Summary Of Humanistic Design = Transformative Results By Michael Anderson

Anderson begins her argument with a mantra from Michael Graves website, ‘“Humanistic Design=Transformative Results”’ (Anderson, 1). By utilizing this phrase Anderson is concisely conveying her thesis that Michael Graves was inspired by humans in his works. Along with that this mantra begins her characterization of Graves designs as transformative because it was human centered, and serves as a segue into the discussion of Graves’ creations and career. When discussing the creations of Michael Graves, Anderson uses a selection of words that emphasizes the human influence on Graves work. For example she used the words, accessible, understandable, and poignant…’ (Anderson, 6) to describe Graves goal in his works. These words aid in Anderson's argument in that they highlight the ‘human friendly’ objective Graves had in his works. Also, using phrases such as ‘...to all passerby…’ and ‘for the masses’ further conveys to the reader Grave’s initiative to make his designs as helpful as possible to ‘the everyday human being’.
She mentions how Graves continued on with his consumer focused products despite critics’ claims that he ‘“cheapened”’ his works. By adding this detail, Anderson is further emphasizing how Graves sole focus in his career was to make people's lives more accessible regardless of the opinions of his peers. Anderson also makes use of anecdotes to build her argument. She describes how Graves still had the motivation to create designs that would help humans even when he was wheelchair bound. She states, “he realized that the design of hospitals and equipment...could be redesigned and made more functional, comfortable, and visually appealing. He then went on to improve ubiquitous devices such as wheelchairs and walking cranes...,” (Anderson, 15). This anecdote shows that even when Graves was in the lowest point of his life, he still wanted to ease the human