How, in context, can a designer continue to be an autonomous individual with a voice of hisas: own? Mo There isathis notion ofidealism whichtoday isseldom discussed, andwhich simplydefines thefuture ‘notyet important the preciseto form of the product, in that the way it comes about, the mentality wi Idealists arethan often inclined regard theend world asitought tocase, beasis amodel that isbeyond dispute, asadesign is devised and thedetails analysis it.will It islook. here,The in the personal interpretation of the which it sets out the precise ofthat howunderlies the future gap between ideal and reality candesigne be too that there potentially, individuality in any kind ‘original’ formal design. That why itour is s large tobelies, appreciated, andmore ourfixation onthethan ultimate goal canofobscure the pathtowards itandiscloud important designers toknowHence theirmedia, tostressing havestudied them andaspect totrulyof understand theyUtopia functio view ofthefor reality ofthepresent. Bloch’s ofthe notyet allidealism,how ofevery Particularly now that new combinations media - some ofyet which are themselves - can deliver entire of every hope of improvement. In design,of this notion of not has now regained itsnew relevance. On the one new products, it isas important a designer to have a thorough knowledge media and hand itisrelevant anideaoffor practical idealism, inwhich theactual processof existing communication isattechnol leastas gies. If onlyas tothe obtain insight into the between old and new process important fixed endresult. Ondifferences theotherhand, inacomputer -andmedia whichand ofuscommunication doesnotworkwith comand to realize that the old andisthe new not radically opposed to eachtradition other. Inthis thatissense, political idea puters, thesedays? -nothing final. Forare designers trained inaModernist aproblem. Inmodism today has changed just as much the culture with which that enters into dialogue. today ernism, adesign isnotaproposal -itisas aprescription. Thedesign isnotidealism notyet,but essentially alreadyInreality multimedia surroundings there are all sorts ofgoing possible variations that assertion: the medium isattitude a messag Now ifyouare designingawebsite you arenot toget veryfaron ifyou take anessentially already themessageconstitutesthemediumthemediummassagesthemessageandviceversa[Theoriginalversio of McLuhan’s adage is The Medium Is The Massage] One circumstance as a result of which we talk of ‘i formation bombardment’ and ‘information avalanche’ is that the general public regard the vast majority the ‘information’ aimed at them as a single monolithic mass. In a world that is so saturated with media, und ferentiated information threatens, by its overwhelming bulk, to swamp any real meaning. In such a contex becomes vital,rather giving thebetween individual message annotions arresting form,toembed themessage meanin Agreattension seemsthan tohave arisen two essential ofdesigning: theoriginality oftheindesign an ful associations with other messages. Seen from this angle, designers are more than dressers, decorators thereproducibilityoftheproduct.Todayitisnolongersoeasytoestablishtherelationshipbetweentheorigina even the engineers of so messages - they are editors. A more responsible wouldisbe to look fortowhat ityand reproducibility clearly.The idea that ‘originality’ isan attributeofway aproduct beginning lookmig rath be termed links, themes and associations which can join a wide variety of contents and references togeth problematic.Aspects such as the ‘handwriting’ or the ‘style’ of a designer used to be - and still are - associate in a way which is itself meaningful. Although stress thatas the individual forms of messages still play with theproducts thatthe designermakes. YourI would ownhandwriting atypeface! Such astrictly formalinterpret crucial role incontributing theseen clarity their contents, isnevertheless thatdesigners who concentra tionofso mething thatwasto once asof ‘the mirror oftheitsoul’ -one’sownclear handwriting -isasure sign thatinco exclusively on the forms of individual communication products fail to do justice to the messages themselve temporaryculturewemusttaketermslike‘personal’,‘individual’and‘expressive’withmorethanagrainofsa It is the editorial quality of the designer that determines whether the design enables the recipient of the me sage to make meaningful connections with the information culture of which the message is, whether we lik it or not, a part. One important aspect of these connections is that they are unaffected by traditional borde linesbetweendisciplines.Inthiscontext,themostimportantcontributionthattoday’sdesignersmaketoth effectivenessofacommunicationproductisamatterof‘conceptualfunctionalism’ratherthanvisualvirtuosi Singular messages have ceased to exist. So too have unambiguous messages. In our culture, which h become a technological information culture, a high degree of ‘visual literacy’ has developed in large se tions of the mass media audience. The possibility that a ‘visually literate’ audience will read things into communication product that the designer did not intend is very real. In terms of the significance that may a crue to a design or a visual language, it is as well to be aware that a visually sophisticated audience e fectively becomes a co-designer. A design today is rarely a substantive, realized product. More and mo often it is a proposal which gains its final form in the interaction with the audience - for better or for wor Designersmustonceagainrealizethattheirultimatetaskisneithertoorderinformationnorsimplytodecorate The‘reinforcementofthemessage’(anotherbasictenetofgraphicdesign)cansometimesmeanthatyouma themessagelessaccessible,ratherthanhandingittopeopleonaplate.Thetruemessageisthen:howtoenter.Th designercaninjecthisownattitudeintothis‘navigation’betweenpiecesofinformation.Thatconnection,aftera existsbydefinition-atleast,ifweassumethattermslike:context,intertextuality,hyper-textuality,multimedia,ne works.Thepointisthatsuchanawarenessexpandstheperspectiveforactionforthe‘informationconsumer’,an hencealsohisfreedomofchoiceandinterpretation.Everydesign,inessence,isacriticismofthecontextforwhic ithasbeenproduced.Designersmustrealizeyetagainthatthecoreoftheirprofessionisanalysis:acriticaley
An ideal design is not yet.
