What is design?

Many different definitions of designs are available in traditional reference books as on the Web. By reading at least some of them I understood that the definition of design it’s not unique and according to different contexts may take slightly different meanings.

Before trying to give a definition of design that could better identify what design is in my perception and in my experience I will try to quote some of the most representative definitions I have found with Google and other on-line search services.

(design is) the act of working out the form of something (as by making a sketch or outline or plan).
Hyper-dictionary of English

(design is:) to create, fashion, execute, or construct according to plan
Merriam Webster Online

(design is) creating by mental acts — (the act of creating something by thinking)
WordNet 2.0

What these definitions are missing is that a design is made for a purpose, i.e. it addresses a previous identified problem.

This leads to a more complete definition of design as happily found in the following excerpts:

Design can be thought of as the transformation of a problem description into a description of an artifact. This involves pin-pointing, detailing and formulating the problem, identifying which properties of the artifact that will address particular parts of the problem, and handling conflicting requirements.
Model based design patterns by Hallvard Trætteberg

[…] design (is) a process of isolating, defining, and analyzing problems of our physical environment and of proposing appropriate solutions.

[…] Design embraces all problem-solving aspects of the human environment that are affected by industrial or technical production.
Ohio State University, Department of Design, Graduate Handbook

Design is about creating something with a purpose. A door is first and foremost something that allows you in and out of something. A car is something you drive that helps you get from one place to another. A chair is something made for you to sit on.
ClickZ Networks

I would summarize the previous definition with the following one:

Design is the activity of planning the creation of something with the purpose of solving a problem.

Design components
Design include two key components:
– a problem
– a plan to address the problem.
The better is the identified problem the higher will be the possibility that the planned solution will solve it.

The plan is the recipe, the formula, the list of ingredients and the right proportion for each of them, to solve the problem.

Types of design

For many different classes of problem related to arts, architecture and computer science, just to name a few, there are distinctive scientific disciplines often called “designs”.

This is a list of all designs disciplines I have found through my research:

• 3D graphic design
• advertising design
• architectural design
• book design
• broadcast design
• brochure design
• communication design
• conceptual design
• corporate communication design
• corporate identity design
• game design
• graphic design
• editorial design
• engineering design
• ergonomic design
• exhibition design
• illustration design
• industrial design
• information design
• interaction design
• interactive design
• interactive entertainment design
• interface design
• lighting design
• magazine design
• mark design
• packaging design
• presentation design
• process design
• product design
• software design
• strategic design
• training design
• visual design
• web design

It seems like that it would be possible to create an infinite list of different designs disciplines just by adding any available word to design.

But maybe there is a more defined and established set of disciplines within the major design hat that are deserving more attention.

With this first contribution of mine I wanted to start to scratch the surface and to give the start to a more wide and deep research.