The designer is…the artist of today, not because he is a genius but because he works in such a way as to re-establish contact between art and the public, because he has the humility and ability to respond to whatever demand is made of him by the society in which he lives, because he knows his job, and the ways and means of solving each problem of design. And finally because he responds to the human needs of his time, and helps people to solve certain problems without stylistic preconceptions or false notions of artistic dignity derived form the schism of the arts.

Bruno Munari, Design as Art (1966)

Last Wednesday Rick Poynor presented to a Melbourne audience of designers and educators his most recent thoughts and observations of contemporary design. Poyner unlike many design presenters is a writer and observer. Poyner’s distance from the making of the work allows him to explore and observe design practice and its practitioners with a unique knowledge, clarity, a critical eye and objectivity.

After seven years Poynor brought to the Melbourne audience an evocative topic that explores design practice in an around the title of ‘Design thinking or Critical thinking’.

In short form, Poyner pitched the idea that design and designers are at a cross road of threats and possibility. The threat of the traditional design process driven and shaped by wheels of commerce – with its scepticism towards designers and the visual. A picture was formed of business commentators (such as Businessweek’s Bruce Nussbaum) and emerging business academic streams (such as institutions like Stanford University’s D School and its course stream – design thinking), shaping marketing and communication in the future via business channels. On the other side Poynor invites designers to engage with commerce, clients and the public by exploring methods of practice shaped around employing varying modes of the process of critical thinking. Critical thinking is a process where designer and design practices invest in themselves, so to speak, and develop new works and practices in communication design.

It was a presentation that created more questions rather than answers. One felt Poynor’s message was a ‘call to action’, rather than a typical comfy feel good moment of designer to designer presenting design.

We invite designers to read on, read more and invite a process that involves design practices executing work along side with a stream of non client based work that investigates and explores the development of ideas, process and outcomes.

Thank you Rick for putting together a convincing presentation, opening up a worthy debate and reconnecting us with exciting and meaningful design thinkers like Jan Van Toorn and Bruno Munari

Read Fast Company’s A Plea for More Critical Thinking in Design, Please by John Barratt

Read Businessweek’s design and innovation blog by Bruce Nussbaum

Read Design Observer’s Down with Innovation by Michael Bierut

Read Down with Innovation by Rick Poynor

Read a review by Peter Bilak for Eye Magazine, Jan van Toorn – Critical practice by Rick Poynor

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