An essay is one of the most important assessment works you are going to complete in your student life. The essay marks define whether you get your distinction or not. Below we discuss what you can do to improve your essays on design.
Researching the Topic
This is the first thing you have to do before sitting down to work. Every essay writer starts by analyzing the primary sources and literature previously written on the topic. An essay is a research work, albeit not of the same quality as a degree thesis or a dissertation. Still, your ability to work in the library or archive, analyze the texts, and synthesize the information will play an important role in researching the topic of your essay.
As this is an academic work, you should use specific terminology to show your command of the subject. Speaking of design, you will have to be fluent in different names of design movements, the names of designers and design philosophers, etc. Suppose yours is an essay on interior design. In that case, you will need to know the proper names of parts of the building, materials, colors, and various stylistic and technical aspects of design.
The information you find should be tailored to your topic and fit the maximum allowed word limit, besides your own research. In other words, it is your sources and literature that serve to support your conclusions, not the other way around. To decide what to cite or not, you will need to define your essay structure.
Essay Structure
Regardless of the chosen topic, every essay writer will follow this basic structure of their work.
1. Introduction
2. Methodology
3. Main body
4. Conclusion
5. Bibliography
An introduction defines the “problem” the essay is going to address, while a conclusion goes over the solution to this problem. Speaking of interior design essays, a problem may be the rise of minimalist design in Northern Europe. In the introduction, an essay writer will need to explain why the problem deserves attention. In the conclusion, they will briefly describe the solution. They may also project the opportunities for further research.
A section on methodology tells the reader about the primary sources like https://studyfy.com/literature-study-guides for the work, the authors that have approached the topic, and their methods. Unless your own research flies in the face of all previous work on the subject, you will need to mention what school of thought you also belong to.
The main body of the essay may fall into several logical parts, according to the topic. To continue with our example, the first section will look at prerequisites and causes of developing the minimalist design concept and why it could grow in popularity in Northern Europe, especially Scandinavia.
The next section will outline the rise of minimalist trends in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries that peaked with the idea of IKEA. The third section may look at why these trends disseminated well outside of Northern Europe and what regional characteristics they acquired elsewhere.
The bibliography needs to be organized according to the method of citing to which your educational institution adheres.
The above example refers to academic essays at university. Writing a high school or college essay, you may not need a separate chapter on methodology, but the rest of the structure remains the same.
Advice for Writing a Design Essay
So, what precise tips can an essay writer use in composing a design essay that should bring the work a top mark?
Understand the Subject and Purpose of Your Essay
Misunderstanding the above will hammer a big nail in the coffin of your excellent mark. The purpose of a research work, even if it is a college assessment, is never to simply “narrate.” For narratives, we refer to Wikipedia or general articles.
For an essay, you need to understand what problem you want to solve with its help and what idea to illuminate. Speaking of design, and given a difference in colloquial and academic definitions, you will have to be very precise in your approach.
Example: writing an essay on historic interior design, think of what social and philosophical ideas it embodied and transmitted.
Strive to See a Bigger Picture
No design movement was free from previous trends. Some movements embedded ideas that were later developed independently from the main trend.
When doing your research, pay attention to what other scholars say about the origin of a particular movement and make a point of exploring those “roots” yourself. Although you do not need to delve too deep into comparative research, seeing things for yourself will greatly improve your understanding of the subject.
Example: in an essay on design movements of the last quarter of the 19th c., with the spark of interest in medieval and Renaissance art and culture, try to study a few Gothic and Renaissance interiors to see how those trends were revisited and reused by the 19th c. designers.
Avoid Purple Prose
Writing an essay, many of us try to sound sophisticated. Purple prose, that specific flowery style that you may think is appropriate for an essay on design, is actually bad. An academic work begs for a respective style, so you should adhere to it.
It is true that you will find examples of fascinating literary styles in many books and articles you read prior to composing your essay. For student essays, though, it is recommended to express your findings in a traditional academic manner.
Conclusion
Doing a degree in design may be an exciting adventure for its fans. Yet, even the most enthusiastic person may feel down when it comes to essays. You need to envelop your research, ideas, and conclusions in a specific academic form to fit a required word limit. This may occasionally dishearten any essay writer who would prefer their thoughts to run freely.
However, every work is written for a reader. In the case of a student essay, the reader is a member of the academic staff. If you follow some advice from this article, your reader will certainly be impressed.