You can read this book by it’s cover.
A n i d e a l d e s i g n i s n o t y e t .
0,2’
A n i d e a l d e s i g n i s n o t y e t .
35’ 69”
A n i d e a l d e s i g n i s n o t y e t .
6,23’48”
A n i d e a l d e s i g n i s n o t y e t .
17,21’03”
A n i d e a l d e s i g n i s n o t y e t .
6,23’49”
T h e O riginal R epro duc tion .
8,11’32”
The Message Informs The Medium.
11,12’34”
Design As Criticism. 15,55’31”
0,2’
Never finished, always not yet, be termed idealistic. 0,2’
37’69”
Neverfinished,alwaysnot yet, be termed idealistic: A design which - even if onlytemporarily-imposes meaningful structure on the chaos of possible meanings and references in the information culture’s hall of mirrors; Adesignwhichquestions theone-dimensionalityof things that are taken for granted - however politically correct they may be A design which derives its originality, regardless of the medium or the ultimate form, from theindependent,well-informed and well-argued vision of the designer; A design which - in true ‘metadisciplinarity’achieves a real integrationofform,content,technologyandmedia;Sucha design may, because it is neverfinished,alwaysnot yet, be termed idealistic.
35’ 69”
1,29’77”
There is a notion of idealism which today is seldom discussed, and which simply defines the future as: ‘not yet’. Idealists are often inclinedtoregardtheworld asitoughttobeasamodelthatisbeyonddispute, as a design which sets out the precise details of how the future will look. The gap between ideal and reality can be too large to be appreciated, and our fixation on the ultimate goal can obscure the path towards it and cloud our view of the reality of the present. Hence Bloch’s stressing of the not yet aspect of all idealism, of every Utopia, of every hope of improvement. In design, this notion of notyethasnowregained its relevance. On the one hand it is relevant as an idea of practical idealism, in which the actual process of communication is at least as importantasthefixedendresult. On the other hand, in a computer - and which of us does not work with computers, these days? - nothing is final.
52”08’
2,05’46”
For designers trained in a Modernist tradition this is a problem. In modernism, a design is not a proposal - it is a prescription. The design is not not yet, but essentially already reality. Now if you are designing a website you are not going to get very far if you take an essentially already attitude. A great tension seems to have arisen between two essentialnotionsofdesigning: the originality of the design and the reproducibility of the product. Today it is no longer so easy to establish the relationshipbetweentheoriginalityandreproducibility so clearly. The idea that ‘originality’isanattribute of a product is beginning tolookratherproblematic. Aspectssuchasthe‘handwriting’ or the ‘style’ of a designer used to be - and still are - associated with the products that the designer makes.Your own handwritingasatypeface!
35’ 69”
2, 20’ 07”
Such a strictly formal interpretationofsomething thatwasonceseenas‘the mirror of the soul’ - one’s ownhandwriting-isasure signthatincontemporary culturewemusttaketerms like ‘personal’, ‘individual’ and ‘expressive’ with more than a grain of salt. How, in this context, can adesignercontinuetobe anautonomousindividual with a voice of his own? Moreimportant than the precise form of the end product, in that case, is the way it comes about, thementalitywithwhich it is devised and the analysis that underlies it. It is here, in the personal interpretation of the designer, that there lies, potentially, more individuality than in any kind of ‘original’ formal design.
