Simplicity

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SIMPLICITY

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the quality or condition of being easy to un-derstand or do : for the sake of simplicity, this chapter will concentrate on one theory.• the quality or condition of being plain or natural : the grandeur and simplicity of Roman architecture.• a thing that is plain, natural, or easy to un-derstand : the simplicities of pastoral living.

SIMPLICITY

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All texts highlighted with the “ “, are notes while reading from the following books. There’s no special sequence for each page.

Dorst, Kees. Understanding Design. Corte Madera, CA: Gingko Press, Inc, 2006. Print.

Lawson, Bryan. How Designer think. London : The Architectural Press, 198o. 33. Print.

Koberg, Don and Bagnall, Jim. “The revised all new universal traveler.” Los Altos, California: Crisp Publications, Inc, 1974. Print.

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Design can be art. Design can be aesthet-ics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so com-plicated.

- Paul Rand 1997

Simple:1 easily understood or done; presenting no dif-ficulty : a simple solution | camcorders are now so simple to operate.• plain, basic, or un-complicated in form, nature, or design; with-out much decoration or ornamentation : a simple white blouse | the house is furnished in a simple

country style.• [ attrib. ] used to em-phasize the fundamental and straightforward nature of something : the simple truth.2 composed of a single element; not compound.• Mathematics denot-ing a group that has no proper normal sub-group.

• Botany (of a leaf or stem) not divided or branched.• (of a lens, microscope, etc.) consisting of a sin-gle lens or component.• (in English grammar) denoting a tense formed without an auxiliary, e.g., sang as opposed to was singing.• (of interest) payable

on the sum loaned only. Compare with com-pound 1 .3 of or characteristic of low rank or status; humble and unpreten-tious : a simple Buddhist monk.4 of low or abnormally low intelligence.

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The critical features of design here are that problems can seldom be comprehensively formu-lated and that solutions cannot be logically de-rived from them. Most design problems are simply too complex for the designer to hold all the factor and variables in his mind at once, so the real difficulties are: where to begin and then how to proceed.

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Since design problems defy comprehensive de-scription and offer an inexhaustible number of solutions the design process cannot have finite and identifiable end. The designer’s job is never really done, and he can always try to do better.

Identifiable:1 (often be identified) establish or indicate who or what (someone or something) is.• recognize or distin-guish (esp. something considered worthy of attention) : a system that ensures that the student’s real needs are identified.

2 ( identify someone/something with) associ-ate (someone) closely with; regard (someone) as having strong links with : he was equivocal about being identified too closely with the peace

movement.• equate (someone or something) with : because of my upstate ac-cent, people identified me with a homely farmer’s wife.• [ intrans. ] ( identify

with) regard oneself as sharing the same char-acteristics or thinking as someone else : I liked Fromm and identified with him.

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A rough idea is quickly developed for the most significant elements of the solution which can then be checked by more precise methods and adjusted as neces-sary.

Rough:1 having an uneven or irregular surface; not smooth or level. 2 (of a person or their behavior) not gentle; violent or boisterous. 3 not finished tidily or decoratively; plain and basic. adverb informal

in a manner that lacks gentleness; harshly or violently. noun1 chiefly Brit. a disrepu-table and violent person.2 (on a golf course) longer grass around the fairway and the green : his second shot was in the rough on the left.

3 a preliminary sketch for a design : I did a rough to work out the scale of the lettering.4 an uncut precious stone.verb [ trans. ]1 work or shape (some-thing) in a rough, pre-liminary fashion.• ( rough something out) produce a preliminary

and unfinished sketch or version of something.• make uneven or ruf-fled .2 ( rough it) live in dis-comfort with only basic necessities : she had had to rough it alone in a dive.

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Even such tools as the so-called “creativity techniques” such as Brainstorming cannot themselves directly as-sist with form generation but really only provide a mental atmosphere con-ducive to the free flow of ideas.

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For Rand the graphic designer’s central task is to find the essential meaning in his materials and then to abstract and symbolize.

Symbolize:be a symbol of : the cer-emonial dagger symbol-izes justice.• represent by means of symbols : a tendency to symbolize the father as the sun.

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Situations that present problem-solving activ-ity do not always arrive per-digested and clearly presented for easy man-agement.

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Attributes are what we call the different catego-ries into which the physi-cal, psychological and social characteristics of things can be placed.

Place:1 [ trans. ] put in a particular position : a newspaper had been placed beside my plate.• cause to be in a par-ticular situation.• used to express the attitude someone has toward someone or something.

