Our first reading assignment consists of a couple short texts. Each can be found at the links below. Your response should be 3-4 paragraphs, which can be typed directly into a post or handwritten in a notebook. If you decide to hand-write please just snap a picture and post that image into a new post.

Here are the readings:
Helen Armstrong, “Introduction: Revisiting the Avant-Garde” from Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field (2009):

ArmstrongIntroDownload

Bruno Munari, selected chapters from Design as Art (1966):

Munari_DesignAsArtDownload

Here are some questions to which you might respond:
According to these authors, what role should design play in our lives and culture? What distinguishes the field, or fields, of design from other types of creativity? Why should designers concern themselves with unsolvable theoretical questions? What are the most urgent problems facing designers today? How, and why, is a designer responsible for solving these problems?

Please complete your response before class on the 9th, and categorize it as Response.

And please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or issues. You can send a message through OpenLab or email me: mlange@citytech.cuny.edu