Design as a Conversation

Give and take; produce and inspire; revise and revive. These phrases describe the true essence of design, a universal world in which different cultures come together to participate in a continuous conversation. However, rather than verbally expressing thoughts and ideas, design lets visuals do all the talking, enabling history to evolve into the future.

While designers create designs and works of art, their audience will either applaud and compliment the artistic perfection achieved, or they will critique the work by addressing the flaws and/or the lack of unity involved. Although negative feedback is not exactly a pleasant thing to hear, constructive criticism is invaluable to designers and artists alike. It is from these positive and negative comments that allow past and current designs model as a guideline for future designers, lending them visual knowledge as to what will and will not be successful in this critical design community. This back and forth conversation between creators, critics, and even the layperson, leads designers on a search for the best methods in which their messages can be expressed effectively and meaningfully to the public.

In some cases, designers and artists may find that their purpose can be achieved through the revival and a personal revision to an iconic work of art. For instance, Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware is an image that is widely recognized around the world. It depicts one of America’s most prominent heroes, George Washington, crossing the Delaware River as part of his surprise attack for a battle during the American Revolutionary War. Through the use of this vernacular image, Robert Colescott, an African American artist, created his own version of the painting titled George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware. In Colescott’s version, all characters are African American, each depicting the many kinds of negative black stereotypes existing in America.

[ Leutze's painting on left, Colescott's painting on right]

Essentially, Colescott conversated with Leutze through Leutze’s painting. Colescott used the worldly success of Leutze’s artwork, letting it guide his own painting to produce an effective and powerful message that strikes a dark contrast between a patriotic image and the harsh realities African Americans had to endure in the past in the very country that was founded on the principles of freedom and equality. Although Leutze’s painting is permanently marked in a time of the past, Colescott showed that design in the form of art can in fact revive older designs, add new meaning to them, and create a new spark in the ongoing conversation of design for generations to come.

*Credits to Lauer and Pentak's Design Basics