In design education today, we are surrounded by theory. Curricula are heavy with strategy frameworks, critical lenses, typographic systems, design thinking toolkits, semiotic analysis, and the endless language of “research methodologies.” Walk into a contemporary design classroom and you are as likely to encounter Post-It notes, process diagrams, and references to Deleuze and Baudrillard as you are pencils, paper, or paints.
Why Feeling Matters in Design
When I look back on the countless projects produced by students I’ve taught across continents, I confess I cannot always recall which student designed which piece, or the specific details of their typography, colour scheme, or compositional choices. What remains vivid is not the intellectual content but the sensation — whether their work had sincerity, vitality, or truth.
Case Study: Bridget Riley and the Sensation of Seeing
Bridget Riley’s early career illustrates this perfectly. Trained in traditional methods, she began by imitating the techniques of Georges Seurat and the pointillists. One such work, Pink Landscape (1960), showed her technical mastery. Yet Riley herself felt it was a failure…
Bauhaus and the Hand-Eye Connection…
Read the whole article at https://heretakis.medium.com/beyond-thinking-feeling-our-way-through-design-e0d33364c90b
The New Art School 