IDDN 271 History Essay Introduction

Nowadays people love Ipod, the mp3 player. Actually Ipod does not contain such a big different function to the other types of mp3 player. Then why are they so crazy about it? I can say that it is because of the design which expresses the simplicity. Its design is simple but it is enough to attract people. Minimal design is the simplicity and it is the trend of current design in many fields such as fashion, architecture, product, furniture, media design and so on. So what does it mean by simplicity in design? Does it mean the design with just simple looking or the design without any decoration or the design which should not be just complicated? When people decide whether a design is simple or not, they do not know exactly what the standard is to judge the simplicity. It is hard to recognize the simplicity in design; the design contains a simple feeling but is not boring and should be interesting without a complication.
As you can see above, my essay topic is ‘the simplicity in the design’. To work out this topic, I will research what the simplicity is in the design and why people have begun to love the minimal design nowadays. This is the trend in this century so it can be related to the design history. I researched that artists and designer in 19th century prefer the decoration in design so that is why the art nouveau was the trend in this period. Art nouveau means the new art, the artist and designer in 19th century created it because they thought the aesthetic design was disappeared after the mass production occurred. By this reason the art nouveau designer used an organic form like a plant to make a beauty in their design. They concentrated more on creating an organic form than making a function therefore the design became decorated and complicated. It is not just like the current design trend. As I mentioned, the trends in 19th century and in 21st are different, the trend has been changed from the complication to the simplicity in the design history. I will find out why and what makes the trend has been changed, then I could define the reason why people have begun to love the simplicity. Furthermore I could find out what the simplicity means in design while I research and compare designs in each period. My essay will be started with the change of design style from 19th century and show how the style of design has reached to the simplicity.

Bibliography:
Taschen, Angelika. Minimal Style.
Bertoui, Franco. Minimalist Design.
Raizman,David Seth. History of Modern Design.
Watson, Howard,1968. 21 Century,1000 New Designs and Where to Find Them.
Thomas Huffe. Design a Concise History.