Elements of Design: Rowena Reed Kostellow and the Structure of Visual Relationships [Paperback]

Gail Greet Hannah (Author)

Book Description

Series: Design Briefs | Publication Date: July 1, 2002

A hands-on book design students and designers alike will welcome.Elements of Design is a tribute to an exceptional teacher and a study of the abstract visual relationships that were her lifelong pursuit. Rowena Reed Kiostellow taught industrial design at Pratt Institute for more than fifty years and the designers she trained-and the designers they're training today-have changed the face of American design. This succinct, instructive, invaluable book reconstructs the series of exercises that led Kostellow's students from the manipulation of simple forms to the creation of complex solutions to difficult design problems. It includes her exercises and commentary along with selected student solutions, and concludes with examples of work from former students who became leaders in the field, including such well-known figures as Tucker Viemeisater, Ralph Applebaum, Ted Muehling, and many others.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I feel so kindred to her process and philosophy. She poignantly illustrates that design is a life discipline. I wish I'd had the opportunity to study with her." --Interior Design

"A loving tribute to an influential design instructor presented in lesson form. Part profile of a great instructor, part tutorial, this overview of Kostellow's work remains a source of inspiration and coaching for future industrial designers." -- Design Issues

"Any book about such an important figure deserves to be read again and again, especially its essays by such luminaries as Paola Antonelli and Judy Collins." -- Metropolis

"An invaluable resource to students, designers and instructors, the book reconstructs Kostellow's teaching methodology and exercises, which oncehelped shape American design and now resets the stage to do so again." --I.D. Magazine

"This book collects, for the first time, her exercises on abstract visual relationships. The work is of interest to anyone involved in any aspect of design as it explores the fundamentals of form, structure, and space." --DesignLink

About the Author

Gail Greet Hannah is a writer specializing in design and marketing. She was a friend of Rowena Reed Kostellow and worked with her to publish her teaching method. She lives in Cold Spring Harbor.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568983298
• ISBN-13: 978-1568983295
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #95 in Books > Arts & Photography > Study & Teaching

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of The Elements of Design, November 4, 2002

By 

Julian Winston (Tawa, Wellington New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elements of Design: Rowena Reed Kostellow and the Structure of Visual Relationships (Paperback)

I do believe I am somewhat qualified to review this work. After all I was one of Rowena's "boys" in the early 1960s.
The last time I saw Rowena in 1985 she told me she was working on a book. At the time, I was teaching three dimensional design at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. I too wanted to write a book about three-dimensional design and had given it a good start. Along the way I realized the impossibility of writing about dimensional design. It can't be done. It can be approached, as this present work does. But when you get right down to understanding the words on the page, they are as slippery in writing as they were with Rowena in person. I couldn't conceive how she could write it down. It is not surprising that she did not finish it. Her thoughts were too abstract to concretize them.
I recall one dialog with her:
"Not quite," she said turning my work. "Just look at it."
"I'm looking, Rowena, "I replied.
"Well look at it some more. You need to get the balance."

The book outlines a series of exercises that Rowena used to develop the ability to see dimensionally. As her student, I did all those exercises, and looking at them in the book and reading the comments of others (many of whom were my classmates) brings back many memories.
I recall how, four years after graduation, I was working in an ID office designing a typewriter, when suddenly it all became clear. I phoned her that evening. "Well, you were a smart kid, Winston. I figured you'd get it."
And then six more years from there, seeing the "convexity" problem that my parents had so proudly displayed in their living room, and realizing that I now *at that instant,* saw why she had been disappointed with it. My experiences are echoed by many of those quoted. It is nice to know that I was not alone.

The reader can look at the projects shown (and beautiful pictures they are!), and read her words and the words of her pupils, and perhaps they will get a glimmer of what an amazing force this woman was. But her text is slippery, and by being that slippery, it is the quintessential Rowena.
Her method, as is stressed in the book, was completely experiential. You can read *about* it but to fully understand it you have to do it-- and do it with guidance. You need to *do* the work in three dimensions and have her (or someone who studied with her) standing over you to say, "Not quite. Look at it some more."
If this book can get a younger generation interested in doing this work before all the "old guys" die off, then it will be a even more lasting monument to her vision.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars visual exercises - for serious designers, May 4, 2004

By 

Robert J. Crawford (Balmette Talloires, France) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Elements of Design: Rowena Reed Kostellow and the Structure of Visual Relationships (Paperback)

This is a technical book that is an attempt to teach what RRK developed over a lifetime obsession with visual compositions. She did one thing, over and over, refining it over a long and productive career at Pratt, in Brooklyn. As such, I believe that it would best be used in the classroom, rather than as a simple read for those who want to understand modern design. Being ignorent about issues in studio design - really doing it, rather than observing it like I do - I got a lot out of it. But I will need to refer to it and read through many more times to truly absorb the exercises. For what it is, the book is a masterpiece as an exercise in visual thinking and the method left its imprint on many of the greatest American designers from before WWII to the 1980s.

Recommended, but for designers rather than design critics.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exceptional work., November 16, 2002

By 

mriggi (NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elements of Design: Rowena Reed Kostellow and the Structure of Visual Relationships (Paperback)

I was a student of Ms. Reed at New York's Pratt Institute. This work by Gail Hannah is an important, and accurate, description of Reed's visual design methodology that has had far reaching positive consequences for our nation. Anyone seeking to understand how the visual design of three-dimensional objects can be taught, and subsequently successfully implemented, will appreciate this book. The practice of designing three-dimenional objects for use by people is an oft misunderstood subject since it is not conventional engineering nor an art unto itself. Industrial design is a unique combination of skills that forms a bridge between the end user of objects and the manufacturer. Hannah's work on Ms. Reed, her origins, and her teaching technique, begins to fill the gap in our knowledge of American ingenuity and our ability to invent. Highly recommended.