Paul Rand on Design

Paul Rand on Design:

“To design is much more than simply to assemble, to order, or even to edit; it is to add value and meaning, to illuminate, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, to dignify, to dramatize, to persuade, and perhaps even to amuse.”

Note how Rand goes way beyond the common notion of design, incorporating not only the editing of content, but the embellishment of it. I think we need that sort of broad view of Web design, a field that is far too focused on the technical aspect of publishing, and hardly, if ever, focused on the verbs Rand was occupied with.

Also, Rand was a graphic designer, as opposed to an interface designer, so he only had to deal with one-way communication instead of two-way. In addition, today’s Web designer is also tasked with the social aspects of design, concerns that go beyond the conversation between the corporation and the person, but include conversations between people as mediated by the corporation as well.