DESIGN 21 



The designer's attitude is first one of intelligent 

 wonderment, of inquiry as to the possibilities of 

 the subject, and is attained through the training 

 of the imagination. A designer who sees only one 

 solution for every problem that comes to him is 

 very certain to turn out inferior work. There 

 may have been geniuses whose work was always 

 the result of swift and sure intuition, but none of 

 them is practising in landscape or any other branch 

 of design at present. 



Speaking generally, the question of use is first 

 to be considered. Use may be defined in two 

 ways, the practical and the esthetic. Of course 

 all design is fundamentally practical, inasmuch as 

 it aims to give the best solution of any problem 

 with which one is working. Whatever is to be de- 

 signed must perform its duties thoroughly; but 

 that is not enough. It must also perform them 

 gracefully, for the day has gone by when it was 

 thought that objects of use need not be attractive. 

 In fact, if a useful object is repellent in appear- 

 ance its very ugliness often militates against its 

 usefulness. Every solution of a utilitarian prob- 

 lem should appear to solve the situation so com- 

 pletely that one cannot behold it without a feeling 

 of satisfaction. Thus beautiful surrotmdings of 



