Hacking Design by Avinash Rajagopal

Originally written by Rajagopal as a thesis for the School of Visual Arts Master’s program in design criticism, Hacking Design examines both common histories and persisting misunderstandings between hackers and designers and uncovers shared ground on which the two creative communities can work together. Rajagopal nimbly skips between the computer and design communities, from Makerbot to the Hacking Ikea site, from 3-D printing to DIY, providing 23 illustrated examples.

Avinash Rajagopal is an assistant editor at Metropolis magazine. He graduated in industrial design from the National Institute of Design (NID), India, and holds an MFA in Design Criticism from the School of Visual Arts, New York. Rajagopal has designed urinals, taught culture theory, researched color trends in design history, and was one of the founders of the design-editorial consultancy Superscript. He recently co-edited the catalog for “Adhocracy,” an exhibition on open design displayed at the Istanbul Design Biennial 2012. His writing has appeared in MetropolisChange Observer, Little Design Book, and Take on Art.