Design Issues

Design Issues is a quarterly journal and the first academic journal to examine design history, theory, and criticism. The journal typically include theoretical and critical articles, book reviews, and illustrations. Design Issues was founded in 1984 and is published online and in hard copy by the MIT Press. Since the Winter, 2008 edition of Design Issues, the publication has been headquartered at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

ISSN: 0747-9360

External links

• Design Issues on the MIT Press website

South African Design is becoming a Hybrid Collective that incorporates cultural interactivity. Here is an artical written by Ras Steyn (South Africa: Pretoria) on his individual view on recent techno-vernacular impacts:

The Merging Emergence of Constructive ‘Fusion-ism’ By Ras Steyn

It’s no easy task to remember fleeting moments, but digging for already processed memories often produce the most unexpected and connective results. The Design Indaba has left my cells digesting and absorbing information and ideas long after its close. Apart from being bombarded with a gluttonous sum of delectable snacks and palatable drinks, I was also filter to a continuous flow of design-related data. It really is an event that takes quid pro quo to heart – I give you my full attention; you provide me with quality sweet and savoury refreshments.

As a theory and research lecturer whose knowledge on design specifics have only begun to expand, I felt it my obligation to be as objective and impartial as I possible could. I did not expect to experience anything that aligns itself with my current theme of research which predominantly dwells on categories and category errors within what may be called ‘post-humanist surrealism’. Yet, as the conference proceeded, it became all the more apparent that there exists a common conceptual thread that binds many current approaches within the art and design field – and with my way of thinking in the reverse.

It is my understanding that post-modernism (PoMo) sustains pluralism, multiplicity of meaning, and the proliferation of what appears to have become infinite sub-divisional categories. Post-humanism is only one of the countless new sub-classifications that have split off the core that is critical (and absurd) PoMo theory. However, given my enquiry into the field (post-humanism), it emerges as little more than an aggressive ‘transgressive’ ‘replicant’ of postmodernism; one that serves as an amplifier for the irrational, the disconnected, or at the very least, extreme forms of the fantastic. There exists little evidence to prove that postmodernism (in conjunction with post-humanism) acts as anything more than a discipline that exacerbates the vitality and continuation of contemporary surrealism (or ‘irrealism’). My primary aim is thus to merge dream/nightmare and the subliminal (automatism) with reality, the fictional with the factual – to create a relativistic cultural sphere with no lucid meaning to define itself with. But by ‘no lucid meaning’ I don’t mean the total absence of meaning. In fact, I imply the profusion of meaning.

By attending the Design Indaba Conference it became quite clear that there exists no definite formula to successful design. Design needs to be malleable in this somewhat schizophrenic era. Many issues need to be taken into consideration and as a result the fusions of classical polar extremes become inevitable. Despite my innate aversion to design because of its commercial and consumerist intentions (which keeps the capitalist cogwheel turning), I could not help but take note of the pattern that was unfolding itself as more and more pre-eminent and established design entrepreneurs took to the stage. Despite the marked differences between many designers, the majority of them seemed to share the same goal or philosophy – the (r)evolution of design through ‘fusion’.

The Japanese designer Toshiyuki Kita remains unmarked in my memory. He strictly makes use of biodegradable materials. If memory serves me right he only uses ‘non-anodized’ aluminum to adhere his individual East/West environmental concerns. As a designer he transgresses the traditional rigidity of his profession. He qualifies as an industrial designer (creating robots for Cassina, Sharp and Moroso), an environmental (sustainable) designer and interior designer (known for his unconventional Wink Chair designed in the 1980s). Kita states that “[t]rue naturalness is to negate the naïve and the accidental” and emphasizes “raw, natural and unforced creativity without pretence” (In Botha, 2008:33).

This creative mind strikes an admirable balance between nature (the organic) and contemporary technology (the mechanical). In my mind Toshiyuki Kita shares my goal – to sever the tie between classical dualisms or newly formed binary opposites. His versatility also aligns itself with my fondness for anything protean in nature.

