1. Concept of design: design, art, and technology.

Theory
and design methodology. Design, ideology, and society
industrial. The areas of design. The professional activity.

1. Concept of design: design, art, and technology.

We define design as a process or task intended to plan, coordinate,

select and organize a set of elements to produce and create objects
visuals intended to communicate specific messages to targeted groups.
The set of elements that involve the creation of a design are:

• Outline or drawing of a building or figure.

• Description of an object or thing, made with words.
• Arrangement of spots, colors, or drawings.
• Urban project and planning of actions.
• Original conception of an object or work intended for production in
series, within the world of fashion or the industrial sector.
• The shape of each of these objects.

A design is a piece with a certain visual appeal, with its own personality and
a great aesthetic balance.

It was not until 1922 that the term 'graphic designer' first emerged.
It appeared at the hands of the designer, typographer, and calligrapher William Addison.
Dwiggins (1880, Ohio - 1956, Massachusetts) who used this term to
to self-define as a professional. Addison, in addition to being famous for employing
for the first time 'graphic design', is known for its extensive and multifaceted
work that encompasses the design of typefaces such as Caravan, Metro,
Electra and Caledonia, until the publication of various titles on graphic arts
and the design in advertising among which stand out Layout in Advertising and A
Letter about Designing Type, among others.

Areas of application

Design is applied in all areas and is found everywhere.

Within the digital world, throughout the network, the internet. Designs from around the world
advertising, magazines, newspapers, books, manuals. We find design in
our furniture, a chair, a piece of furniture... We glimpse design in the world
multimedia, cinema, television, videos, music videos, trailers, and other effects
special

The possibilities of graphic design are infinite, as more and more are...
fields where elements created through the computer are used.

Since what we can call 'the birth of design' at the end of the century
XIX, there have been two currents of consideration in design: on one hand there are
those who understand design as an artistic activity, the designer is
an artist and the design takes on the category of art. On the other hand, there are those who
they consider design as a tool for serving something (to increase the
sales, communicate effectively, provide functionality to objects...)
Henry Van de Velde, famous Belgian artist, architect, and craftsman will say that 'The
beauty is a side effect of clarity and the system used, it is not
an optical effect

These two currents, initially opposing, intertwine, merge and

they separate numerous times throughout the history of design. They are
many objects (like the 'Wassily' armchair by Marcel Breuer), the pieces
advertising (like Toulouse-Lautrec's posters) and even the elements
architectural works (like Gaudí's Casa Milá) that have become objects
from art thanks to its design. Other times, design grants fine arts the
creative phase of interrelating the different parts of the work and achieving a
unitary all.

It is worth reviewing the historical landscape and evolution here.

As we have said, we can place the birth of design as such at

middle of the 19th century. Previously, the task was performed by
typographers, illustrators, calligraphers, and artisans. We can talk about fine arts.
(painting, sculpture...) and applied arts (textile, graphic arts). Later,
the main currents of graphic design will be related to the
artistic trends, technology, and industrial design.

Industrialization brought about a vulgarization of design and quality.

the products. In the face of this reality, a movement emerged that was called
Arts & Crafts that was considered to have been stripped from the
worker of the possibility to take pride in their work. The movement is
started in Great Britain and dominated an important sector of artistic activity and
of thought during the second half of the 19th century.

One of the principles of this movement was that the object should adapt to the
function for which it had been conceived. The members of this movement are
they feel very attracted to the medieval vision of art. The forms tended to be
simple, using linear and organic motifs; in ceramics, the colors
brilliant ones melted into the body during the cooking process. The plants,
birds and animals served as inspiration for many designers, in fact,
William Morris, considered the principal master of the movement, used them.
almost exclusively in the designs applied to fabrics and papers for
walls.

The movement reached its maturity with the formation of the guilds and the
professional societies in the style of those that existed in the Middle Ages.
The Guild of the Century or the Guild of the Art Workers were the most
known.

European designers quickly assimilated the styles of the artisans.

British, but soon they evolved into the 'excesses' of Art Nouveau.
The Art Nouveau movement spread across Europe in the late 19th century and
principles of the 20th century, reaching its peak popularity in 1900, the year of the
Universal Exhibition of Paris. This movement received in each country a
different names (Art Nouveau in Germany, Floral and Liberty in Italy, Secession
in Austria, Modernism in Spain). Its defenders aimed to restore the
balance between arts and crafts, appreciating the benefits of production in
mass and technological advances.

