Homework: Designer Statements

For homework due by the start of class on 11/19, review the 6-part series by Vadim Gershman, in which he asks different designers to respond to the question “What is a Designer Statement?”:

“What is a Designer Statement?: Reinfurt, Goggin, Dixon”

“What is a Designer Statement? (Part 2): Krishnamurthy, Ibarra, Pesko, Heller, Experimental Jetset”

“What is a Designer Statement? (Part 3): Ponik, Lupton, Eatock, Nelson, Yegir”

“What is a Designer Statement? (Part 4): Sulki and Min, Stewdio, Brandt, Olson, Catalogtree”

“What is a Designer Statement? (Part 5): Lehni, Geisler, Killian, Cezzar, Malinoski”

“What is a Designer Statement? (Part 6): Canniffe, Bierut, Smith, Rezac, Baker”

Choose one of the designers to report on, and write a comment in which you

  • identify the designer
  • summarize their answer
  • explain what stands out to you as something you want to consider in your own designer statement
  • –or something you disagree with,
  • –or something in between
  • try to identify what makes up a designer statement, who it’s for, what it should do, who reads it, and anything else we should understand about the format
  • consider what your next steps are to learn more about designer statements
  • and what your next steps are to understand other possible formats for your Ways of Seeing statement, which will accompany your collection:
          • mission statement
          • vision statement
          • artist statement
          • designer statement
          • manifesto

We will compile a list together of what makes up each of these types of  statements, based on your reporting here and in our upcoming work on the annotated bibliography

Be sure to make the designer’s name visible at the start of your comment, so that everyone can choose a different designer. Also, check the comments here before you get started so you don’t duplicate someone else’s choice!

Start looking into the other formats as well–we will begin our annotated bibliography together in class on Tuesday.

3 thoughts on “Homework: Designer Statements”

  1. Designer: Scott Ponik (Part 3)

    Scott Poik views an artist statement, as a short and catchy word/tune used in advertising to make something stand out more, therefore, making it more memorable. Ponik uses examples such as “Band-Aid” to convey his argument. An artist’s statement should be the explanation behind any given work. The problem with asking for an artist statement is the way the question is often phrased. Something that stood out to me is when Scott Ponik said, “We typically have no problem talking about the reason behind any given project, but when posed the simple question, ‘what is your work about?’ it’s practically crippling”; This stood out to me because I agree with his statement. I feel like when any question is asked to an artist, it should be more open and challenging which will require the artist to elaborate more on his or her work. In order for me to have a better understanding of artist statements, I should look at other examples of artist statements from experienced, professional artists in the field.

  2. Ryan G Nelson- Part 3

    Ryan G nelson says that there is a designer statement and he believes that crafting one is an important part in being a serious designer. He says the design statement is something that’s different for every designer and can change the more you grow and continue learning new things. For his statement, there are some questions he used to shape his statement such as “What current ideas/influences/references are important to me as a designer?”, “What factors shape my methodology?”, and “What principles guide and shape my practice?”.

  3. Bernard Canniffe (Part 6)
    Gersham states in part 6 that as designers we must pay attention to details while also looking at the bigger picture. He gives an example of this by describing the school system and how it should not increase its tuition prices. He also states that the schools should have curriculums based on analysis and discourse. He believes this will help with design thinking

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