Week 5


             I love amateurs. By amateurs I don’t mean those who are naïve and untrained but those that do something for the sake of doing it. Amateur designers create for a variety of reasons (advertisement, personal identity, just for the hell of it, etc.) and they do it all naturally. Do it yourself design is as much a part of our environment as professionally crafted design however we may not notice it as much because it serves a more practical purpose. Take a local storefront sign for example; it serves little purpose other than informing passersby the name of the store. However, as time goes on the sign becomes ubiquitous with the store and after a while it eventually becomes a staple part of the visual culture not because it’s an excellent piece of design but because it is integrated into the environment. Its vernacular design; the everyday images and structures designed by non-designers, the amateurs. Our culture is shaped by the vernacular as much as flashy attention grabbing professional design.

            My favorite amateurs are the rebels. They are the people who do their own thing because they don’t want to follow. Tibor Kalman and Karrie Jacobs must feel the same way. Their article “We’re Here to be Bad” calls out for rebellion so much so that the article itself seems to be rebelling against the reader. Designers have been caught up in the soul sucking yes-man world of big business, Kalman and Jacobs argue. The cure? Take a look at vernacular design where the inspiration comes not from getting paid but from filling a need or solving a personal problem. I agree with them and I also agree with their argument about the role of the designer, not as a corporate lap dog but as a cultural agitator, but I feel torn. Part of me wants to be “bad” (as Kalman and Jacobs put it) but the other part keeps reminding me of my position. Right now I’m at the bottom and to be honest not much will come of me rebelling against the system other than getting fired and replaced.

            That’s why I admire the amateur (and in some ways envy them). They design to fill their own needs without any pressure; it’s a venerable sense of simple practicality. What’s even more impressive is that such design plays a role in shaping our culture (much more than we may realize). Gerry Beegan and Paul Atkinson’s article chronicling amateur design through the years shows just how this “invisible” design contributes to culture in a subconscious way. It’s the self-buildings and homemade furniture that are so much a part of our daily life that they become ingrained in our memory. It’s more than just conveying a message; it’s about creating a niche within one’s environment. It’s expression through design that over time becomes part of our visual culture.

Professionalism, Amateurism, and the Boundaries of Design

by Gerry Beegan and Paul Atkinson

• Amateur designers have existed alongside professional designers for many years and recent technological advancements have further blurred the line between maker and user.
• Amateur design has been used as an alternative to consumerism.
• Everyday objects and buildings that become a part of daily life fall under the term Vernacular Design.
• Vernacular Design has subconsciously influenced other fields of design (such as Modernism which ironically rejects vernacular design)
• The amateurs are the “ghosts” of the design world who contribute silently and subconsciously.

We’re Here to be Bad

by Tibor Kalman and Karrie Jacobs

• Bad design is not poorly made design but design created to be rebellious.
• Designers have been bought into and subdued by corporations who opt for the “safe” method of design.
• Designers need to make design that shakes our notions of good and bad design.
• Vernacular design is design in its purest form.
• Design schools teach too much about their perception of good design and not enough about vernacular design.