Design
In The Design Way: Intentional Change in an Unpredictable World, Nelson and Stolterman (2012) argue that design is an approach to understanding the world that is distinct from science and art. It depends on a convergence of three attributes: the true, the ideal, and the real. Science seeks truth; design seeks realization of an ideal. Design cannot ignore what is true, but it strives to realize things that are desired but not yet real.
People have been designing things for tens of thousands of years. However, both design as a profession and the formal study of design as a professional practice are still quite new. "Design disciplines" (graphic design, industrial design, urban design, and many others) emerged in the 20th Century, and "designer" became a recognizable professional category.
The 1960s seem to have been a turning point in professional design as a topic of study, with the publication of John Chris Jones' Design Methods in 1962 and Herbert A. Simons' The Sciences of the Artificial in 1969. Each of these authors returned to design over and over, evolving positions quite different from these initial statements, so these works are important mainly in marking the beginning of a very broad movement toward theorizing design itself and trying to improve the professional practice of design. Important strands of theorizing that followed closely include scientific design (design science), user-centered design, human-centered design, participatory design, and others; each of these urged a certain approach to design as a professional practice.
In the early 21st century, the professional practice of design remains an active topic of study, but we also see interest in extending the study of design to include creative work done not by professionals on behalf of clients, but by individuals on behalf of themselves. These extensions recognize that ordinary people as well as design professionals may engage in design. Theorizing focused on the professional designer are not very helpful in understanding the growing public interest in maker spaces and in personal fabrication, suggesting that the study of design might be reframed as a study of a natural human practice that has only lately begun to be shaped by design disciplines.
People have been designing things for tens of thousands of years. However, both design as a profession and the formal study of design as a professional practice are still quite new. "Design disciplines" (graphic design, industrial design, urban design, and many others) emerged in the 20th Century, and "designer" became a recognizable professional category.
The 1960s seem to have been a turning point in professional design as a topic of study, with the publication of John Chris Jones' Design Methods in 1962 and Herbert A. Simons' The Sciences of the Artificial in 1969. Each of these authors returned to design over and over, evolving positions quite different from these initial statements, so these works are important mainly in marking the beginning of a very broad movement toward theorizing design itself and trying to improve the professional practice of design. Important strands of theorizing that followed closely include scientific design (design science), user-centered design, human-centered design, participatory design, and others; each of these urged a certain approach to design as a professional practice.
In the early 21st century, the professional practice of design remains an active topic of study, but we also see interest in extending the study of design to include creative work done not by professionals on behalf of clients, but by individuals on behalf of themselves. These extensions recognize that ordinary people as well as design professionals may engage in design. Theorizing focused on the professional designer are not very helpful in understanding the growing public interest in maker spaces and in personal fabrication, suggesting that the study of design might be reframed as a study of a natural human practice that has only lately begun to be shaped by design disciplines.
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