What design is all about? There has been a lack of exhaustive definition(s) capturing the entirety. The aftermath of this is that the whole concept of design is played out.
Fred Collopy has been a primus motor at Weatherhead School to find at least a foundation for further defining what design is. No small feat.
Here is a list of three they have come up with:
- Design is the process of finding and solving non-routine (wicked) problems, often with a focus on bringing new products or services to market
- Design is the intentional assembly of systems with interacting parts to achieve some objective
- Design is a collection of methods and techniques, often drawn from the fine arts, to creatively solve problems
Fred is the first admit that these serve as a starting point for further defining. More in-depth blog-post from Fred Collopy can be read from Fast Company site.
There are theories behind what we do every day. Colors, typograhy, white space etc are always there for a reason. We take a great pride in actually explaining and reasoning the design decisions to our clients.
This reasoning is based on education and existing theories. They create a foundation and framework for what great graphic design is. You cannot bend these rules if you cannot understand, reason and explain why you do it.
For anyone interested, there is an article which gives you 50 Totally Free Lessons in Graphic Design Theory. Read them and suddenly you're professional too. Or not.