Comments on: How does one learn design?

By: Billy

Billy — Tue, 20 May 2003 23:08:08 +0000

How do I learn to design? I hire someone to figure that out for me

By: alisha

alisha — Sun, 04 May 2003 09:54:40 +0000

It depends on what you are designing. Some design disciplines are interrelated, some not. For general graphic design, (mostly print campaigns) I had to learn how to creatively solve problems, to search for the information that was going to help me create a specific product and to express one idea through the use of text & visuals. I’d say the creative problem solving was the hardest part and I learned it by reading lots of books on the subject, by observing case studies, by interacting with and observing more experienced designers and by developing processes that worked for me, such as random input. It’s a a lot like learning to speak a language; the best way is to listen, write, read and speak; all of these, not just one. That way you’re getting a very rounded and solid feeling for the language itself and you grow into it. I’d also say that design fluency takes about the same amount of time as fluency in a language: 4-6 years +.

Screen design (mostly websites) uses much of these abilities but has a different starting point. Everything is very much built around the functionality – like building a house. First the foundation, the raw structure, basic layout of rooms – and then comes the “look” which will accompany and accentuate these. The last step is filling the rooms with furniture which will really drive the look home (the icing on the cake). At least that’s how I think of it.

By: damien

damien — Thu, 10 Apr 2003 17:55:18 +0000

I’m not certain you can ‘learn design’. Its like saying you can learn art. Isn’t it? Perhaps I misunderstand.

You can learn to design. And I think there has to be a mixture of applied and theory to achieve a motivating balance between success and failure. In order to continue to pursue your learning.

I think that the process of design has to be taught and learnt in order for people to understand where in that process they can take part. Different types of designers have different requirements to fullfil.

I see plenty of examples of people simply ‘designing’ and getting it wrong. Whilst it may be an achievement for them, its still a failure in what it is trying to be – whether it is a web site or piece of marketing. I think we experience too much executed design that wasn’t taken through a thoughtful process of design.

So students and business need to experience the practical theory behind the process of design to then be able to say that they too are designers. They took part in informing and shaping the end design solution.

I learnt how to be an illustrator by copying other people’s work until I had a style of my own. I taught myself how to design and build web sites in a same way. But the only way I ever provided successful design that worked and was more purposeful than a piece of visual display, was by learning and applying a process of design. Which in some part is experimenting.

By: kathryn

kathryn — Thu, 10 Apr 2003 11:19:36 +0000

unfortunately, the “learn design by doing it” method frustrates me as a student. instructors say we learn design by doing design, but then are expected grade our efforts, be they successes or misfires. yes, we’re supposed to make mistakes and learn as we go along, but having to assign some objective grade seems wrong to me if professors aren’t giving enough instruction. finding the delicate balance between the “just dive in” method and giving just enough guidance seems very difficult.

as for the business side, your questioning reminds me of the anecdote that’s in the first chapter of norman’s P/DOET, where a designer is talking about product failures and the number of iterations needed to get a product “right” because we’re fumbling around, trying new things out, and making mistakes.

By: Brad Lauster

Brad Lauster — Tue, 08 Apr 2003 15:33:42 +0000

Hi Joshua,
I think that’s a brilliant answer! I was taking a class last Saturday and the instructor posed this question: How do you learn to dance?

The answer is you do it! Sure, you’re really bad when you start out, but the point is that you don’t learn to dance by reading books. You learn by doing it.

I think design is learned the same way. I just wish I had a better answer for “the business community.”

Incidentally, the instructor who posed the question about learning to dance is the same guy who originally asked me about how one learns design. It was amusing that unbeknownst to him, he eventually answered his own question.

Continuing the discussion: How we do make “you learn design by doing it” an acceptable answer for business leaders so we can begin to make design for experiencing a core business competency?

By: Joshua Kaufman

Joshua Kaufman — Tue, 08 Apr 2003 14:36:54 +0000

Well, I’m not sure if I *know* design, but if I do, I would say that I learned design by designing and seeing what works. This seems like the same thing as changing the way you think because to get things to work sometimes, you do have to change the way you think.