Our first reading assignment consists of a couple short texts. Please download them using the links below, (print if possible,) read, and respond. Your response should be 3-4 paragraphs, which can be typed directly into a post or handwritten in your research notebook. If you decide to hand-write please just post an 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 the questions to which you should respond:
According to these authors, what role should design play in our society? What distinguishes the field, or fields, of design from other creative occupations? Why should designers concern themselves with unsolvable theoretical questions? What role does technology play in shaping design? What are the most urgent problems facing designers today? How, and why, is a designer responsible for solving these problems?

Please post your responses before class on the 14th. 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