Dear Ken:
Thank you for that note on demarcation.
"For example, Richard writes, “Simon’s definition included necessary parts of the statement but not all of them and is insufficient.” That’s a conclusion. If Richard asserts this, I’d like him to state clearly what parts of a definition are missing — or at least to state clearly why he asserts an insufficient definition with some examples of what might be missing."
It is necessary for design to seek to make an improvement to a given state of something. As is often said, this definition is broad enough to include making a fish pie. If I take Broadbent´s (2004) generations in design methodology as start point, he (citing Jones) describes design by making as the first stage; design by drawing is the second one (and I feel this is the essence of design) followed by hard- (HSM) and soft-systems methodologies (SSMs). It is instructive or significant that design by making did not turn to design by meeting or design by brainstorm when experienced showed design-by-making was insufficient. This for me shows design is linked to the visual and the aesthetic. Our aesthetic sense was applied to the objects when they were made and it was applied to the drawings too when drawing was used a means to aid the process of shaping a new thing.
On that basis I am inclined to view design as being anchored in the aesthetic as well as the functional and they are as inseparable as two sides of a piece of paper.
As time went by, design by drawing needed the support of other mechanisms hence HSM and SSMs.
Were I to apply a lot more time than I have for this right now I would be pursuing a definition of design anchored in the functional and aesthetic.
People do other problem-solving things but a lot of them (and some considered design) are not design, but problem-solving.
While this is not a full or direct answer to Ken, I hope it shows the line of argument I would take.
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