34’ 76”
3, 03’ 85”
That is why it is so importantfordesignerstoknow theirmedia,tohavestudied them and to truly understand how they function.Particularlynow thatnewcombinationsof media - some of which are themselves new can deliver entirely new products, it is important for a designer to have a thorough knowledge of existing media and technologies.Ifonlytoobtain insight into the differences between old and new media and communication processes and to realize that the old and the new are not radically opposedtoeachother.In thatsense,politicalidealism today has changed justasmuchastheculture with which that idealism enters into dialogue. In today’s multimedia surroundings there are all sorts of possible variations on that assertion: the medium is a message the message constitutes the medium the medium massages the message and vice versa [The original version of McLuhan’s adage is The Medium Is The Massage]
43’78”
3, 41’ 48”
One circumstance as a result of which we talk of‘informationbombardment’ and ‘information avalanche’ is that the generalpublicregardthe vastmajorityofthe‘information’aimedatthemas asinglemonolithicmass. Inaworldthatissosaturatedwithmedia,undifferentiatedinformationthreatens, by its overwhelming bulk, to swamp any real meaning. In such a context it becomes vital, rather than giving the individual message an arrestingform,toembed the message in meaningful associations with other messages. Seen fromthisangle,designers are more than dressers, decorators or even the engineers of messages they are editors. A more responsible way would be to look for what might be termed links, themes and associations which can join a wide variety of contents and references together in a way whichisitselfmeaningful.
37’63”
4,26’42”
Although I would stress that the individual forms of messages still play a crucial role in contributing to the clarity of their contents,itisnevertheless clear that designers who concentrate exclusively ontheformsofindividual communicationproducts fail to do justice to the messagesthemselves.Itis theeditorialqualityofthe designerthatdetermines whether the design enables the recipient of the message to make meaningful connections with the information culture of which the message is, whether we like it or not, a part. One important aspectoftheseconnections isthattheyareunaffected bytraditionalborderlines between disciplines. In thiscontext,themostimportantcontributionthat today’s designers make to the effectiveness of a communicationproduct is a matter of ‘conceptual functionalism’ratherthan visualvirtuosity.Singular messages have ceased to exist. So too have unambiguous messages.
44’ 94”
5,06’88”
In our culture, which has become a technological information culture, a high degree of ‘visual literacy’ has developed in large sections of the mass media audience. The possibility that a ‘visually literate’ audience will read things into a communicationproduct that the designer did not intend is very real. The possibility that a ‘visually literate’ audience will read things into a communication product that the designer did not intend is very real. Intermsofthesignificance that may accrue to a design or a visual language, it is as well to be aware thatavisuallysophisticated audience effectively becomes a co-designer. A design today is rarely a substantive,realizedproduct.Moreandmoreoften itisaproposalwhichgains itsfinalformintheinteraction with the audience - for better or for worse.
40’46”
5,42’23”
Designers must once again realize that their ultimate task is neither to order information nor simply to decorate it. The ‘reinforcement of the message’ (another basic tenet of graphic design) can sometimes mean that you make the message less accessible, rather than handing it to people on a plate. The true message is then: howtoenter.Thedesigner caninjecthisownattitude into this ‘navigation’ betweenpiecesofinformation. That connection, after all, exists by definition - at least, if we assume that terms like: context, intertextuality,hyper-textuality,multimedia,networks. The point is that such an awareness expands the perspective for action for the ‘information consumer’, and hence also his freedom of choiceandinterpretation. Every design, in essence, is acriticismofthecontextfor whichithasbeenproduced.
35’35”
6,23’48”
Designers must realize yet again that the core of their profession is analysis: a critical eye. In our culture, which has become a technological information culture, a high degree of ‘visual literacy’ has developed in large sections of the mass media audience. A design, which - even if onlytemporarily-imposes meaningful structure on the chaos of possible meaningsandreferences in the information culture’s hall of mirrors; A design, which questions theone-dimensionalityof things that are taken for granted - however politicallycorrecttheymaybe, A design, which derives its originality, regardless ofthemediumortheultimateform,fromtheindependent, well-informed and well-argued vision of the designer; A design , which - in true ‘metadisciplinarity’ - achieves a real integration of form, content,technologyand media; Such a design ,may, because it is never finished, always not yet, be termed idealistic.
41’25”
6,23’49”
There is a notion of idealism which today is seldom discussed, and which simply defines the future as: ‘not yet’. Idealists are often inclined to regard the world as it ought to be as a model that is beyond dispute, as a design which sets out the precise details of how the future will look. The gap between ideal and reality can be too large to be appreciated, and our fixation on the ultimate goal can obscure the path towards it and cloud our view of the reality of the present. Hence Bloch’s stressing of the not yet aspect of all idealism, of every Utopia, of every hope of improvement. In design, this notion of not yet has now regained its relevance. On the one hand it is relevant as an idea of practical idealism, in which the actual process of communication is at least as important as the fixed end result. On the other hand, in a computer - and which of us does not work with computers, these days? - nothing is final. For designers trained in a Modernist tradition this is a problem. In modernism, a design is not a proposal - it is a prescription. Now if you are designing a website you are not going to get very far if you take an essentially already attitude.. 30’99”
An ideal design is not yet.
