Francois,
On Jan 6, 2014, at 5:22 AM, Francois Nsenga <[log in to unmask]> wrote to Terry:
> You propose the definition of "A design" to be "a specification of
> something that is to be made or done".
> I hope by 'specification' you don't mean ONLY use of the mathematical
> language!
A certain sort of drawing would, of course, fit Terry's definition and would be, perhaps, the classic example of "a design." Architectural plans come to mind. Sketches + a dress pattern with swatches stapled to it might also suffice.
This fits well with an engineering perspective where a designer is, if I understand correctly, the person who makes stuff work and does the construction specs. It also fits well with the idea of a designer being part of a system of mass production. People who made one pot at a time were makers rather than specifiers. People who made decisions about the form of the 100,000 pots that would be made in a factory were designers.
This is of course, my interpretation and I don't have a good recent record of following Terry's descriptions. I think I get "design" (or, more specifically, "a design") but I'm not sure how to understand "designer" in a [post industrial? post modern? late modern?] context. There was always the question of who is "the designer" (if the specific article applies) when someone directs the people who create the final specification documents. If those people are replaced by a computer program, does Terry think that the computer is the designer? I don't know.
That may reflect uncertainty about the implied physicality of "a design." In the case of graphic design of a magazine spread in the 1980s, is a rough sketch a design or is the marker comp a design or is the marker comp with spec'ed type a design or is the final set of boards sent to the printer a design?
Gunnar
Gunnar Swanson
East Carolina University
graphic design program
http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cfac/soad/graphic/index.cfm
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Gunnar Swanson Design Office
1901 East 6th Street
Greenville NC 27858
USA
http://www.gunnarswanson.com
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+1 252 258-7006
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