Design - Definition and Overview

In the context of the applied arts, engineering, architecture and other such creative endeavours, design is both a noun and a verb. The verb is the process of originating and developing a plan for an aesthetic and functional object, which usually requires considerable research, thought, modelling, iterative adjustment and re-design. The noun is used both for the final plan of action (a drawing, model or other description), or the result of following that plan of action (the object produced).

In philosophy, the abstract noun design refers to purpose/purposefulness, or teleology. Design is thus contrasted with purposelessness, randomness, or lack of complexity.

The design of complex systems is sometimes called architecture or landscape architecture

See also

• Communication design
• Environmental design
• Design research
• Industrial design
• Landscape architecture
• Interaction design
• Participatory design
• Wicked problems

Some industrial designs are viewed as classic pieces of design that can be regarded as much as works of art as pieces of engineering. The "Design classic" article lists some of the designs that are regarded as having reached this classic status.

External links

• Buckminster Fuller Institute, http://www.bfi.org (anticipatory design)
• Design Council - About Design, http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/
• http://www.look4design.com , Design related search engine