Our conversation centred largely on our experiences designing our projects at the San Francisco Art Institute’s 2013 SAA Workshop, and while there were certainly a variety of styles, practices and methods in the mix that we never could have expected, there were also some distinct influences and regional identities in the very specific selection of works we were given to work on.
It’s also worth noting that throughout the workshop there was a lot of free and open feedback on designs, such as what design considerations would go into the graphics of the best casinos online for US players, as well as a bit of questioning and observation of design choices, even when there were clear similarities. The temptation to focus too much on formal criteria is often more prevalent among certain disciplines and regions, and this challenge is quite similar to the processes we see in traditional art, such as with the residential architecture and decorative arts.
In architecture and design, it’s important to remember that all aesthetics are subjective and carry a certain degree of criticism and critique. There’s always a different interpretation of what should be defined as a good design and a bad design. Sometimes a great project is simply executed poorly, and sometimes a bad project is executed well, depending on a variety of other factors, like budget, market demands, individual projects, timing and constraints. A poorly executed or overly refined design can be just as pleasing as a finely crafted and elegant design.
In the case of the art and craft of the Arts and Crafts movement, there were regional influences throughout the regions that the movement reached, and even regional “signatures” in specific artwork. This was true not only with decorative arts, but also some of the more technical or abstract and creative fields. I believe that there are some regional influence not solely from Europe and the East Coast, but from Latin America and Canada as well. This includes patterns such as the popular Mexican tukka or the European tucks in the shoulder of certain Asian figures.
Regional Influences on Arts & Crafts
It’s also important to understand that there is an inherent complexity of individual regional design habits and practices that impact the larger design industry. It’s easy to dismiss regional influences as somehow archaic or from a bygone era, but the fact of the matter is that many of these regional influences came at a time when industrial and urban design were being developed in many areas. More of the locals are discovering that they can now play on real money slots online in the USA, for instance, and we’ve long since started to see some cultural influences in the designs of the platforms catering to that growing market. Many individuals who worked in design throughout these regions also later went on to work at industrial design studios in the United States and became a part of the industrial design and architecture community in some of these regions.
It’s also easy to dismiss local design traditions, and while some may be cringe-worthy, some can also be quite strong, expressive, defining and positive. Ultimately, it’s impossible to accurately take local cultural influences and apply them to a general industrial design and architecture context, because the consideration of functionality comes into play.