Design as Art: Bruno Munari (Penguin Modern Classics)

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Spend any amount of time working among professional designers and you learn that equating art with design is a surefire way to stir the pot and hear bold statements like: I approached Munari's book with high expectations (since it's so highly rated), but ultimately found little of interest to latch on to. At their most fundamental level, both art and design seek to communicate something, and whatever the differences, or whether classified as fine, commercial, or applied art—at their best, both forms elicit an emotional response. Philips, a UX designer and lead editor for the Toptal Design Blog, takes the position that art and design may intersect, but they are distinctly different fields. What I found was one of the most brilliant explanations of the merit of industrial, graphic, and architectural design I have cole across yet. Munari’s very mid-century Italian humour pairs well with his immense knowledge of the tradition of commercial design as an art form. In many ways, Design as Art helped me learn to engage with everyday objects as not just objects of utility, but expressions of culture and aesthetic value.

Design as Art - Penguin Books UK

Bruno Munari (1907-1998), born in Milan, was the enfant terrible of Italian art and design for most of the twentieth century, contributing to many fields of both visual (paint, sculpture, film, industrial design, graphics) and non-visual arts (literature, poetry). He was twice awarded the Compasso d'Oro design prize for excellence in his field. Each topic area covers a bunch of sub-topics. Some stuff I skipped or skimmed, some stuff I was genuinely interested in, I read all the way through.

Design as Art di Bruno Munari

During his long professional career, he designed graphics for some of the most important Italian publishing houses, such as Einaudi and Mondadori, and created industrial designs for Danese and other well-known Italian brands. His biography crosses paths with some of the greatest Italian artists and scholars, such as Gillo Dorfles, Umberto Eco and Enzo Mari, to name but a few.

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Graphic designers are first and foremost designers. Though graphic designers may incorporate art into their work, the main role of a graphic designer is to visually solve communication problems using design elements like text, images, colors, and shapes. Partial to Bitcoin? You can beam some bit-love my way: 197usDS6AsL9wDKxtGM6xaWjmR5ejgqem7 CANCEL MONTHLY SUPPORTMore than anything, I want designers to realize that art is not an asinine subculture of design rejects preoccupied with finger painting their feelings. In fact, a low view of art is also a low view of design, science, history, and culture that severely limits creative potential and interdisciplinary progress. Art and design are inextricably combined. I consider design as a holistic endeavor which includes “art.” Design is both subjective and objective but should be primarily objective. Proper design objectivity is achieved by user research (defining the target user base, getting to know the product’s users, observing context of use), working through the essential steps of a user-centered design process (UCD) and user testing. First of all, we have to separate out what type of design we’re talking about. I can see in the case of graphic design, illustration, and branding maybe design is somewhat “art,” but if we’re talking about more functional design—such as digital product design or industrial design—we need to go a lot deeper, and it becomes clear: Design is not “art.” By virtue of this definition, design is undeniably art. It can be found in every human culture. Designing art creates objects, performances, and experiences. And, designers intentionally instill significant amounts of aesthetic interest into their work.

Design as Art - Medium Book Review: Design as Art - Medium

So, affordances are “perceived properties” of a function in design, and they need to be signaled to the user with “signifiers,” which provide clues to the user of the existence of a possible interaction. I don’t know how one would go about marrying the concepts of affordances and signifiers with “art.” They are essential interaction design concepts in the realm of HCI (human-computer interaction). They have nothing to do with art. For example, in Don Norman’s seminal book “ The Design of Everyday Things,” he talks about design and the concept of affordances. (The concept of an affordance was coined by the perceptual psychologist James J. Gibson in his groundbreaking book The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception.) Norman writes: Best known on these shores for the English translation of his 1966 volume Design as Art, the Italian artist and designer Bruno Munari (1907–1998) eludes any definitive classification: graphic designer, photomonteur, sculptor, furniture designer, industrial designer, author, painter, xerographer, children’s book author and aesthetic provocateur. Almost exactly contemporary with experiments by the American sculptor Alexander Calder, Munari is credited with the development of his own version of the ‘mobile’ during the 1930s. Composed of hanging quadrilateral units, Munari called these pieces ‘Useless Machines’, a designation indicative of the wide-ranging artistic formation which shaped his work between the World Wars, and a prelude to his enduring and prolific output until his death late in the century. While nowhere near comprehensive (a feat nearly impossible given the dimensions of Munari’s oeuvre), this rather uncommon exhibition at Andrew Kreps Gallery affords a fairly representative cross-section of his output. The essays in the book are part of social commentary, part musing and part criticism about the world of design, filled with “abused objects” and the tone of them sets the book apart from most other research tomes that otherwise dominate the world of design thinking. It is filled with observations and thoughtful reflections of the material world, which is one of the most powerful tools a designer can have. He cites Gorky in his introduction and also asks the reader to not hold too tightly to their conception of what art is and isn’t. Following that, the essays are grouped into five areas: Designers as stylists, Visual design, Graphics, Industrial Design, and Research.

Why Design as Art is important, for whom I recommended it

With our contestants in the ring, it’s time for the debate to begin. Gentlemen, touch gloves and go to your corners. What Is Design in Art? Micah: Design is art. Art is design. No exceptions.