The meaning There is a notionof idealism this which today is seldom discussed, and which simply defines the future phrase -byErnst as: ‘not Bloch yet’. -is subtler and deeper than you might think at first sight.Naturally,allthatis not,butmaycome,isnot yet.Whatmattersiswhat you want, isn’t it? What you envisage - that is the ideal future. But Bloch meant something else. 10’45”
Idealists are often inclined to regard the world as it ought to be That as the a model present that does is benot yond dispute, as a design which sets out the precise details of how lookthe likefuture it is the will fault look. of the present. Bloch says that this vision of the future, which is already complete and only has to be recognized to become reality, can have a paralysing effect. 08’58”
The realization that the idealand has not yet been gap between ideal reality can be too large to be appreciated, achieved theon Utopian to acknowledge and our forces fixation the ultimate goal can obscure the path towards it and the need workoffor cloud ourtoview thechange realityinofthe thepresent, present. Hence Bloch’s stressing of the not starting fromoftheallreality of the of people and the of every hope of improvement. yet aspect idealism, every Utopia, society of today. The Utopian may have a vision of the world as it might be, but he also appreciates that the realization of that vision is a continuous process in which the ‘final goal’is a gauging-point rather than an a-priori outcome. In Bloch’s short formula, then, the yet is more importantthanthenot.Thereisyetroomforimprovement. Manisnotyet,trulyfree.Theperfectworldhasyettocome. 20’76”
By accepting the possibility of In design, this notion of not yet has now regained its relevance. On the leavingadesign open-ended, by one hand it is relevant as an idea of practical idealism, in which the actuup to a point not finishing it, the al process of communication is at least as important as the fixed end result. designer not only leaves room for the recipient’s and reader’s own interpretation of the message - an emancipatory aspect, this - he also creates the space for a personal standpoint. The design now suggests that this is how things might be - it opens a dialogue about the way it itselffunctionsinthecommunication process of which it is a part. 19’02”
Perhaps tomorrow Ontheother hand,inayou computer-andwhichofusdoesnotworkwithcomputers,thesedays? - nothing will change is final. your mind and recreate your design from scratch. It can, after all, be done. At any moment a few mouseclicks are all you need to cast an entire design in a completely differentmould.Untilthetime comes when it has to go to the press (or into the CDwriter,orisbroadcast or placed on the World WideWeb), the design is essentiallyonlyasketch, apossibility,notyet.And if it is intended for the Internet, it remains, up to a point, for ever not yet. 21’26”
8,11’31”
For
designers
trained
in
a
Modernist
tradition
this Inthattradition, is a problem. ofcourse, the design is viewed as a model, as an immanent reality, almost as an article of faith in which everything is predestined. 6’53”
Now ‘Old-fashioned’ if you are designing design- a website you are not going to get very far if you take an essentially ers will already accordingly attitude. see every departure from that prescription, every change of detail, as an infringement of something that has already, in principle, been realized. It is finished - all it needs is to be made. 7’84”
In The eachdesign new browser theyet, but In modernism, a design is not a proposal - it is a prescription. is not not design willalready look different, essentially reality. and it will work differently. Almost everything that the designer has designed can be changed by the recipient: the format, the fonts, the images, the colours, the hyperlinks, the navigation. Which monitor displays the ‘real’ design? Perhaps only the designer’s. 13’38”
8,11’32”
Agreattensionseemstohavearisenbetweentwoessentialnotionsofdesigning:theoriginality of the design and the reproducibility of the product.Today it is no longer so easy to establish the relationship between the originality and reproducibility so clearly. The idea that ‘originality’ is an attribute of a product is beginning to look rather problematic. Aspects such as the ‘handwriting’ or the ‘style’ of a designer used to be - and still are associated with the products that the designer makes. Your own handwriting as a typeface! Such a strictly formal interpretation of so mething that was once seen as ‘the mirror of the soul’ - one’s own handwriting - is a sure sign that in contemporary culture we must take terms like ‘personal’, ‘individual’ and ‘expressive’ with more than a grain of salt. 3,01’01”
T he Original Repro duc tion
A great tension seems to If ahave design arisen is reproduced between in two surroundings essential notions which may of dego signing: the originality ofvery themuch design against and the thedesigner’s reproducibility vision, of what thethen product. is the value of that vision? Or what is wrong with the reproduction 1,38’ 13” channels if the reproduction refuses to stick to the design? 08’ 85” Perhaps it will be illuminating to look for a moment at two different ways in which an original, a design, can be related to a reproduction. When Mart Stam invented the cantilever chair at the end of the 1920s, and Marcel Breuer developed that design for commercial production, their original intention had been both to design an 'ultimate reduction' of the concept of chair and to produce an object of utility which could be manufactured by an industrial process cheaply and in very large numbers. The cantilever chair has now become an industrial and cultural icon - the 'originals', the first models and contemporary production by Thonet, are now beyond the reach of all but museums and wealthy private collectors. If you want an 'original' Stam/Breuer today, you have to turn to 'authorized' production by the firms like Casina or Vitra, whose chair is available from the more up-market furniture stores at around $500 apiece. However, this does buy you the certainty that the chair you have bought conforms, in every detail, to the specifications of the original design. 