CDDN 271- DESIGN AS AN INQUIRY – Assessing and Critiquing Sources
Research Theme: Critical Design
Source: The Secret Life Of Logos
When branding a designed object, device or company, an essential part of the piece of design is the creation of the logo, which represents and defines the object/device/company in a visual way. The logo is a graphic mark or symbol embodying an organisation, and is used to aid and promote instant recognition by the public. The source I have chosen, ‘The Secret Life of Logos,’ a book of visual aids relating to logos used in the past and present, written and published and designed by Leslie Cabarga in 2007. The book provides us with the information of the important part a logo plays in manufacturing and graphic design. This source engages with ‘Critical’ theme of design, which is a use of speculative design proposals to challenge narrow assumptions, and can be viewed as ‘more of an attitude than anything else.’
The principle argument of this source is that the main approach of logo design is to identify a powerful design that reflects the quality of the product representatively in a positive way. In chapter 1- ‘Manufacturing’, Cabarga states that the imagery of the project can easily be suggested by its name, as it is more identifiable than just an abstract work of art. Going by Cabargas opinion, it is clear that the naming of the product is often essential for design of the logo. In the fifth chapter of this book – ‘Advertising & Design,’ Carbarga states that he wouldn’t necessarily look to Sandpoint, Idaho if he needed the services of a PR marketing firm, but if he didn’t, he’d miss ‘Big Leap Creative, a full service PR marketing firm based in Sandpoint. Referring to the designs of Big Leap Marketing and Communications, Cabarga states the final choice of design for the logo was ‘powerful’ and displayed ‘confidence,’ in which could attract his attention, and give him a reason to ‘end up,’ in Sandpoint, Idaho.
Going by Peter Dormers famous quote relating to Critical design - ‘Design is a way of discussing society, politics, food, erotism and even design itself. At the end of the day, it is a way of building up a positive figurative utopia or metaphor of life,’- we can see the similarities in his thoughts and opinions in relation to Leslie Cabarga in ‘The Secret Life Of Logos,’ as they both state that each design is crucial to have a positive impact on the viewer. Critical Design is mostly about the role products play in everyday life, and about creating attention-seeking performances/art. In ‘The Secret Life Of Logos,’ we get a broad understanding about the whole process for the design of logos and the importance about the role they play in relation to the product/company/organisation they are advertising, along with how ‘eye catching’ and ‘attention seeking,’ the design is.
In my opinion, Leslie Carbaga has greatly demonstrated the process designers go through to enable their images to relate greatly to critical design. We can gather from his research that in his mind, the role that critical design plays great importance in designing visual aids for companies, organisations, packaging or simply a single designed object or product, and I would agree to his argument as Critical design is about creating eye-catching and visually appealing designs for other pieces of design.
