Rosanne Somerson & Mara Hermano 
The Art of Critical Making [PDF ebook] 
Rhode Island School of Design on Creative Practice

Describes the world’s leading approach to art and design
taught at Rhode Island School of Design

At Rhode Island School of Design students are immersed in a
culture where making questions, ideas, and objects, using and
inventing materials, and activating experience all serve to define
a form of critical thinking–albeit with one’s
hands–i.e. ‘critical making.’ The Art of Critical
Making, by RISD faculty and staff, describes fundamental
aspects of RISD’s approach to ‘critical making’ and how this can
lead to innovation. The process of making taught at RISD is deeply
introspective, passionate, and often provocative.

This book illuminates how RISD nurtures the creative process,
from brief or prompt to outcome, along with guidance on the
critical questions and research that enable making great works of
art and design.

* Explores the conceptual process, idea research, critical
questions, and iteration that RISD faculty employ to educate
students to generate thoughtful work

* Authors are from the faculty and staff of the Rhode Island
School of Design, which consistently ranks as the number one fine
arts and design college in the United States

The Art of Critical Making shows you how context,
materials, thought processes, and self-evaluation are applied in
this educational environment to prepare creative individuals to
produce dynamic, memorable, and meaningful works.

Table of Content

Foreword 5
John Maeda

Preface 11
Frank R. Wilson

The Art of Critical Making: An Introduction 19
Rosanne Somerson

Groundwork 32
Leslie Hirst

Text and Context: Outward in All Directions 52
Daniel Cavicchi

Conversation: Drawing 74
Patricia C. Phillips

Thingking 94
John Dunnigan

Object Lessons 116
Sarah Ganz Blythe

Conversation: Materials 138
Kelly Dobson

Graphic Design, Storytelling, and the Making of Meaning 164
Lucinda Hitchcock

The Nature Imperative 190
Neal Overstrom

Conversation: Critique 210
Eva Sutton

Acting into the Unknown 230
Pradeep Sharma

Afterword 245
Mara L. Hermano

Acknowledgments 251

Contributors 253

Illustrations 261

Index 265

About the author

ROSANNE SOMERSON is the Provost at Rhode Island School of Design. A professor for more than 25 years, she has lectured in museums, conferences, corporations, and schools across the world. She has maintained her own studio since 1978 and has exhibited work extensively in museums throughout the United States and internationally including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Louvre in Paris.

MARA L. HERMANO is Executive Director of Strategic Planning and Academic Initiatives at Rhode Island School of Design. Trained as an art historian, she has focused her career on the intersection of art and design, culture, and higher education