1,0’ 50” But what looks like the same chair can be had for less than a hundred dollars from less prestigious sources. What’s the difference?Thethicknessandqualityofthetubingandrattan,the quality of finish, the shape of the seat and back. And there’s no ‘signature’,nocertificateofauthenticity.Despitethis,onecould argue that these cheap copies, even if they do depart from the originaldesignindetails,dobetterjusticetotheidealisticsocial intentionofthatdesign:theyarenolesselementaryintheirform, but they are truly available to a mass audience of consumers. 1,24’ 00” This example demonstrates that a design can be realized in more ways than one and still be ‘original’. What matters then is that the design indicates a possibility, an as yet unrealized way of tackling a problem.The same example also illustrates two aspects of the Bauhaus in 1920s Germany that were instrumental in shaping the development and the teaching of design in Europe: originality and reproducibility. 1,38’ 13”
What is the Today it ‘original’ is no longer of an elecso easy to establish the relationship between the originality tronic product? This andalso reproducibility apso clearly. The idea that ‘originality’ isto an plies other, attribute related of notions a product is beginning to look rather problematic. which are still being used but whose roots lie in an artistically conceived idea of designing whichitisnowdifficulttouphold. 10’ 27” Aspects such as the ‘handwriting’ or the ‘style’ But if theofform a ofdesigner the product used can be to be - and still are - associated with the products changed, thatis itthe thendesigner still legitimate makes. to speak of a specific handwriting? 54’96” Andifthedesignerchoosesadifferent formal language for each product, canyoustillspeakofapersonalstyle? 09’ 72” Despiteallthis,designersandtypographers,inthemidstofapostmodern culture which holds that everything has already been thought of before, and is nothing more than a resamplingoftheexisting,havehurled themselves as never before into thinking up forms that are different. Seldom have there been so many personal styles and have so many typefaces been designed that reflecttheindividualityoftheirmakers. 31’49” Designersseemtoexultinindividuality as if in a last upwelling of self-expression before everything is finally absorbed into a pool of existing images and languages. In this new condition,tousethelanguageofOrwell,handwritingisaquestionofsoftware. There are now programs that can take a scanned model sentence (thequickbrownfox...)inyourhandwriting and use it to generate a completefont,includingitalicsandbold. 54’96”
11,12’33”
Your own handwriting as a typeface! Such a strictly formal What interpretation kind of ‘individuality’ of so mething is that was once seen as ‘the mirror of the soul’ - one’s ownconjured handwriting up in - isaaculture sure sign in that which in contemporary culture we must take terms like ‘personal’,advertising ‘individual’and ‘expressive’ the media conwith more than a grain of salt. stantly stress that you can decide for yourself, that you decide what you like, that you will say who and what you want to be? Express yourself - but don’t forget to do it by using products X, Y and Z. I® has become a brand name, and the individual a consumer composed of branded emotions and activities. Do ®is Nike™ Be® is Calvin Klein™ 17’65”
11,12’34”
How, in this context, can a designer continue to be an autonomous individual with a voice of his own? More important than the precise form of the end product, in that case, is the way it comes about, the mentality with which it is devised and the analysis that underlies it. It is here, in the personal interpretation of the designer, that there lies, potentially, more individualitythan inany kindof‘original’formaldesign. That is why it is so important for designerstoknowtheirmedia,tohavestudiedthemandtotrulyunderstandhowtheyfunction. Particularlynowthatnewcombinationsofmedia-someofwhicharethemselvesnew-can deliver entirely new products, it is important for a designer to have a thorough knowledge of existing media and technologies. If only to obtain insight into the differences between old and new media and communication processes and to realize that the old and the new are not radically opposed to each other. In that sense, political idealism today has changed justasmuchastheculturewithwhichthatidealismentersintodialogue.Intoday’smultimedia surroundings there are all sorts of possible variations on that assertion: the medium is a message the message constitutes the medium the medium massages the message and vice versa [The original version of McLuhan’s adage is The Medium Is The Massage] One circumstance as a result of which we talk of ‘information bombardment’ and ‘information avalanche’ is that the general public regard the vast majority of the ‘information’ aimed at them as a single monolithic mass. In a world that is so saturated with media, undifferentiatedinformationthreatens,byitsoverwhelmingbulk,toswampanyrealmeaning.Insuch a context it becomes vital, rather than giving the individual message an arresting form, to embedthemessageinmeaningfulassociationswithothermessages. Seenfromthisangle, designers are more than dressers, decorators or even the engineers of messages - they are editors. A more responsible way would be to look for what might be termed links, themes and associations which can join a wide variety of contents and references together in a way which is itself meaningful. Although I would stress that the individual forms of messages still play a crucial role in