Last night’s Hugh Dubberly lecuter @ MassArt was fascintating, inspirational, and a bit exhausting.

Entitled: “Design in the Age of Biology”, Hugh covers his thesis that explains how the ideas and principles of design have moved from mechanical to organic, and object to system. Many points (and charts) show how the trends of technology movements influence designers and the products they make.

In terms of technology, the Open Source software movement is one example of his theory. The old dev model was to have software be proprietary, with big conglomerates holding all the cards. The new dev model, that is proven to work, is to allow software to be developed by an unlimited community of developers. This creates faster more efficient development, as it uses the “from the ground-up” model instead of “from the top-down”. In short, let the users design the software, for free.

The second point that seemed to stick out in my mind was the “then and now” of the designers role. There is a transition going on now for designers. Graphic designers especially, seem to be in the thick of it. Before graphic designers, there were printers who set type. Then graphic design became what it is/was in the 20th century, a slew of  “Lone-Gunman” designers, who (are expected to) hold all the cards for the client. Now, a transition is happening again. The days of the “Lone-Gunman” are over. Designers can produce a stronger, more efficient product for their client if collaboration is encouraged and implemented.

Clients expect the designer to be at maximum efficiency. The internet, social media, and the speed of information access set the standards for designers to operate in.

“In the first part of the 20th century, there were great circus posters in Poland. Go to Poland, and see. But now, designing the poster is just not enough. Designers are expected to design an entire circus. Oh yea, and a poster to advertise the show.”
-Nathan Felde, Chair of the AIB Design Department, Boston.

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