UCLA Department of Design | Media Arts Desma 10 | Design Culture - an Introduction Professor Erkki Huhtamo T.A.s Andrea Boeck, Ted Diehl, Andrew Kao, Alexandra Loew, Aaron Siegel Fall Quarter 2007 Syllabus: Design Culture - an Introduction DESCRIPTION Design is a powerful force in contemporary culture and society. It surrounds us whatever we do, wherever we go. It has an impact on us, whether we are aware of it or not. It is not easy to provide a definition for all the things the word ‘‘design’’ is supposed to denote. In fact, it is becoming increasingly difficult to say where design ends and phenomena like art, architecture and popular media begin. One thing is certain: design is not just about creating ‘‘cool’’ looking things; it is about much more. Among other things, it is an ideology that affects our ways of seeing the world. It is also a form of communication - by creating or using certain designs we send messages about ourselves to others. Desma 10 provides a broad overview of the phenomena that make up design culture. It demonstrates that design does not only mean the "high design" of famous star designers and design companies. The most efficient design is often invisible - devices like door knobs and traffic lights help us without drawing attention to themselves as design(ed) objects. To understand design culture we must pay attention to invisible things as well. We also have to explain the motives that guide their planning, their marketing, their reception and their uses. The lectures will discuss the main movements and trends of design as a cultural and social phenomenon. Particular emphasis will be given to the interconnections between design and technology. The relationship between design and art will also be explored in various contexts from the Victorian era and early 20th century modernism to the 1960s pop culture and Postmodernism. A rich array of demonstration material ranging from classical industrial design to recent postmodern design trends will be presented. CLASS SCHEDULE Meeting 1 (Sep. 28) What is and What Isn’t Design? Keywords: / Definitions of design and culture / Design, nature, culture / Design and cultural difference / Design and sustainable development / Visible and invisible design Meeting 2 (Oct.5) Design Culture -- BasicsKeywords: High and Low Design / Design and Art / Etymology of the word ‘‘design’’ /The Beginnings of Design Culture Reading: John Heskett: ‘‘What is Design?’’, from Heskett: Toothpicks and Logos. Design in Everyday Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, pp.1-11; AND Victor Papanek: ‘‘What is Design? A Definition of the Function Complex’’, from Papanek: Design for the Real World, Chicago: Academy Chicago Publishers, 2000 [1985], pp. 3-27. Meeting 3 (Oct.12) SPECIAL SESSION: The Great UCLA Design Game Reading: Terence Hawkes: ‘‘A Science of Signs’’, from Hawkes: Structuralism & Semiotics, London: Methuen, 1977, 123-135. Meeting 4 (Oct.19) Design, Society, Work Keywords: The tension between function and ornament / the impact of mass production / Designer and engineer / Designing the workplace / Design and power / Invisible design/ Streamlining Reading: Jeffrey K. Meikle: ‘‘A Consumer Society and its Discontents’’, from Meikle: Twentieth Century Limited. Industrial Design in America, 1925-1939. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992, pp.7-18; AND Ellen Lupton: "Office Politics", from Lupton: Mechanical Brides. Women and Machines from Home to Office. Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design /Smithsonian Institution and Princeton Architectural Press, 1993, pp. 42-57. Meeting 5 (Oct.26) Design for Public Spaces Keywords: The Dream of Total Design / Art Nouveau / Konstructivism: design as political spectacle / Skyscrapers / World’s Fairs / Exhibition design Reading: Ralph Caplan: ‘‘The Design of Possibilities’’, from Caplan: By Design, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1982, pp.135-182. Meeting 6 (Nov.2) Design, Consumers and Corporations Keywords: Designing and marketing consumer goods / ‘‘built-in obsolescence’’ / corporate design and branding. Reading: Maud Lavin: ‘‘U.S. Design in the Service of Commerce -- and Alternatives” , from Lavin: Clean New World. Culture, Politics, and Graphic Design. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 2001. pp.70-89. (MIDTERM PROJECTS TO BE HANDED IN NOV 2) Meeting 7 (Nov.9) Alternative Design Movements Keywords: Design and pop culture / Underground and psychedelia / Punk, Situationism / Design as weapon / Sustainable design Reading: Jonathan M. Woodham: ‘‘Pop to Post-Modernism: Changing Values’’, from Woodham: Twentieth-Century Design, Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, 182-203 (Oxford History of Art). (MIDTERM PROJECTS WILL BE RETURNED NOV9)Meeting 8 (Nov.16) SPECIAL SESSION: A Peek at the Design Process. Reading: Toni-Matti Karjalainen: “ Definitely Yours -- Nokia Case’’, from Karjalainen: Semantic Transformation in Design, Helsinki: University of Art and Design, 2004 (Ilmari Design Publications, UIAH publication series A 48), pp. 148-179. ------- Nov. 23 Thanksgiving Holiday, No Meeting! ---------------- Meeting 9 (Nov.30) Design in the Postmodern Era I Keywords: Keywords: / Design and art -- blurred boundaries / Designer as ‘‘Superstar’’/ Emotional Design / Design within media culture Reading: Donald A. Norman: Emotional Design, New York: Basic Books, 2004. Excerpt, pp. 62-98. Meeting 10 (Dec.7) Design in the Postmodern Era II Proliferation of (de)sign / Interface design / Wearables, mobile interfaces / Design, surface, skin. Reading: Ellen Lupton: ‘‘Skin New Design Organics’’, from Lupton: Skin. Surface Substance + Design, New York: Princeton Architectural Press and Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Smithsonian Institution, 2002, pp.28-41. (FINAL PROJECTS TO BE HANDED IN DEC.7 !) FINALS WEEK: No Meeting! GRADING AND ASSIGNMENTS There will be a midterm assignment and a final assignment. The midterm is a homework to be realized individually. The final assignment will be a creative groupwork (4-5 people in a group). The exact topics will be announced later. There will be three quizzes based on the previous week’s lecture and the assigned readings. Missing one (1) of the quizzes will not affect the grade. There will also be a Special Session, ‘‘The Great UCLA Design Game’’. The grading consists of the midterm assignment (30 %), the