As designers, we know that things are not always clear on the first view but there’s a solution in there somewhere if we just work hard enough to find it.
“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”
Henri Matisse
Seeing is believing, but seeing design solutions is not always that easy. One of the fascinating things about Matisse “The Cut-Outs Show” now on display at MoMA is that it showcases work from his late career. We think of cut-outs as something that a child can do, but it took the eye and mind of an older, experienced artist to create the sensational shapes in this show. Art critic Coline Milliard writes, “The dazzling freshness of the cut-outs may occasionally distract from the fact that these works are works of maturity, and an occasion for Matisse to revisit his oeuvre.”
As designers, we know that things are not always clear on the first view but there’s a solution in there somewhere if we just work hard enough to find it. We have to experiment, try out different solutions. We rephrase the messaging, reorganize the type. Can it be said in fewer words? Will an image support the meaning? Will it change the meaning? And will that help or hurt the communication objective? Matisse experimented with layers and layers of paper cut-outs in a myriad of variations to finally realize the ultimate forms that we now admire. The best design solutions require that kind of reiteration.
It is through this design process that the best solutions will blossom.
More on Matisse
See The Matisse Cut-outs with Blake Gopnick and Christian Viveros-Faune in this funny video.
Matisse Cut-ups with Cut-outs
"Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs" runs at MoMA through February 8, 2015.
