In The Aesthetics of Imagination in Design, Mads Folkmanninvestigates design in both material and immaterial terms. Design objects, Folkmann argues, willalways be dual phenomena -- material and immaterial, sensual and conceptual, actual and possible.Drawing on formal theories of aesthetics and the phenomenology of imagination, he seeks to answerfundamental questions about what design is and how it works that are often ignored in academicresearch. Folkmann considers three conditions in design: the possible, the aesthetic, and theimagination. Imagination is a central formative power behind the creation and the life of designobjects; aesthetics describes the sensual, conceptual, and contextual codes through which designobjects communicate; the concept of the possible -- the enabling of new uses, conceptions, andperceptions -- lies behind imagination and aesthetics. The possible, Folkmann argues, is containedas a structure of meaning within the objects of design, which act as part of our interface with theworld. Taking a largely phenomenological perspective that reflects both continental and Americanpragmatist approaches, Folkmann also makes use of discourses that range from practice-focusedaccounts of design methodology to cultural studies. Throughout, he offers concrete examples toillustrate theoretical points. Folkmann's philosophically informed account shows design -- in allits manifestations, from physical products to principles of organization -- to be an essentialmedium for the articulation and transformation of culture.
