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“I began to think about William Shakespeare, the great literary figure. I would reckon he thought of himself as a dramatist. The thought that he was writing literature couldn't have entered his head. His words were written for the stage. Meant to be spoken not read.”

He, same, regarded himself as a songwriter and singer who wished his music be heard rather than asking himself whether his songs are literature or not.

Mundane. It is impossible that Shakespeare wrote down the act in which the prince of Denmark holding the skull of the jester in the graveyard without thinking about how to “build” a graveyard on the stage. Props, costumes, stage setting, etc. are the mundane factors that the prestigious man in English literature had in mind while creating the masterpiece. Bob Dylan did not claim to be the Shakespeare in the field of songwriting (er, perhaps he did?) but he wrote his songs like the playwright wrote his plays. They concerned more practical matters. Mundane works. They considered mundane but necessary things in order to accomplish these mundane works, eventually making their works not mundane at all.

Designers do not think about how their designs will be admired or what award will they win. All they care and should care is how can the design be made and how their users going to use them.The skills, knowledge and experiences they need to acquire in order to achieve these goals, is dull, knotty but essential to design. Designers don’t need to pose themselves as artists. Their works will proof their reputations.

One thing we shouldn’t forget is that Shakespeare also wrote poetry and he is indeed a writer. How about designers? Did their identity recognition as artists make them better designers? Should they become artists? Do we want them to become artists?

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