There are two kinds of people some who do it for themselves and some, who do it for others. Self-actualization and altruism, though very different, rise from the same source. On one hand self-actualization has more to do with one’s own self, doing the fullest of our potentials and on the other self-transcendence has everything to do with serving other people. But to achieve that level of transcendence one has to complete the first level of achieving self-actualization.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs when translated into the design field can comprise of the following from low to high. These five essentials will be Functionality, Reliability, Usability, Proficiency and Creativity that are also explained in the following diagram.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs when translated into the design field can comprise of the following from low to high. These five essentials will be Functionality, Reliability, Usability, Proficiency and Creativity that are also explained in the following diagram.
Harry Beck who was an engineering draftsman came up with the revolutionary London Underground Tube Map, which is a perfect example of altruism in design. He drew the map in his spare time and took up the project even though it was not commissioned. The previous maps produced did not appeal since they tried to depict the tube system as well as the geographical aspect of the city, which therefore created problem in navigation. Harry devised the map based on the circuit diagrams, which he drew as an engineering draftsman. The map turned out to be a success since the public thought of it as the most comprehensible guide of the London Underground Tube System. This was an additional piece of work, which he worked on for entirely altruistic reasons.
On the contrary we have self-actualization, which has been depicted in design through various graphic designers and writers. For a long time all creative practices were very rigid and not inter-disciplinary. After the outburst of technology in design these designers found a new way of working with designs and type in combination. The letterpress, photolithography, silk-screen, the typewriter and the photocopier offered writers a new perspective to present their work in, just as these offered designers the ability to control words and communicate in a more powerful way. To support this statement I would take an example of Steve McCaffery.
Steve McCaffery is a poet who has pushed the literal into the visual realm in his works since the late 1960s. Using a typewriter to create ‘typestracts,’ (Type Abstract Art)he applies letters to paper in the way an abstract expressionist painter applies paint: energetically and freely, but not without purpose. Besides existing as visual works, McCaffery also performed his typestracts, transforming them from the visual to the oral. (1)
Steve McCaffery is a poet who has pushed the literal into the visual realm in his works since the late 1960s. Using a typewriter to create ‘typestracts,’ (Type Abstract Art)he applies letters to paper in the way an abstract expressionist painter applies paint: energetically and freely, but not without purpose. Besides existing as visual works, McCaffery also performed his typestracts, transforming them from the visual to the oral. (1)
The image above is one of the typestracts of Steve McCaffery.
This kind of practice has opened up possibilities between the visual and the written which makes it possible to use full potential and achieve self-actualization.
(1) http://www.typographichub.org/articles/entry/fearless-type-writing-self-actualization-through-design-authorship/
This kind of practice has opened up possibilities between the visual and the written which makes it possible to use full potential and achieve self-actualization.
(1) http://www.typographichub.org/articles/entry/fearless-type-writing-self-actualization-through-design-authorship/