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AMBIGUITY

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- Ambiguity -

• uncertainty or inexactness of meaning in language : we can detect no ambiguity in this section of the Act | ambiguities in such ques-tions are potentially very dangerous.

• a lack of decisiveness or commitment result-ing from a failure to make a choice between alternatives : the film is fraught with moral ambiguity.

AMBIGUITY

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All texts highlighted with the “ “, are notes while reading from the following books. There’s no special sequence for each page.

Dorst, Kees. Understanding Design. Corte Madera, CA: Gingko Press, Inc, 2006. Print.

Lawson, Bryan. How Designer think. London : The Architectural Press, 198o. 33. Print.

Koberg, Don and Bagnall, Jim. “The revised all new universal traveler.” Los Altos, California: Crisp Publications, Inc, 1974. Print.

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My attention was dragged on - the ambiguity and uncertainty in graphic design. Is it something I don’t liked about graphic design? or it’s just a fact that I have to come through in the process of learning? Maybe the project won’t help me to make it clear, but more of a help on accepting and then utilizing the attribute that design is ambiguous?

Why I feel that? Along the 6 years learning and practicing in graphic design, I find out many different types of design only in graphic design industry: Typography, Information design, edito-rial design, motions graphics, sing & logo design and web inter-active design etc. Those many forms and methods leads me to a self-contradictions state when looking back at design.

On one hand, I am very impressed by how design can bring new ideas and the unpredictable processes pushes out the results, on the other hand, I cannot even give graphic design a clear definition of what it is, and how it work specifically. It’s so wide, abstract and incertitude. Indeed, I felt that I want to make this “ambiguity” in design more clear.

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“Ambiguity” itself is very ambiguous when I try to use it describe my ideas on design. How can I say it more correctly and is it the one word that I have to use in my thesis project? As is said in the previous notes that I am interested in discover a system and apply logic thinking in a design solution, would the “Ambiguity” provide me good enough structures to think about design?

When communicate this idea to my mentor as well as other in-structors, I interestedly found out that they feel totally another way. They said art is abstract and vague, but design should be clear and it is supposed to be simple and efficient in conveying certain ideas. My way of thinking designs are abstract and vague might be some illusions of looking at too many areas and aspects at the same time. It is true that when I have certain assignment and design work to do, the main idea is to express the whole graphic in a clear and more efficiency way. Ambiguity is not a ab-solute word to describe design, but more of a relative word when it compares with “clear”. But also, the unclear movement of the inspirations as well as the unpredictable methods and results exist in the same process. So, can I say they both coexist in the same dimension of graphic design world?

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Indeed, many features of design problems may never be fully uncovered and made explicit. Design problems are often full of uncertainties both about the objectives and their relative priorities.

Uncertainties:the state of being un-certain : times of uncer-tainty and danger.• (usu. uncertainties) something that is uncer-tain or that causes one to feel uncertain : financial uncertainties.

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Designers do not aim to deal with questions of what is, how and why, but rather with what might be, could be and should be. While scientists may help us to understand the present and predict the future, designers may be seen to prescribe and to create the future, and thus their process deserves not just ethical but also moral scrutiny.

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Rarely in design does one know or not know the terminal point but rather on has some in-formation about it; it is a matter of degree. In some kinds of de-sign one knows exactly where one will end up, in others one has very little idea.

Terminal:1 [ attrib. ] of, forming, or situated at the end or extremity of something 2 (of a disease) predicted to lead to death, esp. slowly; incurable

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Denys Lasdun (1965) tell us that “our job is to give the client… not what he wants but what he never even dreamed he wanted.”

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Part of the art of dealing with wicked problems is in the act of not knowing too early which type of solution to apply. - Rittel and Webber, Dilemma in a Gen-eral Theory of Planning.

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The anxiety of not know-ing if you can succeed will be easily replaced by a simple time-task schedule and by getting started.

