Overlooking the Visual: Demystifying the Art of Design

Making tangible connections between theory and practice, ideas and form, this book encourages debate about the artistic, conceptual, and cultural significance of the way things look. What are the metaphysical concepts at the heart of design education, theory, and philosophy? Why do we assume that design is impossible to teach? This book challenges the traditional foundations of perception and takes an imaginative, radical approach, setting itself apart from the traditions of analytical philosophy, evolutionary psychology, and phenomenology which underpin much of current design theory and discourse. The new definition of perception produces startling consequences for conceptions of language, intelligence, meaning, the senses, emotions and subjectivity. This is an innovative, fresh view on design and how we can improve it for both practitioners and students in the architecture and design fields as well as philosophers.

Kathryn Moore has lectured and published extensively on design quality theory education and practice. She is the past President of the Landscape Institute, the UK representative of IFLA, a design consultant, and Professor at the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, Birmingham city University, UK.