Revisiting the Avant-Garde

Armstrong, Helen. Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Field, Princeton Architectural Press, 2009. Pages 9-15. 

Questions / Prompts

  • 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?

Reading Response

According to this author, design is a complicated process of creating art and debating them. Designers make those designs and use them as they fit or convey a message. Design isn’t always perfect so the author wanted designers to make a point in a certain design and have them debate them.

Avant-garde is a more anonymous approach to design while Postmodern is a more reactive and emotional approach to the design. Avant-garde designers are usually looked down upon in the early 1900s. These artists are alienated from the audience. People think of them as shameful elitists and ego-driven. According to a legend, Avant-garde was confrontational. Instead of acceptance, they are alienated and placed money above everything else. This approach of design usually looks forward to the future. Whereas Postmodern turns Avant-garde into a more rational, systematic approach to design which looks to the past.

The point of unsolvable theoretical questions is so we can debate them. Not everyone will be right. That’s why we debate them to get more insight into a design. If there wasn’t any “why” or nobody challenged the status quo, there won’t be any new ideas. Everyone will be the same and it’ll be very boring. It also helps us think a lot more. We can also learn more from these questions so we can find the answers to what we’re looking for.


Technology in this case might be more a collaborative approach to design. Because of technology, designers can actively participate globally in social, political, or cultural issues. For designers, instead of success, they thrive to have an impact on society and help it grow through designs.


One problem many designers face today is having to keep up with the “prosumer” market. They have to position and reposition themselves or else the products won’t sell. With technology in the picture, it’s altering our culture. It’s affecting our communication with designers and the consumer. For example, emailing each other back and forth might be a problem. Sometimes, both sides might not receive an email from each other. If that happens, both sides won’t be earning any money.

They are responsible for these problems because if a product doesn’t sell, not only do you lose money, you may go out of business. When it comes to these kinds of problems, the designers have to reposition and look at a design in many different ways.

Hypothesis Annotations

  1. Rewording https://hyp.is/oPZhiA2XEeyl_NMrn6vesw/designopendata.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/graphicdesigntheory_helenarmstrong.pdf
  2. Wolfgang Weingart https://hyp.is/ELdaDg2YEeyH3yenfH3VKg/designopendata.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/graphicdesigntheory_helenarmstrong.pdf
  3. Kenya Hara https://hyp.is/eB-zCA2YEeydNz_uONSyGA/designopendata.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/graphicdesigntheory_helenarmstrong.pdf