The design dictionary is an essential tool for any serious discussion on design. It provides a comprehensive and structured foundation for understanding the language of design and its many nuances. With its categorical approach, the dictionary allows designers to communicate their ideas with clarity and precision, facilitating a more effective international discourse on design.
Moreover, the design dictionary serves as a source of inspiration for designers looking to expand their vocabulary and explore new concepts. By offering definitions, examples, and historical context, the dictionary encourages designers to think critically about their work and its place in the broader design landscape. Ultimately, the dictionary is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in design, providing a rich tapestry of ideas and insights that can inform and inspire creative endeavours across all disciplines.
When a glass cane is cut into thin cross-sections, coloured patterns or images created in the cane are revealed as murrine. One well-known design is the flower or star shape, which is known as millefiori when used in large quantities.Read More →
Pitt’s Act of 1797, which taxed clocks and watches, increased demand for Act of Parliament clocks, which were displayed in public spaces and had large faces with easy-to-read numerals and striking mechanisms.Read More →
Nottingham earthenware is English pottery from the thirteenth to the late eighteenth centuries. (The last authenticated piece was created in 1799.) Usually brown, with a faint metallic lustre. Often decorated with lines incised around the piece. Read More →
Keyhole pattern is a type of pierced work found on porringers, typically consisting of four to ten additional holes, with the terminal hole resembling a keyhole. It replaced the geometric pattern of c. 1730.Read More →
Dovetail is the name for a shape that looks like a dove’s tail and is used in woodworking. Joints are made up of tabs in the shape of a dovetail that fit into holes in the other part. Dovetails are often used to join the corners of cabinet drawers and box shapes.Read More →
Anchor Blocks were a German system of building blocks that were popular as a children’s construction toy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, notably in Europe. Dr F. Ad. Richter in Rudolstadt, Germany, began developing and manufacturing the system in 1879. The concept was based on the FROEBEL block system, which significantly impacted Frank Lloyd WRIGHT’s design philosophy.Read More →
Achievement is a symbol that only belongs to one family, and can be engraved or enamelled to establish provenance and date.Read More →
Ampulla is a type of vessel used to hold chrism in churches.The pouring hole is in its beak. The cover is its head. LEARN MORERead More →
A low seat with a cushion that became popular in the late 1700s. They simplified sitting. READ MORERead More →
Agitprop art (or the art of agitation) was used to manipulate ideological beliefs, specifically to spread the ideals of Communism in Russia in the period immediately following the 1917 revolution. The term ‘agitprop’ (an abbreviation for agitation propaganda: ‘agitational propaganda’) was first used shortly after the Revolution, and the Communist Party established the Department of Agitation and Propaganda in 1920.Read More →
Brazilian partridge wood is said to have dark streaks that resemble partridge plumage. This timber has a distinctive figure, occasionally with lighter stripes that resemble the markings on a partridge’s wing. It has a trunk diameter of at least 30 inches and grows to a height of 90 to 100 feet.Read More →
Moquette is a tough woollen fabric used for upholstery on public transportation all over the world. The fabric is typically composed of 85% wool and 15% nylon and is created using the weaving method known as jacquard. It has excellent thermal characteristics, keeping you warm in the winter and cool in the summer.Read More →
It helps to have an appropriate language to talk about typography. The following is a glossary of some of the words and their definitions that are used to described typography.Read More →
Regarding silverware, the design can be found on several hollow pieces that are repeatedly employed to create a band around the calyx of the piece. It was a well-known aspect of the RENAISSANCE STYLE, and later of the neo-classical style, the Adam style, and once more the regency style. The leaf, whose form changes over time, can be found as either applied or embossed decoration.Read More →
A style of decoration, developed in the United States, based on the copying of earlier English and French styles. The style was in the tradition of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, the designs being precise and academic. It was introduced to flatware in the 1880s, initiated at the Gorham Company and occurs in hollow ware from the late 1880s, its use continued into the 1920s.Read More →
The Catholic Counter-Reformation is closely related with Baroque, which peaked in Rome around 1630–1680. Despite its origins in Rome, the Baroque style influenced people all around Europe. Its rapid pace, striking realism (giving spectators the feeling that they were watching an actual event), and direct emotional appeal were perfectly suited to announcing the Catholic Church’s renewed vitality. Read More →
Futurism was an art movement consisting of painting, sculpture, and literature that flourished from 1909. It was established by Italian, poet, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and inspired by Cubism. Marinetti coined the term Futurism for the art movement that he founded. He intended it as a celebration of modernity and a rejection of romance and sentiment, it was dedicated to modernity and speed, to the violent, the urban and the mechanical.Read More →
The Necker cube illustrates how the eye can reach two conclusions. The two squares in the Necker cube can be perceived as either the front or the rear surface of the cube. Read More →