Armstrong, Helen. “Introduction: Revisiting the Avant-Garde” Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Field, Princeton Architectural Press, 2009. Pages 9-15.

  • According to this author, what role should design play in 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?

The role of design in society should be to do something about the problems that arise in society through designs.

Avant-Garde designs were different from postmodernism because avant-garde was all about being anonymous and not being known for individuality or anything personal. It was about just the design without getting closer to the designer. There was only objectivity. However, postmodernism is all about being more open and personal with the designer and it invites communication instead of rejecting it. It focuses back on subjectivity.

Designers should be concerned with unsolvable theoretical questions because it would help them to create their own designs when they investigate past designs because past designs also have more than one purpose than just to look at which is to use them as a resource.

Technology’s role is to unify not only the graphic designer’s projects in one device but to also connect all the designers together. Its role is to also communicate with the audience in an easier way all over the world no matter what cultures people come from.  

The most urgent problem is designers being able to maintain connection constantly in prosumer culture.

Designers must keep repositioning themselves and adapting to new things because they would lose popularity and influence.