CTS B | Week 11: The Critical Brain Manifesto
What is scarier than Halloween? The answer, as our collective manifesto revealed, is the unmasking of one's own biases. Our group synthesized the entire Critical Thinking curriculum into the concept of the Critical Brain (Fig. 1), a visualization assigned for our five core principles to different regions. This demonstrates that critical thinking is not a single academic discipline but a constellation of metacognitive habits essential for design practice.
The first principle, “Question everything, especially your own intentions,” established the mandatory bedrock of self-regulation, forcing us to unpack our biases. This aligns directly with Stephen Brookfield's model of critically reflective practice, which posits that uncovering and challenging our assumptions is the hardest but most essential task of adult learning (Brookfield, Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher, 21). The subsequent principles- “Truth is constructed,” “Think critical, not chronological,” “Reason before reaction,” and “Write to understand yourself” - collectively map the module’s learning outcomes, transforming abstract analysis into concrete action steps for any creative brief.
While the framework is strong, I would personally advocate for elevating the emphasis on Principle 3, “Think critical, not chronological.” The linear approach suffocates genuine creativity; true critical design requires non-sequential thinking, moving fluidly between ideation and critique. If I were to make a change, I would add a sixth, externally focused principle: “Critique the System, Not the Symptom.” This mandate for structural analysis would better integrate the societal critique we explored in earlier weeks regarding power dynamics and ethics.
The most significant aspect of CTS B for my overall programme is the final principle, “Write to understand yourself.” The reflection journal has become the literal blueprint of my evolving designer identity. In Studio , this writing process moves my work beyond aesthetics; the structural form is a critically articulated decision about load-bearing and user experience. This reflective practice is also vital in Design Skills and Materiality. The constant mandate to “Reason before reaction” ensures that immediate technical feedback isn't taken personally but is used as data for Donald Schön's concept of reflection-in-action (The Reflective Practitioner, 54).
This systematic methodology governed my personal Peatlands Zine project (See Fig. 2 & 3). Developed from a transformative 10-day regional expedition across Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, the Zine aimed to expose the political and economic systems driving the haze crisis and the destruction of peatlands. This goal required full deployment of the Critical Brain. The need for a singular, organized output in the Zine further highlights why Massimo Vignelli's systematic approach is the professional application of our manifesto's goal. His Unigrid System is the embodiment of “Write to understand yourself,” showing how rigorous documentation is the most powerful tool for ensuring high-quality, scalable, and consistent external communication. CTS B successfully synthesized these disparate program threads into a singular, unified, and self-aware design methodology, proving that the creative act is fundamentally an intellectual one.
Total Word Count: 463 Words
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Works Cited
Brookfield, Stephen. Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. Jossey-Bass, 1995. (Page 21)
Schön, Donald A. The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Basic Books, 1983. (Page 54)
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Massimo Vignelli (1931–2014)
The 1972 New York City Subway Map (1972)
National Park Service Unigrid System (1977)
American Airlines Identity (1967)