• ( be placed) used to indicate the degree of advantage or conveni-ence enjoyed by some-one or something as a result of their position or circumstances.2 [ trans. ] find a home or employment for.• dispose of (something, esp. shares) by selling to

a customer.• arrange for the recog-nition and implementa-tion of (an order, bet, etc.) • order or obtain a connection for (a tel-ephone call) through an operator.3 [ trans. ] identify or classify as being of a specified type or as

holding a specified posi-tion in a sequence or hierarchy.• [ trans. ] [usu. with negative ] remember where one has seen or how one comes to recognize (someone or something) : she even-tually said she couldn’t place him.

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In a simple Chart of re-lationship, all of the at-tributes or components of a problem can be rated according to their degree of dependence upon or independence from one another. By comparing them, one at a time, against each other we can also deter-

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mine their degree of de-pendence or independ-ence within the group as a whole. In this way the key or essential elements can be determined.

Relationship:the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected : the study will assess the relationship between un-employment and politi-cal attitudes.• the state of being

connected by blood or marriage : they can trace their relationship to a common ancestor.• the way in which two or more people or organizations regard and behave toward each other : the landlord–ten-ant relationship | she was proud of her good rela-

tionship with the house-hold staff.• an emotional and sex-ual association between two people : she has a daughter from a previous relationship.

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When attempting to generate options don’t worry about having too many. You can deal with them later in the deci-sion stage. Instead, fo-cus your attention on widening the array of choices.

Attempt:verb [ trans. ]make an effort to achieve or complete (something, typically a difficult task or action) : she attempted a come-back in 1989 | [with infinitive ] those who attempted to flee were captured at the border.• try to climb to the top of (a mountain) : the

group’s next plan was to attempt Everest.• archaic try to take (a life) : he would not have attempted the life of a friend.

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BRAINSTORMING is the universal idea-generat-ing method. (It may also be found useful in all stages of the process. ) Generating alternatives is it’s basic function. With it any individual or group of two to twelve persons can quickly manufacture scores of ideas for any problem situation in very short periods of time.

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It makes no difference where ideas come from; it’s what we do with them that matters. We don’t have to justify our ideas but only our action and its consequences if we decide to follow one or more of them.

Follow:1 go or come after (a person or thing pro-ceeding ahead); move or travel behind. 2 come after in time or order. 3 act according to (an instruction or precept). 4 pay close attention to (something).

5 practice (a trade or profession).

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To evaluate is to meas-ure how far we’ve gone and how well or how rich the travel experience has been. The “complete eval-uator ” measures both quantity and quality. The sum of the two represents the total “value” or what the journey is worth. If we didn’t clearly state where it was that we instead to go in the first place it will be hard to measure how far we’ve gone.

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To complicate things fur-ther, there are always aspects of the problem that will only emerge during the solution pro-cess. So a problem can-not even be comprehen-sively stated before you set out to solve it.

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Many design problem cannot be solved within the context in which they have arisen. And if they actually cannot be solved at all, they have to be re-solved. They way design-ers deal with the para-doxes and conflicts in a design situation is con-sidered to be rather spe-cial, and a core quality of good design.

Resolve:1 [ trans. ] settle or find a solution to (a problem, dispute, or contentious matter). 2 [ intrans. ] decide firmly on a course of action. 3 chiefly Chemistry separate or cause to be separated into compo-nents.

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A design is made up of many of these chains of decisions, which are in-terconnected. Together these chains make up a very complicated net-work of interconnected decisions ( or, not to put too fine a point on it- a giant knot).

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Each of these stake-holders come with view-points, knowledge and values from their own world. In designing, you are making decisions in which all these dif-ferent worlds must be combined. The process of combining different worlds is called integra-tion.

Combine:unite; merge : the band combines a variety of musical influences. a group of people or companies acting to-gether for a commercial purpose : a powerful industrial combine.

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However, there is much to be gained by striving for integration: a well in-tegrated design is sim-ple, elegant and gives the feeling that “every-thing has been taken into consideration, and is as it should be”.

Elegant:adjectivepleasingly graceful and stylish in appearance or manner : she will look elegant in black | an elegant, comfortable house.• (of a scientific theory or solution to a prob-lem) pleasingly ingen-

ious and simple : the grand unified theory is compact and elegant in mathematical terms.