The designers of Art Nouveau found their inspiration in the arts.

exotic foreigners (Byzantine mosaics, Egyptian calligraphies, woodcuts
Japanese women...), but they also adopted the traditional tastes of the time. This
eclecticism was characterized by linearity (from configurations
attenuated to dazzling curves), using floral motifs and
abstract. In the graphic field, flat areas of bright color were introduced and
strong and expressive lines were used.

One of the main exponents of this movement in the graphic field was
the French Henry de Toulouse-Lautrec. His designs, his silhouettes and lines
energetics are known and recognized all over the world. The Belgian Henry van
de Velde was another of the exponents of Art Nouveau.

In Spain, one of the most original and striking exponents of this style
it was the architect Antoni Gaudí, who created amazing buildings and works in
metal in Barcelona.

The modernist movement with its national schools does not differentiate the
architecture of design, interior design, or decorative arts. It is the first
artistic movement that considers design on an equal basis
architectural, the textile prints of the furniture, glass or the manufacturing of
lamps.

Little by little, functionality will prevail. The functionalist architecture,

championed by Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, opts for planning
rational and adapted to its future use for the design of buildings. This idea will go
treading into other fields of industrial and graphic design.

In 1907, the Werkbund was formed in Germany, an organization with the aim of
to forge an alliance between art and industry. One of its first members was
the graphic designer Peter Behrens, who has often been called the first
industrial design advisor. His designs for AEG included a building
functional, simple and clear graphic brochures, undecorated stainless steel cutlery
for the company cafeteria and a wide range of electrical products.
Attention!, we are here, facing the first corporate identity design of
the history.

In 1919, the Bauhaus design school was founded in Germany.

architect Walter Gropius. His main contribution was the promotion of a
aesthetics inspired by the machine for architecture and applied arts and their
sophisticated teaching programs to encourage students to master
the language of elemental forms. For example, the classes of painters
Paul Klee and Vasily Kandinsky were dedicated to the study of line and color.
respectively.

Starting in 1925, a new movement appears on the scene. Art Deco takes its
name of the Decorative Arts Exhibition of 1925 that took place in Paris.
The practitioners of this movement assimilated elements of cubism.
and from Dadaism, also collecting a decorative style extracted from cultures
diverse, like India, Aztec, Egyptian, among others. The bright reds,
the bright pinks, the electric blues, the silver and bronze tones
they enjoyed great popularity. After the discovery of the tomb of
Tutankhamun emphasized the game of geometric elements and contrasts of
eye-catching colors. In the campographic, the fascination with speed and the
the rhythm of modern life has made it; airplanes and cars are
very commonly used motifs in product packaging, advertisements, and posters of everything
type.

After the 11th World War, the United States bursts in with new
trends and ways of working. The major design studios emerge
graph; the fruitful industrial production requires careful design studies
to offer distinguished, competitive, and quality products like the
appliances, the car... An aerodynamic style of shapes is imposed.
bulbous and softened.

Europe begins an era of design related to national identity, according to

some authors go so far as to identify styles and countries. They highlight the
Swiss design schools, Dutch, Polish, English, French... with theories,
typography and differentiated styles.

An important event was the publication of the Manifesto The First Thing is the First Thing
(1964), by Ken Garland. It was a call for a more radical form of design.
graph, criticizing the idea of the design in series, lacking value. This document
caused considerable uproar in its time. It was supported by more than
four hundred graphic designers and artists, and also received support from
Tony Benn, who published it in the British newspaper The Guardian. The manifesto
it was revived in the year 2000, when a new group of designers put it back
to the day and published it again.

The 1970s were dominated by the explosion of mass culture and

for a constant search for stylistic novelty. A young culture and
the alternative split from the society. The hippie culture introduced colors
brilliant and <<psychedelic>> and fascinating optical effects.

Postmodern design paved the way in the 70s and 80s contrary to the premise
that form must follow function. "The function can take any
"form" say the postmoderns.

