Book: Design as Art

After watching the Skillshare videos by Ellen Lupton in which she suggested reading Design as Art by Bruno Munari, I borrowed the book from my local library. I found it to be a really insightful read. The main points that came across to me were that art should be infused with everyday life, not reserved for the socially elite – the artist should not be given an ‘god-like’ status; designers should experiment or play with materials and ideas – there are several pages of thumbnail sketches based on the same object, e.g. a chair; if something is designed as nature intended it, it will automatically be both functional and beautiful – e.g. many Western designers overcomplicate designs compared to the simplicity of Japanese design; and ‘less is more’ in design, which I noted relates back to the theory of Occam’s razor. It was a very informative book and it has made a lasting impression on me.

Source: Munari, B., 2008. Design As Art. 3rd ed. Penguin: London.