OUGD501 - Study Task 7 - Triangulation

After having a look at the sources provided for this study task I decided that it would be more beneficial to use sources more relevant to my essay. I looked at Adolf Loos "Ornament and Crime" comparing his views on Modernism with Vignelli's "The Vignelli Canon". I feel like these two writers have very similar views so I am more likely to compare similarities rather than differences. 

See below my paragraph I wrote after the triangulation session:

Some people would argue that modernist principles create timeless design because ornamentation is what truly shows age. This is true in some sense, as designs created with different trends and styles instantly look aged when they become no longer fashionable. Adolf Loos writes about the modernist architecture in his essay “Ornament and Crime” suggesting that people who hold on to previous cultures are unsophisticated and basically idiotic. “The form of an object should last, that is, we should find it tolerable as long as the object itself lasts” (Loos, 1908).  This quote suggests that the form of objects should last as long as the object itself lasts. This could be applied to the design of something – the design should last as long as what it has been made for still exists. Loos theory implies that a companies logo should not change from the day it was created and even outlast the company itself, otherwise there would be no point of using a logo at all. Massimo Vignelli shows similar views to Loos in his manifesto:

“We like the use of primary shapes and primary colors because their formal values are timeless. We like a typography that transcends subjectivity and searches for objective values, a typography that is beyond times - that doesn’t follow trends, that reflects its content in an appropriate manner … We like Design that is clear, simple and enduring. And that is what timelessness means in Design.” (Vignelli, 2007)

In ‘The Vignelli Canon’ Vignelli outlines what he thinks makes designs timeless. He clearly believes in simplicity and minimalism in design and believes that this is the key to timelessness along with the colours and typography that has been used. Also through the use of primary shapes, which in fact are always relevant and find themselves being repeatedly used in design from past to present.