Introduction: Writing Design

Abstract

OAR plastic chair has an iconic status but also highlights how "...text is used in design criticism, design history and design practice..." (1). Cultural historian Marius Kwia notes that objects are records and yet silent, unlike texts, and so design is also hard to fully represent with words, and so the methodology of writing design must be explored further (3). For Lees-Maffei, then, writing design means: 1. design and language conjunction (writing + design), where design is both process and product (4). 2. "...by writing about design we bring it into being." and often do so after it's already done (4). Think also of how this happens with words themselves - such as Richard Dawkins reflecting that the term 'meme' is, in itself, a good meme. 3. finding out about design by reading the texts about it equates to "alternative narratives" (5). Reading and writing are active processes of meaning and learning (6). Graphic design has paid much attention to text but "...writing has both pragmatic and poetic roles in design practice..." (7). Architects can have words and drawings = a building, so language is indeed critical. At the same time, however, design itself can move beyond words, because "...design itself is eloquent and communicates narrative." (8). So there are the "...related processes we all take for granted: writing about design, learning about design through writing, and designing through writing." (10). So, as Lees-Maffei notes, every designer must reflect on their use of language in a design, describing or analysing it, much like her book is "...a set of mediations between the words and design practices and products, it forms a tool with which to think, and argue" (10).