The Pop design movement emerged in Great Britain aimed at an audience

young and wealthy who rejected austere forms and the emphasis on utility.
Phrases like 'less is more boring' perfectly define this.
movement. Clothing, album covers, shop windows, responded to what
Braham had described: <<tremendous initial impact and little power of
maintenance

Minimalism is expanding in the field of architecture.

we find ourselves in a period of stylistic pluralism.

Since then, design has transformed enormously due to the

new technologies, first with the emergence of computers and then the
new information technologies. Starting in 1984, with the emergence of the
first desktop publishing systems, personal computers replaced
gradually all technical procedures of an analog nature by
digital systems. This technological innovation had as its first
a consequence of a trend towards graphic experimentation and a certain forgetfulness
of the communicative principles that were at the foundation of the design. The designer
from yesteryear, with his pencil, his paper, and his drawing board has received a
invaluable help, the computer, giving rise to what has been called CAD
Computer Aided Design

On the other hand, the introduction of new technologies in the field of

industrial production in developed countries has experienced a pace of
increasingly higher growth in recent years. What started as
a semi-automatic technology for the numerical control of machines
has ended up giving rise to complex CAM systems (in English Computer
Computer-Aided Manufacturing.

Over time, these two disciplines have been blending.

gradually until achieving a technology that sums up both, in such a way
that CAD/CAM systems are considered, nowadays, as a discipline
unique identifiable.

Today it is indeed possible to have a mass-produced design object. In this

field, the company Apple, so well known in the world of design, is a
expert. It is one of the few companies that has managed to create products in
masses that have become true icons of design such as the iPod or the
macbook.

Design Day

World Design Day is celebrated on April 27 at the initiative of the Council

International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda) and the Organization
of the United Nations. This date coincides with the founding in London of the
mentioned advice in 1963. lcograda is the voluntary union of the
associations related to graphic design, design management, the
promotion of design and design education. In 1991, as an initiative of
this Council was established on the day of its founding as World Designer Day
Chart. Since 2012 it changed its name and is celebrated as World Day
of Communication Design.
Theory and methodology of design.
As Xavier Mariscal says about design, "inspiration is an insult;"
Behind my work, there is a program that you must adapt to." "In my studio
it is forbidden to say whether something is beautiful or not. Things in design
they work or they don't work, nothing more. Although their study stopped working at
Since the beginning of 2014, these words are still fully valid for everything.
design professional.

The methodological process of design aims to simulate debugging.

that traditional objects have had for centuries. In a work of
Within a maximum of months, the design studio must find an effective solution.
the problems that the new object or idea raises and must have been sought
all the ways to solve them.

Design is, therefore, a process, the first part of which is usually a commission.
A good design is the result of a good process + good execution of
object.

In general, we can talk about 5 phases in any design process, although its
nomenclature may vary according to authors:

1.- Definition of the problem and data collection.

2.- Evaluation and selection of ideas.
3.- Product and process development and engineering.
4.- Tests and evaluation.
5.- Implementation of the product or design.

For some creators, the brilliance of a good design lies in knowing

discover the problem and define it. Design is realizing that there is a thing
not solved, more than thinking about how to solve it. Then you just need to work
in that direction. For example: the idea that would need to be patented is not that of
the oil container that does not drip oil, but perceives the problem of the object
covered in oil and deciding to resolve it. The limitation of the problem is,
Well, a fundamental first step. In many cases, the problem is already present.
defined in the briefing provided by the client. Xavier Mariscal says that 'Behind
From a good design, there is a good client who has been able to create a good briefing.
The more restrictions you have, the better you can work.

In the phase, information will be obtained about the requirements that will be.
products or services offered according to needs and demands
of the customer and the market, identifying existing opportunities, the
technical possibilities and manufacturing requirements.

Once the problem is defined, a theoretical framework must be established in which

develop the investigations. Following the example we have set
Before, the oil mill, it is not the same to establish that the problem comes from a usage.
incorrect of the same or of a bad design. In the first case, we would focus on
our research on usability (a very trendy term now) and in
the second to find a design that does not leak or drip oil.
The research follows the premise that the more the topic is known
better. To collect data, one can refer to studies already conducted on the
subject, to the conduction of interviews and surveys, to meetings with experts in
the topic, reaching out to the R&D department staff, monitoring the competition,
etc.

