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 post by the end of the day on Sunday, February 5, and categorize it as Response.

Note: I will send an invitation to a Hypothes.is group in the coming days. If you are familiar with its functionality, or would like to try it out, please do so. It is not required for this week.

And please let me know if you have any questions or issues. You can comment on this post, create a new discussion post, or email me: mlange@citytech.cuny.edu