I just finished HIstory and Analysis of Design at the Art Institute. I learned so much valuable information about my field from the course. This was one of those situations where you know you have to do something and intuitively know it is good for you but don’t have the scope to know why until you are done with it. Each week, each chapter, each assignment drove my understanding of design toward it’s core. HIstory and Analysis of Design was by far my most challenging class thus far due to the heavy load of reading and writhing for the discussion topics that preceded each studio assignment. We communicated to one another in discussion threads about the topics we wrote about but I will not be posting any of that information here as I have not gained permission to do so. I will likely post a comment or two from my instructor, I am waiting for his response granting permission.

     Even before this class I held an appreciation of designers such as Paul Rand, charles and Ray Eames, Edward Tufte, but this class reveled their path and how they became iconic representations of De Stijl, and Bauhaus, modernism . These schools and schools of thought shaped the understanding of the need to reign in a designers focus and keep a simple understandable direction toward a solution when designing. This idea has been controversial for artists and designers some have balked at the restrictions and complained of stifled creativity others see the need to trim the fat and distil  to only what is needed. In practice, it is much more complex to design simply than to layer complexity within a design. It takes confidence and in my opinion bravery to speak to your audience in as simple terms as possible. You must know that what is there is exactly right, and can not hide behind the idea of hidden meaning or getting lost in ornate details. 

     The end of this class brought home all the history and pointed us toward the future. Great class. 

(Source: tiffanyneumann.com)