Once the problem has been clearly defined and established, it is

it is necessary to collect preliminary ideas from which one can
to assimilate the concepts of design. This is probably the most creative part.
in the design process. The designer can let their imagination
freely consider any idea that comes to mind. These ideas should not
to evaluate themselves in terms of feasibility, since they are treated with hope for
that a positive attitude stimulates other associated ideas like a reaction in
chain. The most useful medium for the development of preliminary ideas is drawing.
hand raised. In communication, it is very common to use 'brainstorm'
(brainstorming in English), a meeting where creatives and
designers let their imagination soar around the product or message of the
client. Subsequently, all schemes, sketches, and notes are reviewed,
combine and refine in order to obtain several reasonable solutions to
problem. With this information, the design planning is carried out, it
select the target market and the resources needed for the launch
of the new product, as well as the identification of the legal requirements that
affect our product or service.

In the second phase (evaluation and selection of ideas), those are selected
ideas that present the greatest possibilities of success. This process of
evaluation involves an analysis of economic, technical, and commercial feasibility
of the product.

Once approved, the project moves to product engineering and of

process. In this third phase, most of the activities are carried out.
detailed design and product development, as well as processes
necessary inputs for manufacturing and subsequent market launch.

Includes a design implementation phase, design review, verification and

design validation.

In many cases, in parallel or simultaneously, the fourth phase begins.

(tests and evaluation), in which the tests and evaluation are carried out
corresponding to the designs resulting from the third phase, for which
proceed to printing tests or to the manufacture of prototypes and to the
simulation of the manufacturing process, trying to detect possible
deficiencies in both the new product and its manufacturing process.

Finally, if the evaluation carried out in the previous phase is favorable, the
The product moves to the fifth phase where manufacturing or printing begins.
on a large scale; the launch of the new product takes place.

It is advisable to generate records for each of the phases of the design and
product or service development.
The designer must possess a visual language, a knowledge of the process of the
communication and visual perception. It must also have a correct
resource management by being able to apply them.

Systems and methods.

No design method is, by itself, a unique and universal recipe. Without

embargo, in one way or another all methods have things in common and a
logical correlation.

HANS GUGELOT. Developed a design method in 1963 for the School of

Ulm Design (Germany):

1. Presentation of the problem

2. Analysis of the current state
3. Definition of the problem and the goals
4. Creation of alternatives
5. Evaluation and selection
6. Production planning

BRUCE ARCHER (Systemic Method For Designers) This industrial designer

established 3 phases in the design:

1. Analytical Phase: Data collection. Ordering. Evaluation.

Definition of conditioning factors. Structuring and hierarchization.
2. Creative Phase: Formulation of the guiding idea; Taking a stance;
Formalization of the idea; Verification.
Critical assessment; Adjustment of the idea; Development;
Materialization.

JORGE FRASCARA, emeritus professor at the University of Alberta (Canada)

try to summarize the most common steps:

1. Commissioning of the work by the client (first definition of the problem)

2. Collection of information about the client, product, competition,
public.
3. Analysis. Interpretation and organization of information (second
definition of the problem
4. Determination of objectives:
a. Determination of the channel
b. Study of scope, context, and message
c. Analysis of priorities and hierarchies
5. Specifications for visualization (third definition of the problem)
6. Development of the preliminary project

7. Presentation to the client

8. Organization of production
9.Implementation
10. Verification
BRUNO MUNARI (industrial/graphic designer) proposed a design method
based on problem solving:

1- Problem.
2- Definition of the problem.
3- Definition and recognition of subproblems.
4- Data collection.
5- Data analysis.
6- Creativity.
7- Materials-Technology.
8- Experimentation.
9- Models.
1O-Verification.
11-Constructive drawings.
12-Solution.

Ultimately, the methods can help us organize the design process,

but we will need to work on the problem methodically to achieve
an effective design, that is, adapted to the parameters set at the beginning of
project.

Design, ideology, and industrial society.

Design is closely related to our culture. Design has
converted into the paradigm of well-being and quality of life, whose ideas are
they are based on consumerism as an end, luxury as a status symbol, and the idea
ecological as awareness of shared responsibility. Society is
stimulates through innovation and creativity that enable the
introduction to the world of objects and new ideas by man.

