Evaluation

Researching into ugly design this year has opened up an interest into the aesthetics and technological developments of graphic design. 

As ugly design is a controversial topic, with no definite opinion its success, it has exposed me to designers on both sides of the spectrum, e.g. Max Huber and Jeffery Keedy. Leading me to read up on their work and in turn understanding more about the rationales behind different schools of design. 

Starting the essay however, there was initial apprehension as to whether the question would have enough content to write the essay on. Ugly design is a relatively new form of design that has little critical writing. Therefore the opinions sourced have to be those based on post modernism rather than ugly design specifically. Nevertheless, because the two approaches are similar, appliying the criticism and supporting arguments for post modernism into ugly design were appropriate. Furthermore, by reading more about the subject and the related areas, it eased the initial apprehension in writing the essay as gathering more resource material allowed for better arguments to be formed. 

Learning about ugly design has also exposed me to different approaches to design. Rather than to think of a grand idea, most ugly design is based around a simple and specific concept that is interpreted unconventionally in relation to its intended audience and context. This approach is much more approachable in the sense that the design process becomes more about the design of the design rather than the novelty of a good idea.  

With the amount of research done regarding the criticism of ugly design, more links were able to be drawn between the practical and essay in this years module. 

The design for the proposed Leeds Art Gallery shows understanding of the characteristics of ugly design through the manipulation of type, compromised legibility and more superficial approaches to the design process. Its limitation however is the extent of the representation of ugly design. This is a new and unfamiliar approach to how I normally go through my design process, therefore the designs aren’t entirely an accurate representation of ‘ugly design’. Nevertheless each design decision has been explained with a consideration to ugly design’s principles. 

The amount of research done on the topic has also inspired me to take this further into Level 6 dissertation. I do enjoy learning and reading about the history of design which comes at a point in the course where I have become increasingly concerned with how to design. Understanding how to properly typeset, forming the relationship between type and image and the significance of the production process.