Design as Art Decide Now

This is a review for the new edition of this book by Penguin:

Part social commentary in a world of design, part designerly musing, and part thoughtful criticism at a world filled with abused objects, Munari's new publication by Penguin is a welcoming oasis of short essays (many merely one page long concisely argued and written) to the tyranny of cognitive science and user research tomes dominating design thinking today (think Norman and IDEO combined).

Clearly, Munari was writing in and for another period. That was a period spearheaded by designers-thinkers from the ranks of Nelson, Eames, Maldonado, Rittel, Bill, Aicher and Dreyfuss. Like Munari, these designers offer the insight that acute observation combined with thoughtful reflection of the material world is one of the most powerful forte of a designer.

In this book, I like the Munari's insight of 'wearing' best. He asks us to look at how objects become worn in their everyday use. Should we design objects on the sole merit of personal aesthetics and upon the Platonic plane of Ideal Geometry? Or should we design objects according to a limited sampling of user-needs study? Or as Munari suggests, should we design objects according to how it has been worn across time?

Munari did not answer his question (neither would I!). But it is this pensive quality of his work that merits his presence in the mind of every design thinker--a mind that seeks to ponder the thoughts on design across time.Get more detail about Design as Art.