Thea Stevens ebook

8/13/2019 Thea Stevens ebook

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Book CoverDESIGNThea Stevens


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Critical Design

...This is misleading: reproach has nothing whatsoever to do with the intentions of this work.Theres a difference between not doing something, and thinking someone else shouldnt bedoing it either. The question this does raise, though, is: if neither selling doodads, what are

these so-called critical designers doing. Or: what do they think theyre doing? Whats thepoint? What are they after? etc.

And I think the answer is that they dont yet know what they want... Stuart Bailey


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We believe that in order for conceptual design to be effective, it must provide pleasure, ormore specically, provide a type of experience that Martin Amis has called complicated plea-sure. One way this could happen in design is through the developement of value ctions.If in science ction, the technology is often futuristic while social values are conservative,

the opposite is true in value ction. In these scenarios, the technologies are realistic butthe social and cultural values are often ctional, or at least highly ambiguous. The aim is to

encourage the viewers to ask themselves why the values embodied in the proposal seemctional or unreal, and to question the social and cultural mechanisms that dene what isreal or ctional. Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby


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The Designer as Producer

The concept of production, ac-

cording to Ellen Lutpton, com-

bines the idea and the object. Or

more likely, puts emphasis on the

latter over the former. Since the

rise of desktop publishing, the de-

signer has been given the reigns

to almost all the roles of produc-

tion. Roles that were formerly

divided into separate jobs such

as the artist, the letterer, and the

typesetter. Through combining

these jobs, the modern graphic

designer is forced to consider the

material end product of his or her

work.

Graphic designers are given the

freedom over almost all compo-

nents of their work. But this is a

double edged sword. The ability

to control also means more work

and the pressure of being compe-tent in multiple areas of design.

This is the rub of de-specializa-

tion for the designers of today.

What the modern design must

consider now, and what Walter

Benjamin urged, was what the

nal product is and how it will be

viewed. The life of an object such

as a book or poster was passed

from one specialist to another in

Benjamins time. He saw the act

of the designer becoming a pro-

ducer as revolutionary because art

and design were no longer held

hostage to those with a higherposition. The artist is no longer

only the supplier of images, but

the one to make other graphic de-

cisions that effect how their work

is viewed.

Recently I created a set of col-

lectible trading cards inspired by

the series, Downton Abbey. Since

the series takes place 1910s, I

researched and illustrated im-

agery and objects of the era that

would distinguish the characters

and their social status. For the

text of the cards, I opted for more

contemporary fonts, which gave

the cards a touch of modernity. I

realized that juxtaposing the con-

temporary with a historical piece

is more likely to appeal to a more

large scale audience.

When Benjamin called for authors to become producers, hedid not mean for them to become factory workers alienatedfrom the form and purpose of the manufactured thing. Thechallenge for educators today is to help designers become the

masters, not the slaves, of technology. There exist opportuni-ties to seize control intellectually and economically of themeans of production, and to share that control with the read-ing public Ellen Lupton


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The Troubled Craftsman

Richard Sennett divides craftman-

ship into two parts: the head and the

hand. The head is the spark of inspi-

ration, the obedience, and intention

of the craft and the hand conveys

those ideas and turns them into re-

ality. According to Sennett, By one

commonly used measure, about ten

thousand hours of experience are

required to produce a master car-

penter or musician. So as much as

we like to instant gratication and

so called geniuses, repetition is a

necessity for a skilled craftsman.

Both the head and the hand are

needed for this. Repetition can be

mentally and physically exhaust-

ing, but through repeating the same

thing again and again, we often

make ground-breaking discoveries

through the slightest changes thatresult from redoing.

As is the norm nowadays, the role

of the craftsman is disappearing and

being replaced by desktop publish-

ing programs. An actual person is

still needed to operate this technol-

ogy and still design, but the skillsets

and the repetition-hardened mind

can be swapped out with each other.

The head and hand are separate in

the new craftsman.Anyone can be a craftsman now. Or

more exactly, no one is considered a

craftsman now. Lorraine Wild high-

lights how anyone can call them-

selves a designer now thanks to

desktop publishing. Being a crafts-

man requires extensive knowledge

on an area of expertise. Designers


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are expected to know all steps of pro-

duction now and often rely on the

tools that programs give them. CAD,

for example, allows the user to design

fully realized building through com-

mands. The actual art of drawing is

no longer necessary. But because the

user has become comfortable with

seeing the nished product of his la-

bors with a few clicks of the mouse,

he is more likely to miss key features

that only someone who has visited

the site and labored over the drawing

board would notice.

