Creative design as research: The application of practice base research in designing the logo of Didar Gallery of Isfahan

One of the ways to achieve creative design is to use the practice base method. In the practice base method, the designer is a researcher who consciously and freely identifies design issues from within the subject of his order and chooses and combines diverse methods appropriate to the subject to create a creative work.

The artistic product resulting from this type of research is innovative and has a theoretical framework, and due to the fact that all the data, ideas and stages of its creation are documented, the work and knowledge resulting from it can be understood, thought and expressed and can be evaluated, criticized and discussed for the target community. Creating a research and creative work with this method can increase experience, awareness and knowledge in the field of design and help promote culture, develop visual literacy and social awareness of the value of the place and role of art in society.

This article, with the aim of "visualizing the components of contemporary art" and "developing creative graphic flows" in the sign design, deals with the combined methodology and design process of the Isfahan "Gallery Didar" logo and it seeks to answer the question of how to design a creative sign based on the "components of contemporary art" and the "name" and "leading activities" of Didar Gallery. In this research design, the author has used four cognitive fields: "Graphics and Sign Design", "Process Design and Triz's Theory of Creativity" (The four basic pillars of Triz: “Contrast”, “Ideality”, “Function” and “Resources”; The eight principles of Triz: “Consolidation”, “Nesting”, “Prior Action”, “Periodic Action”, “Mediator”, “Replacement of Mechanical Systems”, “Homogeneity” & “Phase Transition”), "Contemporary Art and Galleries" (Applying seven features of Contemporary Art: “innovation and experimentation” in the unconventional design process, “using Multimedia as a new tool” in logo design, “conceptual-critical and questioning approach” which has deconstructive features, “process oriented design”, “Multiplicity of meaning”, “Multidisciplinary approach in sound engineering and image engineering” and “Social action and interactivity” through collaboration with different people for sign design) and "Structuralist & Post-Structuralist Philosophy" (Concepts such as “the metaphysics of presence”, “the priority of speech (parole) over writing (language)”, “endless chain of significations” ,“the trace of meaning”, “the Play of presence and absence”, “deferral of meaning”, “difference”).

In designing the final logo of Didar Gallery, the designer paid attention to the histogram of the recorded sound of saying the word Didar, instead of a purely written or visual approach, taking into account selected theoretical principles in the four cognitive fields and while visualizing the sound, he redesigned the letters with deformation in its geometry.

As a result, in the final design, the designer has increased the creative and thoughtful aspect of the logo by making changes in the design tools and design approach, and by deepening the design -by finding ideas from philosophical propositions (especially Derrida's deconstruction)- to the extent that the gallery logo, in addition to the status Its functionality can be considered an artwork.