On Aug 12, 2012, at 1:29 PM, Francois Nsenga wrote:
> You can't circumscribe designing ONLY to conceiving and writing specifications.
Words have meaning and their meanings have consequences. I get that. But I still don't get the urge to come up with a single definition for terms that have multiple meanings. On this list, people fight for the word "design" like it's the last piece of prime beef before the vegans take over. In other parts of my life, everyone seems to want to own (or disown) the word "art" (or "Art.")
There are few wagers in life that I would consider "sure things." Among them is my bet that there will be no widespread agreement on singular, precise definitions of "design" or "art" in my lifetime. This is not because we are, as a species, unskilled at writing definitions, mission statements, and the like. It's because we, in fact, mean different things and the struggle for definitions isn't a struggle for clarity in language; it is a vain hope to convince others to share our specific interests and points of view. We only seem to agree because we do not have singular definitions.
I see no reason that Terry can't or shouldn't limit the definition of design as long as he's making it clear that his definition is what he means. That doesn't stop anyone else from using a more expansive definition as long as they make it clear that the more expansive definition is what they mean. The quest for singular definitions seems like a search for clarity but it seems to almost always result in a sort of intellectual slippage where multiple people engage in multiple conversations while suffering from the delusion that only one discussion is happening.
I suspect we'd all be better off if instead of saying "Design is x," we'd say "Design (by the Simonized definition) is x, "Design (of the Loveian sense) is y," and "Design (in the Friedmanesque usage of the term) is z."
Gunnar
----------
Gunnar Swanson
East Carolina University
graphic design program
http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cfac/soad/graphic/index.cfm
Gunnar Swanson Design Office
1901 East 6th Street
Greenville NC 27858
USA
[log in to unmask]
+1 252 258 7006
http://www.gunnarswanson.com
|