Design Principles

Chapter 1 Design Process

Design Defined

Design - To plan or organize

Used in all art disciplines

All art involves Design

John Kuchera. It ﾕ s Time to Get Organized. 1986. Poster. Art Director and Designer: Hutchins/Y&R.

Visual Organization

“Design is essentially the opposite of chance.”

“Artists or designers plan the arrangement of elements to form a visual pattern.”

Steve Mehalo. Make Jobs Not War. Poster design. Copyright: free art for public use.

“Art seeks visual solutions.”

The design process involves seeking visual solutions to problems.

Creative Problem Solving

Sometimes it uses visual representation and sometimes it may use a play on words.

“There are no rules in art!”

The arts are called “creative fields” because there are no predetermined correct answers.

There are guidelines, though.

“However, the ‘no rules’ phrase does not mean that all devices are equally valid and visually successful.”

“Artistic practices and criteria have been developed from successful works.”

In other words you should look at and learn from the work of other artists.

Look at what is successful and what is not.

Content and Form

Discussions of art distinguish between 2 aspects.

Content – The subject matter, story, or info that the artwork tries to communicate.

(Content = What the artist is trying to say. )

Form – The purely visual aspect. How it looks.

Use of the elements and principles of Design.

(Form – How they say it.)

Aesthetic

Aesthetic – When a piece does not have a message, the artwork is just for ‘aesthetic’ purposes.

(In other words, it’s just meant to look nice.) For example, adornment like jewelry or crown

molding isn’t necessary, but it looks good. Decorative art can reveal new ways of seeing. Most importantly, art is supposed to be a form of

visual communication.

“A picture is worth a thousand words.”

– Pictures are a great way to communicate without words or

in a different language.

Art as Communication

The artist or designer is trying to say something to the viewer.

A successful design communicates an idea.

Even purely abstract lines, color and shapes can express an idea or a feeling.

Symbols are a great way to communicate a theme or message.

Often words are combined with a visual to strengthen the message.

Stop Torture. 1985. Poster for Amnesty International. Art Director and Designer: Stephan Bundi. Atelier Bundi, Bern, Switzerland.

The Creative Process:

1. Thinking

2. Looking

3. Doing(You don’t have to do these in order. They can happen in any order or at

any time.)

Louis Pasteur said that “chance favors the prepared mind”.

Getting Started: 1. Thinking About the Problem. Precisely what is to be achieved?

(What specific visual or intellectual effect is desired?)

Are there visual stylistic requirements? (Illustrative, abstract, nonobjective, and so on?)

What are the physical limitations? (Size, color, media…)

When is the solution needed? (Deadlines!)

2. Thinking About the Solution

Ask yourself, how can the concept be shown?

Steps in thinking:1. Make a list of images or symbols that could represent the theme

or idea. 2. Quickly sketch them.3. Expand the list by discussing it with other artists or doing research.

(For example some designers may reference market surveys to expand their list.)

4. Narrow the list down to a few ideas. 5. Then ask yourself how you will use or show the image in a unique

or original way to convey the idea.

Example: How will you show your symbol in a unique and original way?

Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. ﾒ Having a talent isn ﾕ t worth much unless you know what to do with it. ﾓ 1978. Poster for the School of Visual Arts. Art director: Silas H. Rhodes. Designer/illustrator: Tony Palladino. Copywriter: Dee Ito. Courtesy of School of Visual Arts.

3. Thinking about the Audience

The selection of your symbol may depend on the size, color, medium, etc…

It might also depend on your Target Audience

Target Audience - who is going to see your design? Knowing who the visual message is going to address is key.

Thinking: Form and Content

What will be presented? How will it be presented? How can this process go

through revision and change?

Raymond Loewy. Original logo for

Greyhound Bus Co.

.Raymond Loewy. Redesigned logo, 1933

Example: Form and Content

Here the artist designs icons or pictograms for signs,

buttons, and web or desktop applications.

Chris Rooney. Picnic Icons. From Blackcoffee Design Inc., editor, 1,000 Icons, Symbols, and Pictograms: Visual Communication for Every Language (1000 Series) (Beverly, Mass.: Rockport Publishers, 2009).

Thinking: Form and Function

“Form Follows Function”

Purpose defines the look and shape of an object, and the efficiency should be obvious.

