and the term 'design'. Applied arts has been used as an umbrella term to define fields of industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, etc. The term 'decorative arts' is a traditional term used in historical discourses to describe craft objects, and also sits within the umbrella of Applied arts. In graphic arts (2D image making that ranges from photography to illustration) the distinction is often made between fine art and commercial art, based on the context within which the work is produced and how it is traded.
To a degree, some methods for creating work, such as employing intuition, are shared across the disciplines within the Applied arts and Fine art. Mark Getlein suggests the principles of design are "almost instinctive", "built-in", "natural", and part of "our sense of 'rightness'." However, the intended application and context of the resulting works will vary greatly.
By its very nature, 'design' is modern design since the word 'design' has only been in vogue since the 1950s. It is no exaggeration to say that modern design greatly overlaps with modernist design and in architecture (architects are also 'designers') with modernist architecture.
There are separate entries for modern furniture and modern architecture.
Inflation of the term design
The adjective designer' in the fashion sense of "prestigious" is first recorded 1966; designer drug is from 1983 says etymology online in February 2006. For the inflation of the term design see Stephen Bayley's Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things (1991).
Related
applied arts - architecture - car - cult objects - decorative arts - fashion - furniture - "good design" - graphic design - industrial design - interior design - kitsch - object - ornament - product - technology
Movements: Arts & crafts (1880 - 1920) - Machine Age (1880 - 1945) - art nouveau (1880-1905) - Streamline Moderne (1925-1950) - Art Deco (1925-1950) - Atomic Age - Bauhaus (1920-1930) - International Style - Jet Age - Space Age - Pop art (1960-1980) - Memphis Design group - postmodern design
Designers: William Morris (1834 – 1896) - Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868 – 1928) - Le Corbusier (1887 – 1965) - Raymond Loewy (1893-1986) - Norman Bel Geddes (1893-1958) - Buckminster Fuller (1895 – 1983) - Arne Jacobsen (1902 – 1971) - Carlo Mollino (1905 - 1973) - Charles Eames (1907 – 1978) - Piero Fornasetti (1913 – 1988) - Ettore Sottsass (1917 – 2007) - Luigi Colani (1928 - 2019) - Joe Colombo (1930 - 1971) - Dieter Rams (°1932) - Gaetano Pesce (1939 – 2024)
Connoisseurs: Reyner Banham (1922–1988) - Klaus-Jürgen Sembach (1933 - 2020) - Victor Arwas (1937- 2010) - John Heskett (1937 – 2014) - Charlotte Fiell and Peter Fiell - Stephen Bayley - Philippe Garner - Bevis Hillier - Penny Sparke - Agata Toromanoff - Gabriele Fahr-Becker - Alastair Duncan
Magazines: Domus magazine
Pieces: Diamond chair - Noguchi table - Proust Armchair
Etymology
From Middle English designen, from Old French designer, from Latin designō (“I mark out, point out, describe, design, contrive”), from de- (or dis-) + signō (“I mark”), from signum (“mark”). Doublet of designate.
Further reading
- The Style of the Century: 1900-1980 (1983) by Bevis Hillier
- The Hot House (1984) by Andrea Branzi
By region
See also
- Philosophy of design
- Graphic design
- Italy: The New Domestic Landscape
- Design museum
- Modernist design
- Michael Marcy
- Ornament (art)
