The Design CodeĀ® Process

Fred Griffin, developer of The Design CodeĀ® (1931-2011)

Fred Griffin's teaching career spanned 53 years. Over the decades, his laboratory was his classroom.  He made it a life-long goal to reduce the visual components of picture-making to an absolute basic, building-block level-- to bring logic to the creative "table."


His system is a remedy for creative "block." It is a tool that enables the user to quickly generate many possible solutions to a visual problem. Former students praise his unique classification system, as they use it to meet creative deadlines.


Griffin began to explore the priciples of design and his own theories, as a graduate of prestigious Chouinard Art institute (now California Institute of the Arts, in Los Angeles), and later, at the University of Washington. For many years he was a professional artist, and core faculty member of the well-respected, private Seattle art school, The Burnley School of Professional Art (which later became The Art Institute of Seattle). He also taught at nationally recognized Cornish School of Allied Arts, Seattle. He was a Northwest painter, and a member of the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Art), and the Graphic Artists Guild.


If you'd like to enjoy Griffin's explorations, paintings and sketchbooks, go to http://fredgriffinart.com That website was created to catalog his paintings and honor his legacy.

Enter Text

Order Learning First in Black and White, second edition, at: Cunepress.com ($20.00)