Anxiety:a feeling of worry, nerv-ousness, or unease, typi-cally about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome : he felt a surge of anxi-ety | anxieties about the moral decline of today’s youth.

• [ with infinitive ] desire to do something, typically accompanied by unease : the house-keeper’s eager anxiety to please.• Psychiatry a nervous disorder characterized by a state of excessive uneasiness and appre-

hension, typically with compulsive behavior or panic attacks.

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The moves in this game are those actions or de-cisions that each party takes on his own and then presents to the other: first the client’s decision to appoint the designer and present him with a more or less vaguely defined brief: next the designer;s in-terpretation of that in

Vague:of uncertain, indefinite, or unclear character or meaning : many patients suffer vague symptoms.• thinking or communi-cating in an unfocused or imprecise way : he had been very vague about his activities.

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terms of tentative de-sign or a more detailed statement of require-ments; then the client’s response to that-chang-es to it, or more clearly expressed desires, then a more detailed design-er. and so on, until both parties are satisfied or commission is aban-doned.

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Inventions are but new ways for combining old bits and pieces.

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The outstanding struc-tural engineering de-sign Ted Happold said: ’ I really have, perhaps, one real talent-that is that I don’t mid at all liv-ing in a area of total un-certainty.

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This strategy can be rec-ognized in all design pro-cessions- in many design problems, the generation of possible solutions and their gradual improve-ment is the only way for-ward. That’s design.

Possible:able to be done; within the power or capacity of someone or some-thing : surely it’s not possible for a man to live so long? | what are the possible alterna-tives? | contact me as soon as possible | I’d

like the report this after-noon, if possible.• able to happen al-though not certain to; denoting a fact, event, or situation that may or may not occur or be so : a new theory emerged about the possible cause of the plane crash | [with clause ] it is possible that

he will have to return to the hospital.• [ attrib. ] able to be or become; potential : he was a possible future customer.• [with superlative ] hav-ing as much or as little of a specified quality as can be achieved : children need the best education

possible | the shortest possible route.• [ attrib. ] (of a num-ber or score) as high as is achievable in a test, competition, or game : he scored 723 points out of a possible 900.

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Design thus involves a period of exploration in which problem and solu-tion are evolving and are very unstable, until they are (temporarily) fixed by an emergent idea which identifies a problem-solu-tion pairing.

Unstable:prone to change, fail, or give way; not stable : the unstable cliff tops | an unstable government.• prone to psychiatric problems or sudden changes of mood : he was mentally unstable.

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Design can be seen as a reasoning process, run-ning from problem to solution. But there is no unique road that con-nects the design problem with the design solution-design problems can be solved in many ways. this doesn’t made design ir-rational, though: there is

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Nevertheless, In nine out of ten cases a new design is a creative combination of concepts that has ex-isted before. It is already difficult to create anything novel in this sense, let alone making something that is completely new to the world.

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Logic in design, but de-sign problems are so am-biguous that logic can be applied in many different ways. Therefore, design problems are often called ‘undetermined.’

Ambiguous:(of language) open to more than one interpre-tation; having a double meaning : the question is rather ambiguous | ambiguous phrases. See note at doubtful .• unclear or inexact be-cause a choice between

alternatives has not been made : this whole society is morally ambiguous | the election result was ambiguous.

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A design problem is a situation of tension, of unattained aims and un-resolved conflict. This tension is the force that initiates and drives de-sign. At the end of prob-lem is resolved, it dis-appears from the mind of the designer. This is very much like any form of problem solving.

Unresolved:(of a problem, question, or dispute) not resolved : a number of issues re-main unresolved.• archaic (of a person) uncertain of what to think or do.

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The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein has stated that: ’ we are aiming at…complete clarity. But this simply means that the philosophical problems should completely disap-pear. The real discovery is the one that make me capable of stopping phi-losophy when I want to.