This is most obvious in items of utilitarian use.

Thinking: Form and Function

“Form Follows Function” Example

Grumman HU–16 Albatross, post-WWII “utility and rescue amphibian.” Bill Gunston, consultant editor, The Encyclopedia of World Air Power (London: Aerospace Publishing Limited, 1980), p. 165.

Pygmy Right Whale (Caperea marginata), Southern Hemisphere, 18'–21 1/2 ' (5.5–6.5 m). From Mark Cawardine and Martin Camm, Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises (London: Dorling Kindersley, 1995), p. 48.

Example: Form Follows Function

Ron Arad. Bookworm Shelf. Thermoplastictechnopolymer, shelfheight 71⁄2", width 10' 6", depth 8".

II. Looking

Sources:

1. Nature – Natural world, animals, human artifacts, etc…

2. Artifacts- Events, other artworks and artists, etc…

3. History and Culture - TV, society, fashion, mass media, etc…

Georgia O’Keeffe. Shell No. 1. 1928. Oil on canvas, overall: 17.8 x 17.8 cm (7” x 7"), framed: 20.3 x 20.3 x 3.3 cm (8” x 8” x 1 ⁄16").

Nancy Crow. Mexican Tiger Masks. From the Collection of Nancy Crow.

Source vs. Subject

You have to differentiate between the source and the subject.

Source = the stimulus for the image or idea.

(The source for artwork is often found in nature.)

Examples: Bones looking like sculpture, animals used as basis of form, etc…

Subject = the content of the work or the way the artist’s saw the object.

2. History and Culture

Visual training and Retraining

We are often trained at a young age by exposure to mass media such as TV and Internet..

The idea that we can retrain ourselves to slow down and see more carefully.

Common instructions in art are:

“Look Again”

&

“See the Relationships.”

Note:

“…An awareness of the power of familiar images is fundamental to understanding visual communications.”

&

Looking can be influenced by mass media images.

Vernacular

When an image becomes commonly known through frequent reproduction.

How might an artist play with this concept?

Robert Colescott. George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware. 1975. Acrylic on canvas, 4' 6” x 9'. Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York.

III. Doing: Thinking with Materials

Doing starts with visual experimentation….”thinking with the materials.”

Two Points of view: 1.Materials are lifeless until given shape by a creator. 2.Materials by their own potential create their end.

Sarah Weinstock. Untitled. 2006. Ink and soap bubbles on paper, 61/ ﾓ × 91/ ﾓ . (Detail.)

Eva Hesse. Studio. 1966. Installation photograph by Gretchen Lambert. Courtesy Robert Miller Gallery.

Thinking with Materials:

Ways to do this include:

Trial and Error

Intuition

Application of a System

David Smith. DS 1958. 1958. Spray and stenciled enamel on paper, 1' 5 1/2 ” x 11 ½ " (44.5 x 29.2 cm). Gift of Candida and Rebecca Smith, 1994 (1994.399).

Doing and Redoing:

Revision is necessary! Starting over often occurs Try to overcome your

attachment to your first idea.

Revision allows for an idea to grow beyond an obvious or familiar starting point.

Henri Matisse. Large Reclining Nude/The Pink Nude.1935. Oil on canvas, 2' 2” x 3’ 1/2 " (66 x 92.7 cm).

Henri Matisse. Large Reclining Nude/The Pink Nude: One Stage in Process (one of seventeen photographed by the artist). 1935. Oil on

canvas (with cut paper), 2' 2” x 3’ 1/2 " (66 x 92.7 cm).

Process

Meredith Rueter. Process Board: air PERSONA.

IV. Critique: Constructive Criticism

Critique is a VERY important part of Design!

Forms of critique:

Dialogue with a Professor

Review by peers or classmates

Self – Critique - example: a journal entry

Example:

Design words like size, emphasis, perspective should be employed.

A critique is most valid when linked to the criteria for the artwork. What was assigned? Were goals met?

This may also include a cultural or historical perspective, or what it meant in the historical past.

A Model for Critique:

Description – A verbal or spoken account of what is there.

Analysis – A discussion of how things are presented. Including thoughts of how things are contrasted or different.Example: Bigger than, brighter than,

to the left of

Interpretation – What is the meaning, implication, or effect of the piece.

Students review and critique each other ﾕ s work.