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1. When I mention #designliteracy I often hear "oh, you mean design thinking?" - to which I say, "not really. DT is a problem-solving method, design literacy is how you look at the world"
2. There isn't much written about design literacy - and most of what there is focuses on graphic design. There's a big gap - how do we expect more people to get design if we don't open their eyes?
3. Graphic design is very important - but there are so many kinds of design and designers. What's the way to introduce the traits they all share? I don't think it's that hard, it just hasn't been done.
4. People understand what a doctor is and also that there are dozens of different specializations that matter - you don't want your dermatologist doing your heart surgery. Design shouldn't be that different - people can get the general and the specific.
5. But like many doctors, many designers love their expertise - their jargon, their knowledge - and forget 1) there are always simple and clear ways to explain the basics without betraying their craft. 2) their profession is best served by having more people understand it.
6. Books like Jon Berger's "Ways of Seeing" teach visual literacy without any ambition to teach people to be painters. @Atul_Gawande's book Complications explained how doctors think, without expecting readers to go to medical school. Design needs more books like this.
7. So many books about design are really portfolio books for star authors, pretending to be normal books (as in something u actually read). They're enormous in size, heavy to hold, and mostly just go on your shelf. I have a stack of them - they mystify me.
8. I put Tufte's book in this mystifying class - everyone has them, but few have read them. They're beautiful books, but I think they're owned to signify design knowledge more than to actually possess it.
9. Design of Everyday Things comes up often a "here's what design is" book - it's an excellent work, but it focuses on a narrow view of design, the HCI analysis view. Important, but it's too deep and not broad enough. Same for Krug's Don't Make Me Think (also excellent).
10. Some folks have recommended books to me as good #designliteracy examples, but they require tons of inside knowledge to make sense - like Universal Principles of Design. Good book - it's a reference! Who reads reference books to learn about a new subject? Would you? #bookux
11. I've looked for movies and documentaries that explain design, and there are some. But they fall into the same traps museums do - focus on the surface of things, even things designed mostly for function
12. I say all this midway thru writing this book - maybe I've missed things! Perhaps books/videos that do a great job of explaining design to most people. Or I've lost my marbles and this project isn't needed?
Let me know what you think. Thanks. /FIN
Let me know what you think. Thanks. /FIN