contributing to the clarity of their contents, it is nevertheless clear that designers who concentrate exclusively on the forms of individual communication products fail to do justice to the messages themselves. It is the editorial quality of the designerthatdetermineswhetherthedesignenablestherecipientofthemessagetomake meaningfulconnectionswiththeinformationcultureofwhichthemessageis,whetherwe like it or not, a part. One important aspect of these connections is that they are unaffectedbytraditionalborderlinesbetweendisciplines.Inthiscontext,themostimportantcontribution that today’s designers make to the effectiveness of a communication product is amatterof‘conceptualfunctionalism’ratherthanvisualvirtuosity.Singularmessageshave ceased to exist. So too have unambiguous messages. In our culture, which has become a technological information culture, a high degree of ‘visual literacy’ has developed in large sections of the mass media audience. The possibility that a ‘visually literate’ audience will read things into a communication product that the designer did not intend is very real. In terms of the significance that may accrue to a design or a visual language, it is as well to be aware that a visually sophisticated audience effectively becomes a co-designer. A design today is rarely a substantive, realized product. More and more often it is a proposal which gains its final form in the interaction with the audience - for better or for worse. 4,42’96”
The Message Informs The Medium
Perhaps in recent How, in this context, can a designer continue to be an autonomous individual with a yearstherehasbeen voice of his own? toomuchemphasis on forms and not enough on ideas. 04’33” It isbecoming increasingly More important than the precise form of the end product, in that case, is the way it clear that, tothe extent that with which it is devised and the analysis that underlies it. comes about, the mentality it is legitimate to speak of originality at all, it has to be sought in the world of concepts, the world of the not yetandnotfirstandforemost in the world of products. 09’99” In a culture which regards an attribute of It is here, in the personal interpretation of the ‘individuality’ designer, thatas there lies, potop-shelf brands, developing a truly individual and independtentially, more individuality than in any kind of ‘original’ formal design. ent vision is an act of idealism of the first water. An expression of resistance to the immense pressure of the media models from which, in our culture, very few can escape. Quite apart from the question of whether these media models are intrinsically bad, or whether they can be ‘unmasked’ at all, to use a Marxist term which has lapsed into disuse, it can do no harm at least to subject them to a thorough analysis, if only that we might understand the most powerful languages of our culture - and be able to use them for a message of our own. 33’79” The oppositionfor of the 1970s and 1980s has made Thatpolarized is why itpolitical is so important designers to know their media, to have studied way thetopolitical correctnesshow of the 1990s (actually more a sti-now that new comthemfor and truly understand they function. Particularly fling form of than ofofpolitics). have also changed binations ofpoliteness media - some which Attitudes are themselves new - can deliver entirely new towards of capital’, evenapolitical dis-knowledge of existproducts,that it ‘voice is important foradvertising: a designertoday to have thorough sidents seeand advertising as a powerful communication ing media technologies. If only tochannel obtainof insight into the differences between along it is also possible to disseminate ‘good’ old andwhich new media and communication processes andmessages. to realize that the old and the Designers would do well to realize in aother. developed new are not radically opposed tothat each In thatinformation sense, political idealism today society the relationships content, form andthat medium canenters into dialogue. has changed just as muchbetween as the culture with which idealism no longer be established as unambiguously as it may once have seemed,whenthecommunicationavant-gardenoddedwithenthusiastic agreement at McLuhan’s slogan The Medium Is The Message. 30’16”
In today’s multimedia surroundings there are all sorts possible on that asserWhatofnothing invariations all of this changes is the tion:themediumisamessage,themessageconstitutes themedium massages need,the asmedium, Jan van Toorn put it in the 1970s, ,the message and vice versa [The original versiontoof‘visualize McLuhan’s is “The Medium Is theadage origin and manipulative The Massage”] characterofthemessageinitsform’:that is, cast a message in such a form that it enters into a meaningful - and critical relationship with its cultural, social and informative context: a necessity which becomesallthemoreurgentnowthatthe informationsocietyisbeginningtoshow signsofbecominganinformationdeluge. 23’93” One as a result ofthrough which we talk of ‘information bombardment’ and ‘inforEvencircumstance if all those messages, sent mation avalanche’ is thatnetwork the general public regard the vast majority of the ‘information’ an unceasingly extending ofmeaimed at them as a single monolithic dia, desperately present themselves asmass. ‘different’, they are still often perceived as part of the deafening monotonous drone that accompaniestheavalanche. 9’69” In a world that is so saturated with media, undifferentiated threatens, by its The editorinformation of a magazine or newspaoverwhelming bulk, to swamp any real meaning.per In such a contextprogramme it becomes vital, rather ortelevision triesto find thangivingtheindividualmessageanarrestingform, toembed themessage inmeaningful ways of linking the diverse messages associations with other messages. Seen from thisthat angle, more thanThe dressers, hedesigners or she isare presenting. easy decorators or even the engineers of messages(or - they editors. lazy)are way of doing this is to throw themintothemelting-potoftheformat.In graphic design terms, this is the styling. 11’20” Amoreresponsible waywould beto lookforwhat mightbetermedlinks,themesandassociations Comparable to what Charles Dickens called whichcan awidevariety referencestogetherinawaywhichisitselfmeaningful. ‘links of join association’, theofcontents kind of and culturally based connections that are such a central conceptinStevenJohnson’sbookInterfaceCulture. Another writer - and designer and teacher Gui Bonsiepe, proposes that from now on we call all designers interface designers, on the basis that in times of information overload it is more important to design the means of access to information and navigation through it than the form of individual messages. 17’61”
