Graphic Design Showcase and Blog of Fred Cilliers
DA VINCI: ARTIST OR DESIGNER?
Leonardo da Vinci > Did he see himself primarily as an artist or as a designer?
By Stephen Bailey
In the renaissance, draughtsman did what was called disegno. For Leonardo da Vinci, the greatest draughtsmen of them all, disegno meant not just the art and craft of drawing itself, but the ability to communicate ideas graphically. Leonardo’s broad interpretation of disegno was very close to what we call “design”: an ability to conceptualise an idea, express it in materials and prove it by demonstration. When the word disegno migrated into English in the sixteenth century, it came to mean not merely “drawing”, but intention.
Today, design has both these senses: a useful mixture of creative expression and intellectual purpose. Leonardo knew that already. In his letter of application to Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, he listed his talents and achievements, putting the design of useful canals far in front of mere decorative painting or sculpture.
“Design is an art that works.”
