Enlightened by technology

Designers love books with big pictures and I’m no exception. A while back, I took time out to reread David Hockney’s book ‘Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters’. Now I’m no great fan of Hockney as a painter but this collaborative work of research is a fascinating insight into the fact that the great masters of western art used lens and mirror technology as far back as the early 1400s to capture projected imagery of their subjects – the advent of photography was in a way a logical progression along a linear path with the exception that chemicals were used to fix the images onto paper or plate.

The technique worked best if there was a sufficient contrast in light and shade in the subject matter; otherwise the artist wasn’t able to trace over the projected image. The result was a hyper-real almost photographic style.

Now, I was taught that the Big Bad Boy of late renaissance art – Caravaggio (Cazza, as he was known in the local letterpress) was driven to paint realism because he wanted to find a new visual language to replace the utopian style of the high renaissance. It turned out that he, like many artists was seduced by the technology rather than the concept. In other words, technology determined the style.

There were undoubted benefits: artists were able to complete more accurate renderings of their subjects in a fraction of the time rather than laboriously and often inaccurately drawing freehand a detailed scene complete with intricate drapery patterns. The monetary benefits derived from increased speed and efficiency must have been notable too.
 
Today, design and technology are even more interdependent. The graphic design work of John Maeda is a great example in bridging the gap between computer programming and graphic information design to generate rich and expressive works. Do google him.

Meanwhile, for many of us, technology and the digital world can be a scary place – social media, web 2.0, bluetooth. The Government and designers have a duty to make it usable and accessible so that people can function in today’s brave new world. Education is critical to meet the challenges: while young people are cool with digital technology – their teachers are often not. We are currently developing a brand for the education sector that will try to bridge that gap so that teachers can use technology comfortably in the classroom without fear and embarrassment. Hopefully when it’s all up and running they’ll have the tools to produce even more engaging lessons and more enlightened pupils and I will also hear fewer frustrated Powerpoint expletives when my wife prepares her lessons.