Although I would stress that the individual forms of messages stillare play a crucial roleones in conDesigners not the only to tributingtotheclarityoftheircontents,itisneverthelesscommunicate. clearthatdesigners whoconcentrate Asinformation agents exclusivelyontheformsofindividualcommunicationthey products todoajustice tothemesworkfail within framework that sagesthemselves.Itistheeditorialqualityofthedesigner thatdetermines whether thedesign encompasses such diverse media enablestherecipientofthemessagetomakemeaningful withtheinformation as: connections paintings, books, catalogues, culture of which the message is, whether we like it or magazines, not, a part. One important aspect of computer and televitheseconnectionsisthattheyareunaffectedbytraditional between disciplines. sionborderlines screens, cinema, exhibitions, installations,performances... The same media are used by others too: writers,artists,directors,advertisers, politicians,salesmen,musicians,actors,supermodels,TVmakers...Seen fromthisangle,designersshouldbe re-evaluatingtheirroleinmultimedia communication. The designer has effectively become a co-author and co-editorofmessages,andoperates increasingly often in close cooperationwithothers.Thisnewandextended role for the designer has already beencomparedwithjointenterprises suchastelevision,filmandtheatre.In thesemedia,formandcontentaretogether formulated by a collective of specialists in several areas. Designersareincreasinglyoftenmembersof suchteamsof‘form-and-content-givers’. Their role as the bearers of sole responsibilityfortheformofthefinal productisverymuchunderpressure. 46’13” The Inthis content context, and the effectiveness mostimportant of contributionthattoday’sdesignersmaketotheeffectivecommunication have become nessofacommunication productisamatterof‘conceptualfunctionalism’ratherthanvisual strongly virtuosity. context-dependent, Singular messages not have ceased to exist, so too have unambiguous messages. leastbecausetheaudiencewith whom the message communicates has itself matured. In contrasttotheimpressioncreatedby manycommunicationproductsfromadvertisingtonewsbulletins -therecipientisusuallynotstupid. 11’92”
In our culture, which has become a technological Intensive experience information of culture, ‘reading’a the highmesdegree of ‘visual literacy’ has developed in large sagessections in advertisements, of the massmovies, media television, audience. newspapers, magazines, strip cartoons, CDROMs, websites and the ever more complex hybridformsofthese,hasmade‘theaudience’ keenly aware that every communication has been ‘manipulated’ by its maker and is affectedbyitscontext.Thispublicexperienceof ’visuallanguages’hasbothenlargedtheroom for manoeuvre open to designers and at the same time deepened their responsibility for theimagesandvisuallanguagesthattheyuse. 25’08”
Jonathan The possibility Barnbrook’s thatManson a ‘visually typeface literate’ was inspired audience by an‘urban will read trib- things into a communication al’ culture, and in itsproduct primitive logo-like that theformal designer language didreflects not an intend (es- is very real. sentiallypost-punk)subculturalawarenesswhichadoptsaprovocative stand against the prevailing taste. Hence the name - that of a notorious ritual serial murderer - which has caused considerable offence to many in the culture of political correctness in the United States (after which Barnbrook rebaptised his font to 'Mason', the name of an American general, who was not entirely incontroversial either).To that extent the provocationisconsistentand,uptoapoint,intentional.Itwasadifferent matter,however,whenitemergedthatGermanneo-fascistswereusing thesametypefaceforcommunicationswhichwerethoroughlyobjectionable, to Barnbrook as to others, because they saw in it formal echoes of the ancient runic alphabet so beloved of the Nazis.This kind of thing would not be so painful if the formof the letters had not been a major element of the message. No one would blame Adrian Frutiger for the fact that his Univers typeface is also used by racists. Barnbrook is more open to such criticism - even if it is essentially erroneous - because the form ofhistypefacecanindeedbeassociatedvisually with an aesthetic which, since the Nazis, has been heavily charged.There is little that the designer can do to stop this kind of‘abuse’of a design - the neo-Nazis were clever enough to purchase a licence to use Barnbrook’s typeface. Theexampleshowsuphowimportantitisasadesignertothinkaboutthe contextinwhichthedesigniscreatedandintowhichitwillbeabsorbed. 54’58”
15,55’30”
In that terms sense of the too significance the designer that is may accrue to a design or a visual language, it is as well to be aware that a visually sophisticated audience effectively becomes a co-designer. increasingly becoming, as Bonsieppesaid,aninterfacedesigner. 04’55� A design today is rarely a substantive, realized product. More and more often it is a proposal which gains its final form in the interaction with the audience - for better or for worse.
