One of the most influential designers of the twentieth century ... Munari has encouraged people to go beyond formal conventions and stereotypes by showing them how to widen their perceptual awareness' He knows the means of effective design, and he applies this to get his job done well. He is the problem-solver, who does not resort to stylistic preconceptions, or absurd and false notions of dignity derived from pure art. In a sense — Great design is part science, part process, and part a practical set of solutions with a dash of aesthetics thrown in. Going beyond the surface, a designer inevitably discovers that great design is more about delivering solutions to problems.

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

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. Copying nature’ is one thing and understanding nature is another. Copying nature can be simply a form of manual dexterity that does not help us to understand, for it shows us things just as we are accustomed to seeing them. But studying the structures of nature, observing the evolution of forms, can give everyone a better understanding of the world we live in. Design] is planning: the planning as objectively as possible of everything that goes to make up the surroundings and atmosphere in which men live today." (35)

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The big takeaway, Miklos, is that I mostly agree with you. Art, and thereby design, is a mixed bag of objectivity and subjectivity sprinkled with enough ambiguity to keep this Art vs. Design debate raging on for years to come. Conclusion

Design as Art | Patrick Altair McDonald Design as Art | Patrick Altair McDonald

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. Similarly, Design as Art is useful for designers and architects interested in communicating their projects effectively, as Munari does in this book, narrating the development of some of his most interesting projects. Any rational concept of the function of Industrial Design must begin be rejecting the all too common production of objects that are absolutely useless to man. (…) One such object is the rose. The object is very widely produced, and this production often becomes really chaotic in circumstances when the economics of production have been given no serious study at all. The object is formally coherent and pleasantly coloured. It comes in a wide variety of colours, all of them warm. The distribution channels for the sap are well worked out and arranged with great precision; indeed, with excessive precision in the case of those parts which are hidden from view. The petals are elegantly curved, reminding one of a Pininfarina sports car design”.

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

An illustrated journey into the artistic possibilities of modern design, by the enfant terrible of Italian art and design for most of the twentieth century More 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. If this were all the project encompassed, it would be little more than a nice lighting effect, but the scope of Roosegaarde’s artistic vision is much wider. Van Gogh Path is a proof of concept within a larger project called SMART HIGHWAY, an ambitious effort aimed at reinventing the Dutch landscape by implementing a sustainable system of glowing, interactive roads. In the preface to his 1966 classic Design as Art ( public library) — one of the most important and influential design books ever published — legendary Italian graphic designer Bruno Munari, once described by Picasso as “the new Leonardo,” makes a passionate case for democratizing art and making design the lubricant between romanticism and pragmatism.

Design As Art (Bruno Munari) | PDF | Paintings | Color - Scribd Design As Art (Bruno Munari) | PDF | Paintings | Color - Scribd

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. It is not at all clear that these words—‘What is art?’—express anything like a single question, to which competing answers are given, or whether philosophers proposing answers are even engaged in the same debate… The sheer variety of proposed definitions should give us pause. – Kendall Walton The takeaways are truly your own as a creative person, so its kind of a make-what-you-will of these essays, here is what Bruno Munari has to say about design stuff. Some takeaways that really ring true for you, depending on your field of creativity, you'll highlight or bookmark and reference for later. 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. 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:Vermeer had no formal artistic training and apparently did not undergo an apprenticeship as a painter. Penguin published many handy and interesting little books like this around the 1970s which are really insightful and informative, by the likes of John Berger and Susan Sontag, and many others, covering many fields of art and culture in new (for the time at least) and refreshing ways. As it is a collection of texts written at different times and occasions, no uniformity is to be expected, neither in the length nor in the depth of the chapters. The author ranges from observations on form, functions and materials to deeper reflections on language and the different perception of signs, accompanying the text with particularly effective examples.