Critical thinking discussion

I grew up doing very commercial work - brochures, logos, packaging, and record covers. My journey has been a move from using graphics to make money to using graphic design to create new aesthetic ideas and moving on to industrial design, film, television and architecture.

After 15 or 20 years I discovered that design is just language and the real issue is what you use that language to do. Now I’m at a point where I’m tired of talking about what kind of fonts to use. I want to talk about the words that are being said.

Tibor Kalman

Critical Thinking

To think with clarity and logic To understand connections between ideas To think independently, self-guided and self-disciplined

Design and Culture Now that we can do anything, what will we do?

COURSE OBJECTIVES As designers we make things-- objects, spaces, systems. This course explores the purpose behind making-- not what, but why we design. Through examining the work of other designers along with observing our own experiences, we will come to understand our own intent, inspiration, and methodology. This, in turn, will sharpen our design process and sculpt the platform from which we will speak. The aim of this semester is to identify the context from which we design and position our work in the environment where it is most needed.

This course is a discussion and reading-based course that will require you to speak your mind. Participation, both in the form of “asking questions” and “giving answers” is required. Be vocal and inquisitive. Do your research ahead of time so that you are prepared and ready to share your opinions. In this course, you will:

Learn how to ask questions.

Learn how to listen.

Re-shape the way we think about our work.

Understand the broader context from which we derive ideas.

Find relevance in obscure detail.

Develop a language for talking about design.

Suggest Thailand’s potential as a design community.

Facilitate creative change.

Discussion topics include: Neo-Craft

Design for Disability

Authorship and Copy Cradle-to-Cradle

Handmade Design

Information Architecture

Less is More vs. More is More

Un-Designed Objects

Democratization of Design

Design as a Mechanism for Social Change

Do I Need an MFA?

Ai Weiwei Shigeru Ban Saul Bass Banksy Bouroullec Brothers Campana Brothers Droog Charles and Ray Eames Olafur Eliasson Tom Friedman Naoto Fukasawa Andy Goldworthy Kenya Hara Thomas Heatherwick Bjarke Ingels Jonathan Ive Theo Jansen Hella Jongerius Donald Judd Tibor Kalman Anish Kapoor Max Lamb Sol Lewitt John Maeda Issey Miyake Bruce Mau Satyendra Pakhale Pentagram Dieter Rams Stefan Sagmeister Richard Sennett Richard Serra Philippe Starck James Turrell Dirk Vanderkooij

Critical Thinking

To think with clarity and logic To understand connections between ideas To think independently, self-guided and self-disciplined

Critical thinking is about critical seeing.

(Creativity cannot be taught, it has to be found in the world around you.

Observe, analyze, synthesize, then act.)

Asking questions is more empowering than giving answers.

(We need to give our students the confidence to find their own answers.)

We need to find the best part of each student (or each project).

(It’s our job to mine for gold.)

We’re good at talking about how, but we need to emphasize why.

(With enough practice, anyone can produce beautiful work.

But I like to think that we’re not here to teach people how to make beautiful work.)

I want our students to produce important work.)

Challenge everything. Every premise is up for discussion, every idea ripe for debate.

Their efforts should not be wasted.

Work towards relevance, purpose, and significance.

Read. Read, read, and read some more. Just read.

(Offer ways for students to formulate their own opinions about an issue before discussing as a class.)

Design is not a linear process.

The best projects are the ones with meaningful detours.

And lastly,

Do something, not nothing.

If a shark stops swimming, it dies.

Beware of inertia.