Hi Gunnar,
Thanks for your message.
I suggest the similarity is that the output of all design fields is *a
specification for something to be made or done*.
It is the creation of the specification (the 'design') that makes design
fields different from other fields. As far as I can see, it is the primary
and perhaps only defining difference.
Nearly finished a response to your wonderful earlier post. . .
All the best,
Terry
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask]
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Gunnar Swanson
Sent: Friday, 9 May 2014 10:38 PM
To: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related
research in Design
Subject: Re: Why designers need maths
On May 9, 2014, at 10:12 AM, Terence Love <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear Martin,
[snip]
> You also seem to think that in some magical way designing in technical
> realms is totally different to designing in the traditional art and
> design fields.
Terry,
I can't speak for Martin but I will say that various sorts of design have
various commonalities so "totally" is a loaded adjective. I'm not sure I'd
want to sign on to a statement that aerospace engineering and making
tortillas are "totally different" but I'd be willing to say that they are
unalike in some fundamental ways.
Also, I understand that you are probably quite frustrated at this point but
phrases like "in some magical way" come off as snide attacks rather than
attempts to clarify. If all designers need something (like, say, math
skills), it's not productive to alienate them from the explanation of their
need. That sort of recognition of the differences among stakeholders is a
basic part of my end of design.
That said, what are the important ways that you see commonality in these
different design fields? Other than having "design" printed somewhere on a
business card, what are the shared important features of the work of a
fashion designer, a graphic designer, an information designer, an interface
designer, a software designer, an architectural designer, and a mechanical
engineering designer? I could probably come up with some from some cluster
of that list but I'm drawing a blank on something that incorporates all of
them (without also including non-design occupations.)
I suspect that you will claim that I am reifying present assumptions so if
you'd like to take a stab at what should be the shared important features
instead of what are those features, that would be helpful in understanding
your claims.
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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