As we have already seen, the concept of design arises from the need to define
the functional and aesthetic aspects of an object for its subsequent elaboration.
As Selle states in his work "Contribution to the Theory of Design"
the design not only includes the composition of certain
goods for use or series of products in the field of consumption and of the
investment assets, but also, the planning and arrangement of systems
wider, of the facilities and the spaces of the medium material(...) even
Fashion and advertising today use the term design.

The term design is inevitably linked to aesthetic concepts and

cultural aspects of the time in which it is interpreted, and substantially
conditioned by the technological achievements of those stages, inasmuch as, in their
industrial equipment, these participate in the process with unquestionable importance.

In design, disciplines as different as technique and economics come together.

and sociology, at the same time as studies on physiology intervene,
medicine, functions and information about the science and evolution of the
products, and also importantly the aesthetics. It is important to value the
special way those design factors that are not usually considered as
general norm, what are the sociological and psychological premises, hardly
describable with accuracy, but that determine both the components and
the trends that condition design objects. These, without a doubt,
They are brought about by the characteristics of the society in which they arise.
in a special way in this section it would be necessary to distinguish between those ideas
adapted to the dominant social, cultural, political, and philosophical norms.
of those who are born to create new norms.

The design culture is immersed within the material culture of a

economy of accumulation typical of industrialized countries, where the
designer finds a vast field of work that ranges from projection of
machinery up to the creation of beautiful interior decoration and functional objects
personal. And all of this is possible thanks to technology. Computers and
the new materials have caused production to become more
cheap, effective, and easy to control.

In our society, basic needs are widely met.

Other more hedonistic needs are emerging and require new
designs to stand out from the rest. designer cars, designer houses,
design furniture, etc. have become an additional value when it comes to
make the purchase. Communication also needs new forms of
differentiating in an increasingly saturated world of messages, creativity,
Color and design are basic elements to convey messages to
consumer or user.

In short, design comes to define the complex organized process that

understands the industrial, organizational, and figurative development of products
until its final finish, although, for the user or consumer, it only means
something finished, its final presentation.

The areas of design.

It can be considered that the areas of action of design are, basically,
three: the space, where disciplines such as urban planning, architecture would fit in
and interior decoration; the objects, whose development is based on the
applications considered within the known field of industrial design, where
we find activities such as engineering in all its sections, design
textiles and fashion, etc.; and the messages, within which we would place everything
related to visual communication and especially the concept known
like graphic design.

Taking these three elements as a basis, we can clearly distinguish three

areas in design: graphic design, industrial design and design
architectural and urban planning.

Graphic design

The way of expressing oneself by communicating messages in writing,

generally on paper, cardboard or similar materials support, using
forms, words, and printed images, is the field of action of what
we call graphic design. It is one of the forms of visual communication
of major relevance today, as its applications are very
diversified, among which the following can be highlighted, fundamentally, the
posters, books, newspapers and magazines, and wrappers and packaging.

The graphic designer distributes the signs in the format according to criteria
previously, with the intention of achieving a certain effect, and where the presence
the aesthetics and functionality of the elements must combine for an effect
correct visual. In this aspect, proper use is essential both
of color, as well as of typography, and of the other graphic elements
available.

The message must be what everything revolves around and is organized around, a
composition of signs, colors, lines, textures, etc., that favor their
attraction and subsequent reading. The proposals will turn the product into
design is a success when its integration is effective in this respect.

Graphic design develops with the advent of the industrial revolution,

although its origins can be found in the invention of the printing press.
The techniques and methods of printing that emerged mainly from the 19th century onwards
they grant special interest to printed works in their different applications,
being considered today's graphic designer as a great connoisseur of
graphic and photomechanical techniques.

Industrial design

A good definition of industrial design is the one given to us by Martin Kelm: "By
industrial design must be understood as (...) a process of aesthetic formation that,
in collaboration with science, technology, engineering, and other disciplines, one
integrates into the preparation and development of the products, and leads to the
optimization of usage values according to certain aesthetic-cultural demands
of our society, and according to the technical-economic conditions of the
industrial production

As we see, industrial design refers to the production and manufacturing of

objects by typical procedures of the technological and industrialized era. Their
projects must be implemented fundamentally by the
tools that it has generated. It includes not only objects originated
not only because of new needs and advances in technology, but also others that
Previously, they were being made artisanally.