Contemporary NY designer Karim Rashid (In Fiell, 2005:243), although he did not attend the conference in Cape Town, argues that “the new objects that shape our lives are trans-conceptual, multicultural hybrids, objects that can exist anywhere in different contexts, that are natural and synthetic [simultaneously]”. Again the issue of fusion is raised. Even the term ‘hybrid’ suggests some degree of amalgamation. Like Jason Bruges (interior designer and lighting installation expert), Karim Rashid intends to eliminate and reconfigure stereotypes. Bruges immediately fixed my attention when he elaborated on a project that mainly focused on lighting ambience and how the human body (through its size, speed, and body temperature) could automatically alter the ambient atmosphere in which it functions. Bruges has even fitted entire walls with receptors, creating what may be termed a responsive and adjustable colour-field environment (which possibly has a direct impact on ones psychological condition or mood). Design needs to be trans-conceptual in order for it to deconstruct the obsolete modernist dualisms that continue to trivialize and impede design progress.

More than this, South African illustrator Miné Jonker appears to share in the philosophy of bringing the normally non-related together. The majority of her illustrative output unite Art Nouveau, Romanticism and decorative organic styles. However, she is also “weirdly drawn to deformities and disease, fusing ‘ugliness’ with ‘prettiness’” (Jonker, In Russo:102). It becomes all the more clear that distinct categories aren’t as manifested in this information epoch. Categories have become somewhat semi-permeable and as a result it is complicating classification and delineation. Yet, this should not be construed as a negative effect, but should be taken as an opportunity to study the relevancy and other possible advantages of removing the dividers from all Western binary models.

The celebrated Christoph Zellweger, a man who considers himself a vernacular jewellery designer, can no longer play his design game within the borders imposed by a rational humanist mindset. He has designed some of the world’s most revolutionary body accessories. And recently he has conceived the glamour world’s most sought after accessory made of nothing more than eco-friendly polymers. Once again the disparity between metal and synthetic substance is equated. Clearly sustainable and/or environmental design is something that can and should be considered anew by all design sectors.

In a world that seems to have lost its ability to retain its past, contribute to it pro-socially, and steer its daily events towards progression; could very well nurture intoxicating pessimism. However, through my transient break to the Design Indaba I have been introduced to the prospect of dormant solutions embedded within both constructive and deconstructive design. I agree that Postmodernity does not frequently offer an abundance of design assurance, but it does allow proscribed creativity to nourish on liberalist assimilation (especially with regard to human centered design (HCD) and community or societal participation. Design could assist in the elimination of class distinctions. In addition to this it could foster a return to the primitive or primal vision (private individuality, freedom from religious or spiritual dogma, simplicity and logic).

Design (whatever its current application) can take on a polymorphous state or return to a pure Modernist approach governed by rigid order and technical methodology; but it could also signal a return to the pure forms found in nature. Nature once again selects itself as probable resolution via research into ‘orgonomics’ and ‘zoomorphic construction’ (using algebraic equations to both strengthen and intricate architecture.)

It is regrettably true that the future of design cannot be accurately predicted (possibly because of its impartiality and apathy towards hyper-limitations and extremities), but then again, timeless and responsible design have never really impacted negatively on the perpetuation of commercial design excellence. A good design should therefore embrace this concurrently virtual/simulated and real (tactile & tangible) globe. For the first time in history designs are provided the opportunity to penetrate a dual topography of creativity.

Respected design researcher Rosenberg (2008:03) describes famed body adornment designer C. Zellweger’s approach as “intuitive and conceptual… testing boundaries and exploring unfamiliar territories and thoughts”. Perhaps the most memorable lesson I have gained from my ephemeral visit to the often pretentious Indaba elite is that opposites do not necessarily indicate actual differentiation. Opposites only deliver a modicum of variations. The answer to inexorable design permutations resides in the degree of integration tolerated by commercial designers today. One needs to stand ready to embrace without prejudice; without xenophobia; without conservative rationalism; without favouritism, and without banal conventionalism. The design industry should no longer hesitate to unchain all conceptual anomalies. Should one be alarmed by this radical measure? I think not. Just know that design is a bottomless chasm crammed with multi-adaptable, unified and polymorphous guarantees. More than this, the design sphere now acts on the fringes of fictional possibilities.

“Thank you so much ladies and gentlemen. You know, it’s been such a fabulous evening I’m ashamed to take the money – but I will” Walter Valentino Liberacé "Design equals Capitalism - but I like it" - Ras Steyn 2010