Evolution of the design process and technologies

Among the earliest recorded references to design comes from Egypt. The earliest designers were architects from about 3000 BC. They were designers, not builders, and they mediated between patrons and builders.

They were allied with priests and higher education. Design was bound by precedent, and changed little over time, with knowledge passed down through families for as much as 25 generations. Design technologies included reed pens, rulers, squares, and triangles. Materials included leather, wood panels, limestone, and stuccoed tablets.

In ancient Greek, designers were still architects, but they doubled as builders and engineers. There was education at private school and apprenticeship. The technology was not significantly different than Egyptian.

Design (and architects) became increasingly important in Roman times. Education was longer in the liberal arts, and then with an established master. Design technologies included drafting and complex scale model construction.

During the early middle ages, the role of the designer or architect continued to be important, but the status of the job fell. Drawings were finely detailed using drafting instruments. Buildings and design tended to be elegant.

The tools and technologies of design remained fairly constant until the last twenty-five years. They improved in quality and quantity, but remained as mechanical drawing instruments, modelling and prototyping tools.

Illustration technologies such as airbrushing were developed, but the advent of the computer gave rise to automated design tools. These include mechanical drafting replacements such as CAD, illustration tools such as 3-D illustration programs with full color shading complete with shadows and reflections, and computational tools to generate material lists and cost analysis.

Designers in this century include architects, graphic designers, interior designers, industrial designers, packaging designers, automotive designers.

There have been a number of design movements which had considerable impact on design in this century. The Bahaus was a design school founded in Germany in the 1930’s. A number of classic furniture designs were created by graduates from the Bahaus. The influence of these pieces is evident in much modern or contemporary furniture. American designers like Eames and Frank Lloyd Wright also had a great deal of influence on modern design.

The most overlooked, and perhaps the most influential, modern designers probably work in the fashion industry. They design everything from clothes to perfume, to the latest “look”.