This production involves exhaustive planning that takes into account not
not only the way the object is to be acquired, but also its characteristics
the materials and that it is suited to the manufacturing processes in which it is
employs machines that make the product consider as a
element 'serial' and 'standardized'. These attributes turn said product
in competitive by reducing the costs of its production while it
they distinguish between artistic and artisanal products.

Architectural and urban design

Architectural design fundamentally deals with the rationalization of
the constructions and their applications, creating livable spaces at the same time
time that is responsible for the organization of functional structures within
the same.

Although it cannot be said that it corresponds exactly to the same

concept, yes they can be considered within what would be their scope of
application the activities integrated within the 'interior design', where
we would primarily find decoration, furniture design, etc.

Urban design has to do with the relationship between the person and their environment.
closer, regardless of the one that occurs, in a more
intimate, in their home. This concerns the neighborhood development project and
cities, from the implementation of urban plans, as well as from the
global conception of spaces and complexes that are related to them.
It assesses the arrangement of the houses on the available land, the
layout of the streets, the location of green areas and everything that has to
see with citizen services such as sewage, the conduits of
the light and gas, etc. and what has recently come to be called
urban sustainability, which plans designs according to criteria
ecological and sustainability.

5 Professional activity.
Throughout the century, design has been specializing in various fields. A
As schools and universities create new specialties, the
various fields of design are consolidating as individual disciplines that, when
at the same time, they include families of others. We can differentiate a series of
fields such as:

Graphic Design: editorial, poster, advertising, illustration, typography,

visual and corporate identity, signage, printing...
- Product Design: packaging or packaging, common use objects...
- Industrial Design: furniture, automobile, household items, footwear, glass,
ceramics...
Textile Design: dyeing, trimmings, printing.
Fashion: pattern making, cutting and sewing, haute couture, ready-to-wear.
Interior design: stores, staging, home decoration, management
artistic in audiovisual media
- Jewelry and pottery.
Multimedia Design: interactive applications, authoring, web pages,
digital video, animations...
Urban design.

As Bruno Munari stated, the designer "is a gifted project creator

aesthetic sense". It is on him and his work that the final success depends.
product and, in line with this, when it comes to a consumer good,
it also depends on the increase in sales of it.
Traditionally, it was the artisan who created and reproduced that.
essential for every need. When society demanded something in
In particular, it was the artists who collaborated in the creation of objects.
different from the ordinary that meet the needs. The incorporation
definitive of the artists and architects of high level in the field of design, in
collaboration with the technicians themselves ensured that, in addition to
Functional, the crafted objects could be beautiful.

The designer, as it is conceived today, is an artist of our

time. With her work, she aims to create in the same way that she does the
nature, helping the object to shape itself, and collaborating with the
application of new techniques and materials in a sort of theory of the
applied evolution. There is no problem in the relationship of the design
with art, appreciating the dichotomy between pure art and applied art; the
A designer is a creator with artistic knowledge, but also a scholar.
from many other disciplines. In short, the design professional must have
a complete interdisciplinary training to meet expectations of
the customers and also need to know the characteristics of the products and
materials involved in the process.

Today's designers collaborate or integrate into teams from different sectors

like cinema (animators), television (graphic designers), architecture (interior design,
furniture), museums, industrial sector (product design), etc. Its field of
performance is related to industry, commerce, and all activities
cultural, their profile and education may have technical orientation in engineering
of industrial or construction processes (interior architecture), or
to be related to the humanities disciplines in the fields of action
audiovisual communication, graphic arts, advertising, marketing
"Marketing" or the management of products, their design or its
containers (packaging) packaging, labels, and containers. they must also
working side by side with other professionals such as engineers, technicians,
psychologists, sociologists, economists, etc. which makes it necessary a
open attitude and a constant need for learning.

6 Bibliography.
Selle, Gert. "Ideology and Utopia of Design. Contribution to the Theory of
industrial design", Barcelona, Ed. Gustavo Gili, 1975.

Jesús Solanas

Wong, Wucius. 'Fundamentals of Design'. Barcelona, Ed. Gustavo Gili,

1995

Graphic Arts Manual

Drawing Volume I: Perception, Form, Color, and Design

Seville, ed. MAD, 2012