15,55’31”
Designersmustonceagainrealizethattheirultimatetaskisneithertoorderinformationnor simplytodecorateit.The‘reinforcementofthemessage’(anotherbasictenetofgraphicdesign)cansometimesmeanthatyoumakethemessagelessaccessible,ratherthanhanding it to people on a plate. The true message is then: how to enter. The designer can inject his ownattitudeintothis‘navigation’betweenpiecesofinformation.Thatconnection,afterall, existsbydefinition-atleast,ifweassumethattermslike:context,intertextuality,hyper-textuality,multimedia,networks.Thepointisthatsuchanawarenessexpandstheperspectivefor actionforthe‘informationconsumer’,andhencealsohisfreedomofchoiceandinterpretation.Every design, in essence, is a criticism of the context for which it has been produced. Designers must realize yet again that the core of their profession is analysis: a critical eye.
Design As Criticism
1,25’18”
Designers must once again realize that their ultimate is neither to order inInantask agewhen contexts, referencformation nor simply to decorate it. The ‘reinforcement of the message’ (anes and interpretations are often other basic tenet of graphic design) can sometimes mean that yourawmake moreimportant thanthe data the message less accessible, rather than handing themselves, it to people itmaybethe on path a plate. leading through those data that containsthemostvaluableinformation. 06’70”
Thecourse, true inmessage Of an applied is art -then: which how to enter. The designer can inject his own this ‘navigation’ between pieces of information. is what attitude design stillinto is - traditional notions such as structuring and reinforcing a client’s message still apply. But there are more ways of reinforcing a message than simply gettingittolookdifferentfromother messages. You can also try to show theconnectionbetweenmessages. 11’81”
That connection, after all, exists by definition - all key concepts - at in least, the postmodern if we assume informathat terms like: context, intertextuality, tion hyper-textuality, culture - are notmultimedia, merely theoretical networks figments of the imagination, or a ‘virtual model’ ofanintellectualconcept,butpracticalreality. Even more than the indispensable theoretical frameworks do, the reality of the information culture demonstrates, to anyone looking out into the world with an alert and practised eye, the extent to which the words, the images, the sounds and the gestures with which we are presented by a labyrinth of media communicate not only with us but also with each other. 19’69”
A good The point design is that ‘activates’ such an those awareness contextsexpands by the perspective for action for the ‘information offering anunderstanding consumer’, and of,hence acomment also on, his freedom of choice and interpretation.Every an or design, alternative in essence, to them. is aOne criticism of the most of the context for which it has been produced. ‘idealistic’attitudesthatadesignerworking inthisenvironment canhaveis,asIseeit,the willtoincreaseawarenessofthesecomplex inter-connectionsinourmediaculture,and, above all, to increase insight into their nature and content. To be able to contribute to this, a designer must be able to call on more than aesthetic and technical knowledge. 21’76”
Designers must realize yet again that the core of their A design: profession whichis- even analysis: if only a critical temporareye. ily - imposes meaningful structure on the chaos of possible meanings and references in the information culture’s hall of mirrors; A design: which questions the one-dimensionality of things that are taken for granted - however politically correct they may be. A design: which derives its originality, regardless ofthemediumortheultimateform,from the independent, well-informed and well-argued vision of the designer; A design: which - in true ‘metadisciplinarity’ - achieves a real integration of form, content, technology and media; Such a design:may,becauseitisneverfinished, always not yet, be termed idealistic. 25’22”
17,20’49”
Such a design may, because it is never finished, always not yet, be termed idealistic.
17,20’94”
You have just lost 17,20’90” to understand ‘A ideal design is not yet’.
17,21’07”