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After the design project, the document task be-comes very difficult-de-signs are tangled webs of decisions which are so closely dependent on on another that is impos-sible to find logical point to begin the explanation of the how and why. And the resolution of a design problem makes it hard to imagine that certain things were problematic at one time.

Logical:of or according to the rules of logic or formal argument.• characterized by clear, sound reasoning.• (of an action, devel-opment, decision, etc.) natural or sensible given the circumstances .• capable of clear ration-al thinking .

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It doesn’t seem like they first have to learn an al-ien, fundamentally dif-ferent thought process. Apparently there is a certain level of design that can be approached by common sense.

Common:1 occurring, found, or done often; prevalent : salt and pepper are the two most common seasonings | it’s com-mon for a woman to be depressed after giving birth. See notes at preva-lent, universal .• (of an animal or plant)

found or living in rela-tively large numbers; not rare.• ordinary; of ordinary qualities; without special rank or position.• (of a quality) of a sort or level to be generally expected .• of the most familiar type : the common or

vernacular name.• denoting the most widespread or typical species of an animal or plant.2 showing a lack of taste and refinement; vulgar.3 shared by, coming from, or done by more than one .• belonging to, open to,

or affecting the whole of a community or the public.• Mathematics belong-ing to two or more quantities.

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The consensus among good designer is that the best practice is to slowly work your way from the very general level of an assignment to concrete level of the end design.

Consensus:noun [usu. in sing. ]general agreement : a consensus of opinion among judges | [as adj. ] a consensus view.

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If you would stick close-ly to the reality of design practice, and manage to describe design in all its complexity, you would end up being swamped in detail. You would be unable to get any kind of overview at all, let alone develop helpful advice for designers.

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Design is such a diverse profession that it be-comes very much like life. You use everything you have to solve a design problem: all your knowl-edge and personal ex-periences, your creativ-ity, and your powers of thought. It engulfs you completely.

Engulf:(of a natural force) sweep over (something) so as to surround or cover it completely : the cafe was engulfed in flames | figurative Europe might be engulfed by war.• eat or swallow (some-thing) whole.

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To students, those meth-ods are just complicated solutions to problems they have never encoun-tered. And if you force students to work ac-cording to a method, the absurdity of the heavy-handed model will pitch them against design theory forever. However, if you take the alterna-tive route and introduce

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design methods at the end of their studies when they start to really need them , the students will have developed all kinds of unfortunate de-sign habits that they then have to unlearn.

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That is where their core quality lies: single ideas are seldom groundbreak-ing original, it is through the combination and in-tegration of ideas that one develops inimitable design of great complex-ity and enduring quality. Those designs might be deceptively simple, but

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this simplicity hides a mountain of ideas and decisions that make the design rich and sophisti-cated in its appeal.

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The ability to integrate is based on a very complex kind of implicit know-how that can only be picked up by doing projects and being tutored. Only a tu-tor that is involved in the project can explain whether the way you are approaching a particu-lar problem is promising, or propose that you try a different route.

Particular:1 [ attrib. ] used to single out an individual mem-ber of a specified group or class .2 [ attrib. ] esp. great or intense .3 insisting that some-thing should be correct or suitable in every detail; fastidious

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There is often also some paradox involved in the problem or situation that forces the creative per-son to search for a new way toward a solution. Their new way is then constructed by combin-ing different ways of thinking. This can lead to a whole new field of dis-covery to be explore en-ergetically.

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They discern six forms of intelligence: linguis-tic, logical/mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily/kin-aesthetic and per-sonal…This would mean that design is a broad, all encompassing activity that doesn’t require ex-treme intelligence. This is a bit different from many other professions, which

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clearly use only one in-telligence, or perhaps, a combination of two.

Only:1 and no one or noth-ing more besides; solely or exclusively : there are only a limited number of tickets available | only their faith sustained them.• no more than (im-plying that more was hoped for or expected); merely : deaths from

heart disease have only declined by 10 percent | she was still only in her mid-thirties.• no longer ago than : genes that were discov-ered only last year.• not until : a final report reached him only on January 15.2 [with infinitive ] with the negative or unfor-

tunate result that : she turned into the parking car, only to find her way blocked.• [with modal ] inevi-tably, although unfor-tunate or undesirable : if banks canceled the debts, these countries would only borrow more | rebellion will only bring more unhap-

piness.adjective [ attrib. ]alone of its or their kind; single or solitary : the only medal we had ever won | he was an only child.• alone deserving con-sideration : it’s simply the only place to be seen these days.

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