Course - Design History and Design Theory - IDG2342
Design History and Design Theory
About
About the course
Course content
The course provides an introduction to western design history, from the industrial revolution to the late 1900s. It emphasizes how technological, ideological, cultural, and social aspects have helped shape design as a profession and phenomenon.
Learning outcome
Knowledge:
The student…
- has knowledge of the main lines of development in the history and theory of 19th- and 20th-century design
- has a basic understanding of how design as a profession and phenomenon has emerged as part of broader social development
- can identify different views on what characterizes designers’ knowledge and way of thinking
Skills:
The student…
- can reflect on the concept of ‘design’, and how design as activity, product and carrier of meaning is in a continuous process of interpretation
- has improved her/his writing skills in the genre of academic text
- has improved her/his ability to locate, gather and synthesise information
- has improved her/his ability to cite and reference sources and literature appropriately
General competence:
The student…
- has improved her/his analytical skills and capacity for critical reflection
- has improved her/his skills in editorial handling of text
Learning methods and activities
Lectures supplemented with group discussion, workshops, and film screenings. Writing an essay with formative assessment
Further on evaluation
The essay and the written exam must both receive a passing grade for the candidate to be awarded a pass for the course. If the written exam or essay are not passed, the candidate must retake this during the re-sit examination (autumn). Improving the grade by taking the whole course voluntarily again is possible, but then the candidate must both rewrite the essay and retake the written exam.
Specific conditions
Admission to a programme of study is required:
Graphic Design (BMED)
Interaction Design (BIXD)
Product Design and Technology (BTEKD)
Required previous knowledge
The course is limited to students in Bachelor in Graphic Design and Bachelor in Technology Design and Management
Course materials
Marcus, George H. Introduction to Modern Design: Its History from the Eighteenth Century to the Present. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019.
Compendium (Will be made available at the beginning of the course)
Supporting literature:
Adrian Forty. Objects of Desire: Design and Society since 1750. London: Thames & Hudson, 1986
Raizman, David. History of modern design: graphics and products since the industrial revolution. 2. utg. London: Laurence King, 2010
Helvert, Marjanne van (red.). The Responsible Object: A History of Design Ideology for the Future. Amsterdam: Valiz, 2016
Lawson, Bryan. What designers know. Oxford: Architectural Press, 2004
Petroski, Henry. The evolution of useful things. New York: Knopf, 1992
Sparke, Penny. As Long As It’s Pink: The sexul politics of taste. San Francisco: Pandora/Harper Collins, 1995
Wildhagen, Fredrik og Mannila, Leena. Formgitt i Norge. Oslo: Unipub, 2012.
Credit reductions
| Course code | Reduction | From |
|---|---|---|
| IMT2342 | 7.5 sp | Autumn 2019 |
Subject areas
- Design Methodology