The Shape Of Design

the shape of design

the shape of design frank chimero

Copyright © 2012 by Frank Chimero

Editor: Mandy Brown

http://www.shapeofdesignbook.com

Copyeditor: Allen Tan

http://www.frankchimero.com

Designer: Frank Chimero

the shape of design

Printed and bound by

isbn 978 - 0 - 9854722 - 0 - 7

Shapco Printing, Minnesota

first edition

Written on the road:

Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution

Portland, Oregon

Non-Commercial Share-Alike 3.0 Unported License

Austin, Texas

New York, New York

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

San Francisco, California
Los Angeles, California

The Shape of Design was born of a spirit of generosity in

Phoenix, Arizona

those who backed the book on Kickstarter. It should

Springfield, Missouri

continue that way. Share and remix the text, so long as

Wellington, New Zealand

the resulting work is non-commercial and attribution

Nottingham, England

is provided.

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Thank you.

Brighton, England

Cardigan, Wales

For all those on the road —

contents

ix xiii Foreword
Introduction

19
29
37
47

part 1: the song
How and Why
Craft and Beauty
Improvisation and Limitations
Form and Magic

61
71

part ii: in-between spaces
Fiction and Bridges
Context and Response

81
91
101
109

part iii: the opening
Stories and Voids
Frameworks and Etiquette
Delight and Accommodation
Gifts and Giving

125
129

Endnotes
Acknowledgements

liz danzico foreword Frank Chimero and I came together over a shared commitment to jazz. But not only exchanges of music. We emulated the form.
He would write a blog post. I would respond. I would improvise one of his hunches. He would iterate one of my posts. A calland-response approach to a developing friendship.
We wrote like this alongside one another without ever meeting or speaking directly – much like many of us: we never meet the people we admire from afar. We read their stories. We watch their videos. We inspect their work. We make up the in-between