Philosophical:1 of or relating to the study of the fundamen-tal nature of knowledge, reality, and existence : philosophical discussions about free will.• devoted to the study of such issues : the Ameri-can Philosophical Society.

2 having or showing a calm attitude toward disappointments or dif-ficulties : he was philo-sophical about losing the contract.

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Is it difficult to plan a de-sign project. You never know how hard it will be gather the necessary in-formation, or how much time it will take for good ideas to surface, and you never know how of-ten you will have to ‘it-erate’: to go back to an earlier stage of the de-

Difficult:needing much effort or skill to accomplish, deal with, or understand : she had a difficult decision to make | the questions are too difficult for the chil-dren. See note at hard .• characterized by or causing hardships or

problems : a difficult economic climate.• (of a person) not easy to please or satisfy : Lily could be difficult.

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sign project and plan design. Notwithstanding all these uncertainties, you still need a plan, otherwise the whole de-sign process spins out of control.

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A design plan must be dynamic. As the uncer-tainties about the course of the project gradually diminish, you constantly need to adjust the plan-ing accordingly.

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Good designers know how to tackle design problems in very suc-cessful ways. The bad news is that they are not usually able to explain to others what they do, why they do it, and how. The complicated and creative nature of design means that most design knowl-edge is implicit-and is no-toriously hard to bring out into the open.

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- Ambiguity -

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Design is such a diverse profession that it be-comes very much like life. You use everything you have to solve a de-sign problem: all your knowledge and personal experiences, your crea-tivity, and your powers of thought. It engulfs you completely.

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From the outside, design is a strange profession-the creation of novel things by means of an in-credibly messy process that is hard to control and difficult to rely on.

Hard:1 solid, firm, and re-sistant to pressure; not easily broken, bent, or pierced• (of a person) not show-ing any signs of weak-ness; tough • (of information) reli-able, esp. because based on something true or substantiated • (of a subject of study) dealing with precise and

verifiable facts • (of water) containing mineral salts that make lathering difficult.• (of prices of stock, commodities, etc.) stable or firm in value.• (of science fiction) scientifically accurate rather than purely fan-tastic or whimsical • (of a consonant) pro-nounced as c in cat or g in go.

2 requiring a great deal of endurance or physical or mental effort • putting a lot of energy into an activity • difficult to bear; caus-ing suffering • not showing sympathy or affection; strict • (of a season or the weather) severe• harsh or unpleasant to the senses • (of wine) harsh or

sharp to the taste, esp. because of tannin.3 done with a great deal of force or strength 4 potent, powerful, or intense, in particular• (of liquor) strongly alcoholic; denoting dis-tilled spirits rather than beer or wine.• (of apple cider) having alcoholic content from fermentation.

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This makes you real-ize that design is a very risky profession. As a designer, you work on a complete design prob-lem, possibly for months on end, without really knowing for sure that you will succeed in cre-ating a satisfying solu-tion.

Risky:full of the possibility of danger, failure, or loss : it was much too risky to try to disarm him.

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When you start on the long road towards be-coming a designer, you already have developed opinions about what good design is and what kind of designs you want to create. These opinions are superfi-cial and are often based on a gut reaction to the

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shape of a design you like, without hav-ing any idea of the thoughts and consid-erations that led to it:’ I want to make some-thing like that!’

Superficial:existing or occurring at or on the surface : the building suffered only superficial damage.• situated or occurring on the skin or imme-diately beneath it : the superficial muscle groups.• appearing to be true

or real only until exam-ined more closely : the resemblance between the breeds is superficial.• not thorough, deep, or complete; cursory : he had only the most superficial knowledge of foreign countries.• not having or showing

any depth of character or understanding : per-haps I was a superficial person.

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The design students who have what psychol-ogists call a ‘low toler-ance for uncertainty’, tend to concentrate on their first solution and improve on it, instead of going through the uncer-tainty associated with a complete phase of idea generation.

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