Design theory can be seen as knowledge that can liberate the designer from preconceived notions and conceptions of how the design process can and should be performed.
– Jonas Lowgreen (2004)
It’s an enticing statement, and one I instinctively agree with, but it raises the question what is design theory, and what are these preconceived notions and conceptions?
I would argue that they are the same thing. Any applied theory of design (or more accurately any theory applied to design) constitutes a set of notions and concepts regarding process. The 90’s saw many designers reacting to the critical texts of Barthes, such as ‘Death of the Author’, resulting in work that rejected concepts of pure functionality. Elements like leading went from being a purely technical detail that effected legibility to a graphic metaphor that could communicate meaning. In the first iteration this is a liberation, as the quote says. However, beyond that it is a concept to be continually referred back to and therefore exists as something preconceived to it’s next application.
Now this seems like a pedantic argument, but it leads us to the crucial point. The problem here is instrumentalist thinking, the idea that we can encode, or unlock a hidden meaning; or that if we follow the conceptual steps we will get our piece of design. Coming back to the quote, knowledge of design theory shows us there are a multitude of methodologies we can employ, without a right or wrong answer. What I aspire to, and what the quote suggests to me, is that every project deserves it’s own approach, a synthesis of concepts that provide the tools for a unique response.