Product design, advertising, tools, appliances. Business Forms. Personal, Social, Cultural, Traditional, Contemporary, Commercial orientation/application . . . .
Action, Performance, Profession, Gathering, Position, Purpose, Ceremony . . . . Fitted . . . . Related actions contributing to larger action . . . . Correspondence, Variable, Quality, Trait, Measurement in relation to others . . . Result, Characteristic Behavior, Subroutine, Calculation . . . .To Serve, Carry On, Operate
The acts or operations expected . . . .
Function implies a definite end or purpose that the one in question serves or a particular kind of work it is intended to perform ["The function of language is two-fold: to communicate emotion and to give information . . . " -Aldous Huxley].
C O N S I D E R
Function is present when a design is to serve a purpose. [Wong, Wucius. Principals of Two-Dimensional Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1972.]
Developments may proceed through personal appreciation of the arts and art works on a very general level . . . . or may proceed specific to a discipline [i.e., Oil Painting, Photography, Intaglio, etc.] or disciplines . . . . or may proceed with focus upon categories of visual arts experience [i.e., aims and objectives involved with visual elements and relationships] . . . . or may proceed specific to a Historic, Cultural, Practical, Theoretical, or Topical focus.
R E F E R E N C E S
1 Function n [L function-, functio performance, fr. fungi to perform; pr ob. akin to Skt bhurikte he enjoys] [1533] 1: professional or offical position: Occupation 2: the action for which a person or thing is specially fitted or used or for which a thing exists: Purpose 3: any of a group of related actions contributing to a larger action; esp: the normal and specific contribution of a bodily part to the economy of a living organism 4: an offical or formal ceremony or social gathering 5a: a mathematical correspondence that assigns exactly one element of one set to each element of the same or another set b: a variable [as a quality, trait, or measurement] that depends on and varies with another [height is a __ of age]; also: Result [illnesses that are a __ of stress] 6: characteristic behavior of a chemical compound due to a particular reactive unit; also: Functional group 7: a computer subroutine; specif: one that performs a calculation with variables provided by a program and supplies the program with a single result
-Syn Function, Office, Duty, Province mean the acts or operations exepcted of a person or thing. Function implies a definite end or purpose that the one in question serves or a particular kind of work it is intended to perform [the function of language is two-fold: to communicate emotion and to give information -Aldous Huxley]. Office is typicaly applied to the function or service expected of a person by reason of his trade or profession or his special relatioship to others [they exercise the offices of the judge, the priest, the counsellor -W. E. Gladstone]. Duty applies to a task or responsiblity imposed by one's occupation, rank, status, or calling [it is the judicial duty of the court, to examine the whole case -R. B. Taney]. Province applies to a function, office, or duty that naturally or logically falls to one [nursing does not belong to a man; it is not his province -Jane Austen]
2 Function vi [1856] 1: to have a function: Serve [an attributive noun __s as an adjective] 2: to carry on a f unction or be in action: Operate [a government __s through numerous divisions]
Functonalism n [1914] 1: a philosophy of design [as in architecture] holding that form should be adapted to use, material, and structure. 2: a theory that stresses the interdependence of the patterns and institutions of a society and their interaction in maintaining cultural and social unity 3: a doctrine of practice that emphasizes practical utility or functional relations
[Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition. Springfield, MA, USA: Merriam-Webster, Inc. 1995.]
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