Design history and the visual language of design

This paper surveys attitudes to design history, the case study method and the role of design history and theory in visual education. A suggested common ground for case studies is the social context, the techniques that were used and the way that design processes, products and services affect people. The question of whether there is an 'assumed theory' in designing and design history is discussed in the light of a need to establish discipline linkages in a broader study of form ' in contemporary visual communication.