Abstract

In his essay “About the Word Design,” Vilém Flusser calls design a “bridge” which attempts to close the “sharp division between the world of the arts and that of technology.” For him, design is a reunion of “equals,” making “a new form of culture possible.” Flusser’s typology, however, fails to adequately support new cross-disciplinary imperatives. He steadfastly partitions art and technology, while over-expressing design’s dependency on technical developments and missing art as an intrinsic expression of technology. Neither design nor art are recognized as technologies in of themselves. An etymological dissection suggests a resolution. The term “design” (Latin designare) means “intent.” Technology, from the Greek techné (art, craft), is the manifestation of deliberate applications of knowledge. Design, technology, and art are therefore rooted in their inseparable meaning as the deliberate instantiation of ideas. Technology, then, includes tools, but also human perceptions and concepts; it is the universal constant from which art and design—indeed all inventions, knowledge and creative expressions—emerge. This new typology provides room and equal footing for liberal arts and social science co-products and the institutions which sustain them; all key technologies and human precepts essential to design, artistic, and cultural development. It positively informs cross-disciplinary studies in design education, while highlighting the technological convergences which influence all human endeavors.