Ralph Caplan: "Man's best friend, next to a dog, of course"
I write to help keep me engaged with otherwise passive thoughts and to keep tabs on what I learn, not to necessarily make a career out of design writing. I enjoy drawing too much.
This exercise is useful for me in thinking analytically about important histories, concepts, trends and voices. One of those voices I've been reading lately is Ralph Caplan.
It seems like younger designers aren't familiar with him, but Caplan is considered one of the most influential design critics. Ironically, Caplan didn't have a background in design when he became a packaging editor for Industrial Design magazine (now called I.D.) and was later promoted to editor-in-chief.
Without training as a designer, he had a particular wit to his writing style and an understanding of the everyday impact of design. As another design writer, Julie Lasky, wrote, "His formulations have not only helped designers make persuasive cases to clients and explain their jobs to their own mothers; they have also brought consciousness and conscience to the discipline."
I quoted an excerpt from one of Caplan's articles from 1979, the full article is linked below.
"A chair really is a prosthetic device for a condition that will not mend: walking upright. Chairs are not artifacts of function but artifacts of culture, and their absence is a serious cultural deprivation, as the designers of prisons and army barracks know. A chair is the first thing you need when you don't really need anything. As such, it is a peculiarly compelling symbol of civilization.
And it is civilization, not survival, that uses design."
"Man's Best Friend, Next to a Dog, Of Course" by Ralph Caplan.