The program I use the most often is

Adobe Illustrator. Because of its

name, thats the only programs I

deem competent enough to actually

produce art. Because of my personal

style, I still feel the same mental stress

that I experience when painting nor-mally. But there are moments where

the head is not needed. I dont feel

the same pressure to not make a mis-

take since I can easily erase or cor-

rect it. When I paint, making a mis-

take means possibly another hour of

work or even cutting out the area. In

Illustrator, I also dont have to worry

about making perfect shapes. Theres

a tool for that. Though these tools are

limiting. The spiral tool, for example,only produced a single type of spiral.

Trying to change it by adjusting each

point becomes a task that never has

satisfying results. More often than

not, I just accept the spiral that Illus-

trator gives me because I know that

trying to get other results wont work.


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Research & Destroy: Graphic Designas Investigation

Design is added value. En masse, designers throw themselves into desires instead ofneeds. There is nothing wrong with admitting as much. Konstantin Grcic, Rodolfo Dordoniand Philippe Starck are found in Wallpaper boutiques, not in Aldi supermarkets. Unvaryingly,the poorest families for they are always around are still living with second-hand setteesin grey, post war neighbourhoods, in a total absence of design. Orchestration of third-worlddesign assembled for the cameras cannot escape the image of the world in poverty havingto make do without the luxury gadgets that are so typical of contemporary design. The hopethat some designers still cherish, of being commissioned to work from the perspective of

objective need, is in vain. Design only generates longing. The problem is the problem of lux-ury. Daniel van der Velden


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In graphic design, every problem is coloured by the desire for identity on the part of theclient. They are the problems and the solutions of the game of rhetoric, expectations and

opinions. The graphic designer, therefore, has to be good at political manoeuvring.

The effect of this depends, among other things, on his position in regard to his client. Whathas historically come to be referred to as important graphic design was often produced by

designers whose clients considered them as equals. Daniel van der Velden


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Re-Thinking Modernism

The Modernists invented new formal languages that changed not just how things looked,but how people saw. Modernism was a heartfelt attempt at using design to change the world.Tibor Kalman, J. Abbott Miller, Karrie Jacobs


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Designers abuse history when they use it as a shortcut, a way of giving instant legitimacy

to their work and making it commercially successful. Tibor Kalman, J. Abbott Miller, KarrieJacobs


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Experimental Jetsets says that modernism can work as both a deconstruction and construction depending on

what side you view it from. An example being how Punk is about destroying the current state of something

while surrealism is about adding while still breaking. Metahaven sees this as something that can be imsily

applied to anything to make it modern. The commercialization of punk has lost its original meaning. The

use of helvetica can be found on anything even if its ill tting.


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I think that Metahaven has a more

set stance on Modernism. I dont

know if the topic was supposed

to focus solely on the movement

that followed WWI, but Experi-

mental Jetset was a little too eager

to rationalize that everything was

a form of regional Modernism.

Though I might have misunder-

stood Metahavens stance since

most of what they said was just

asking Experimental Jetset ques-

tions about their own stance.


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Were Here to be Bad

In an age when anyone can become a good designer through desktop publishing, Tibor Kalman explains that

in order to stand out from the rest, one must become a bad designer. He does not mean make bad designs,

but to disobey the clients original instructions

Even twenty years later, the need to be a bad designer still holds true. These days, a designer measures their

success on how big their clients are. Though the bigger the client, the more the designer has to play it safe and

stick to their wants and wishes. Because the eye is on the prize and the prize is money and large corporations,

design schools churn out students that are trained to create exactly the same thing that these clients alreadyuse. It is the safest route to take.

Tibor sees small business as the way to inject art into commerce. Since they have a smaller market that

theyre pandering to, small clients are open to new ideas and are more likely to accept the designers sugges-

tions.


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Although Tibor Kalman has a very straightforward philosophy, his cultural force view was a bit contradic-

tory. He does not want to do art for arts sake yet he believes that design is becoming too professional. Good

design should educate the audience over enticing them to buy the product. Joe Duffy agrees with Tibors initial

statement and adds that design should give instructions and explain why its superior than competitors. Tibor

is quick to condemn that as lying and lying is the equivalent of selling. To Tibor, selling a product is mediocre

design.

Honestly, I think Duffy is the only one that had the most constant view on design. His isnt in denial over de-

signing to earn an income. Like the Classico labels, his rm puts a lot of thought into creating a narrative to

suit the product. As much as Tibor denies it, design is meant to sell products as well, which is something Duffy

willingly accepts.


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The package itself is part of the product. Its not just whats in the container; its everythingthats part of it. If the package is better, for any number of reasons, the product is better.

Joe Duffy


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Reading and Writing

Ignoring critics complaints about graphic bells and whistles and razzle-dazzle narrativetechniques, these authors cant resist the seductive allure of the self-reexive page.Ellen

Lupton


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Books serve not just to be readbut also to be displayed, ex-changed, reviewed, collected,shelved, archived.Ellen Lup-ton

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