Blog #1: An introduction...

In my rapidly decreasing time at MIAD, I have been thinking a lot about what design means to me. I certainly feel like it has been a journey.​ I came to MIAD from an engineering prep high school, and my personal philosophy clashed with the new skills I was being introduced to. I had been conditioned to think in a concrete and sequential way, were there was very specific outcomes to problems, often represented as numerical values. At this early point, I did not really understand artwork. I was being presented abstract ideas that I was attempting to analyze without context. I also did not understand how artists came to the conclusions that they did. I would think, what were the exact reasons why you made this piece? Does being in your particular circumstance automatically result in the kind of artwork you produce? I was thinking about art and design, and the artists who make them, in simple terms of inputs and outputs. I quickly realized something needed to change.

The first lesson I learned was that design is not an equation. It is an iterative and spontaneous process. An artist may or may not have a specific outcome they want, at least not from the start. Influences can come in so many different ways, whether it's a critique, another artwork, or a shower thought of an idea. You have to constantly be thinking of what you are trying to do from every different angle, but there is no particular order to this. It's seemingly anything goes, but the strongest ideas come from an emotional argument.  The only other requirement is craftsmanship, and this only comes with dedication and patience. Both artists and designers who have a strong emotional argument and craftsmanship in their practice come across not only as masters, but that their work is effortless; it makes too much sense to have not been done before.

    In terms of this class, which is about art analysis, criticism, and discovering practice outside of the school, I want to discover the kind of design I want to make someday and figure out on a deeper level why it resonates with me, and how to share and articulate this resonation with others. I think I struggle the most with this in my portfolio (you can find my public portfolio here at... https://jasonward.myportfolio.com/ ) and when applying for positions. I want to get better at explaining to people my perspective of design. Part of this involves my craftsman ship, but the other half is the emotional argument. The “why I do what I do”. I want to get better at this in this class by seeing how other professionals do it.

Well, with that being said, what is your definition of the design process?
Tell me what you think in the comments! 

Until next time,
-Jason Ward