DOI issue:
No. 16 (July, 1894)
DOI article:A studio of design: an interview with Mr. Arthur Silver
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17190#0136
A Studio of Design
so long as it will sell; secondly, the possessor of
the supreme gift of 1 individuality,' combined with
a sympathy for the teachings of tradition and a
knowledge of practical working—this is the man
who establishes the artistic status of his country;
and lastly, one who combines both plus the faculty
of embodying abstract ideas in concrete forms in a
way intelligible to others. But designing, as it is
popularly understood, is simply analysis and re-
combination, therefore pupils, with a fairly imagi-
native temperament and a taste for drawing, can
learn how to apply these faculties in a practical
manner."
" You are referring, of course, distinctly to com-
mercial designing ? "
" Yes. But it is entirely a question of degree.
It is not reasonable to expect to obtain as much
I may say so) as good as any effort can
make them."
" Do you advocate designing as a
paying profession ? "
"A thousand times no; a designer
feels somewhat responsible for all the
failures his work may entail on the
manufacturers, and cannot under the
present system enjoy his successes
beyond having the satisfaction that he
has given good value for the money he
has taken. A designer must have his
chief reward in the enjoyment of his
work."
"Then you consider that designing
can be taught ? "
"There are three classes of designers
in the reverse order of merit; first, the
' designer' who cares not what he designs
PATTERNS. BASED ON" THE FUCHSIA
music from a tin whistle as from the organ at the
Albert Hall; you have the student who will evolve
scratches from his inner consciousness, and another
who will only make variations of examples—the
one will develop marked individuality, and the
other may ultimately do better business through
the very absence of it."
" How would he do this?"
" A man of this temperament is invariably con-
sumed with the idea that the slight difference he is
introducing into his patterns constitutes originality;
the general public estimate him accordingly. The
manufacturer dares not invest much on the purely
imaginative or individualist designer; however
anxious he may be to go ahead, the advance, as I
said before, can only be in very short steps."
so long as it will sell; secondly, the possessor of
the supreme gift of 1 individuality,' combined with
a sympathy for the teachings of tradition and a
knowledge of practical working—this is the man
who establishes the artistic status of his country;
and lastly, one who combines both plus the faculty
of embodying abstract ideas in concrete forms in a
way intelligible to others. But designing, as it is
popularly understood, is simply analysis and re-
combination, therefore pupils, with a fairly imagi-
native temperament and a taste for drawing, can
learn how to apply these faculties in a practical
manner."
" You are referring, of course, distinctly to com-
mercial designing ? "
" Yes. But it is entirely a question of degree.
It is not reasonable to expect to obtain as much
I may say so) as good as any effort can
make them."
" Do you advocate designing as a
paying profession ? "
"A thousand times no; a designer
feels somewhat responsible for all the
failures his work may entail on the
manufacturers, and cannot under the
present system enjoy his successes
beyond having the satisfaction that he
has given good value for the money he
has taken. A designer must have his
chief reward in the enjoyment of his
work."
"Then you consider that designing
can be taught ? "
"There are three classes of designers
in the reverse order of merit; first, the
' designer' who cares not what he designs
PATTERNS. BASED ON" THE FUCHSIA
music from a tin whistle as from the organ at the
Albert Hall; you have the student who will evolve
scratches from his inner consciousness, and another
who will only make variations of examples—the
one will develop marked individuality, and the
other may ultimately do better business through
the very absence of it."
" How would he do this?"
" A man of this temperament is invariably con-
sumed with the idea that the slight difference he is
introducing into his patterns constitutes originality;
the general public estimate him accordingly. The
manufacturer dares not invest much on the purely
imaginative or individualist designer; however
anxious he may be to go ahead, the advance, as I
said before, can only be in very short steps."