Parallel Design Approaches: Doug Scott

DOUG SCOTT

Doug Scott is a graphic designer who studied architecture for six years at the University of Nebraska. Before studying graphic design at Yale, he worked for three architecture/design firms and was a draftsman and cartographer in the United States Army Reserve.

Things I have learned in studying architecture that I have used as a graphic designer and teacher of design:

• systems
• three-dimensional thinking
• materials and their uses
• comprehending and organizing space
• proportion
• hierarchy
• color
• geometry
• putting forms together
• positive/negative
• texture and rhythm
• understanding sequence and time
• considering light
• pragmatics
• drawing as thinking
• drawing as communication
• drawing as a conversation with myself
• managing complexity
• from idea to form
• meaning
• designing for people
• creating an experience
• the importance of detail
• the importance of sketch models
• understanding scale
• how things are made
• history as inspiration
• history as explanation
• to respect nature
• critical path diagrams
• understanding construction
• site planning
• being aware of how long tasks take
• considering the cost of things
• different design processes
• how to talk about my work
• how to talk with others about their work
• having an opinion, and expressing it
• making working drawings
• writing specifications
• engineering mechanics