Literature Review

[Blanka]

I have to write literature review for my MFA class, on thesis "What is the impact of digital design tools on the creativity in graphic design process." I'm looking for any help and suggestions on literature that would be acceptable for this.

[Franca Leeson]

Hi Blanka... I notice nobody's picked up on this yet so we're going to send out a broadcast message to try to bring in some knowledge. I'm sure it's out there!

[Laurent Sauerwein]

Hi Blanka,

A quick search for "impact of digital design tools on the creativity in graphic design" has yielded, among other things, this: ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1021&context=etc08

It's about character creation in cartoon design, something quite special, but there seem to be a few ideas.

For about ten years, I taught graphic design, mainly as head of the Communication Design department of Parsons School of Design ion Paris. There, I told everyone that I was neither technophobe nor technophile, and that I believed in creativity, something that no machine has ever been - and will never be - capable of. A pioneer in the field, I breathe digital technology. It's part of my everyday life and work, but it is not an end in itself. I have other interests.

At school, I was free to choose the room in which I taught my class. I refused to teach (only) in the computer lab. Instead, I chose a standard brick and mortar studio (with tables, stools and a whiteboard) which was directly connected to the computer lab, so that the students very quickly learned to navigate back and forth between the two rooms, according to their progression in the creative process, their needs or inclinations, and special challenges that I gave them to sharpen their creative wits. There were few rules concerning the tools they should use. I couldn't care whether they worked with toothpicks dipped in tomato ketchup or Macintoshes. No fetishism. It was all about problem solving (after all, design is an applied art). They were free to use their hands to cut, fold and paste, make forms, including type, with tangible objects or to chose immaterial vectors and pixels - they would shuttle between paper and screen, wits and emotions, intelligence and sensitivity, their own human memories and megabytes. Sure, you learn how to use software in an art and design school, and various manual skills, but that is really not very important. What's most important is to create conditions for each personality to develop in a responsible, creative direction. Many directions. As many as there are individuals. Hard work, sleepless nights and fun too. Lots of fun. Applied joy. And maybe change the world in the process (but that's me, it was not in the syllabus).

"These are only tools, just tools, nothing but very stupid tools, I would repeat to the students, slapping the top of a monitor. These dumb things have no intelligence, no creativity, no poetry, no dreams, no sense of humor! You do," I insisted, secretely hoping that I wasn't wrong.

There's a designer called John Maeda, who is now president of the Rhode Island School of Design (fine school, where I have been invited as guest critic for two consecutive years). Maeda taught at MIT before going to RISD. He has interesting, subtle things to say about the relationship between digital technology and design.

"John Maeda is the president of the Rhode Island School of Design, where he is dedicated to linking design and technology. Through the software tools, web pages and books he creates, he spreads his philosophy of elegant simplicity." There are two videos of him you can watch on the TED site: http://www.ted.com/speakers/john_maeda.html

I don't teach design anymore. I now spend a good part of the year in India, involved in all kinds of development projects, many of which explore the ways in which mobile video, intangible pixels and social networks can impact the world we live in, and South India in particular.

Where are you doing your MFA?

Laurent

[Blanka]

Thank you Laurent,
and my MFA in Design Management at IADT, Tampa, FL

[Garth]

Hi Blanka,

Have you found some literature/research for your review? If so, I'm interested in what you found and what your focus is. By focus I am wondering to what extent you might be narrowing your search. For for example are you interested in The impact of digital design tools as they relate to creative Process, Products or something else? What are you referring to when you say "digital design tools"

Much of the literature I've seen argues for or against the suggestion that computer/digital aided tools/software allow for accelerated experimentation of new designs and free the mind to focus on actual design ideas with lesser inhibition coming from artistic skills.


It's not an area I'm familiar with and I haven't come across much research in my reading. There are several journals:

Journal of Creative Behavior
Creativity Research Journal
Creativity and Innovation Management Journal
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts
Design Issues (MIT Press)
Journal of Mechanical Design
International Journal of Design

I've included a couple of articles related to CAD and Creativity just for fun.

good luck and keep us posted on some of what you discover/uncover!

Garth

[Blanka]

Thank you Garth for your recommendation of journals, this will keep me reading and researching for a while :)
So far I could not specifically find literature for my hypothesis, it looks like I will have plenty to do in research on this subject matter, so any help/input is appreciated.
Blanka