“The design and the play” article by Paul Rand discussed the multiple ways to teach, learn and practice the fundamental principles of quality design. It mentions that having all artistic freedom and no constraints is not always a good thing. In teaching design you must set guidelines, introduce a problem and invite play to find solutions. The guidelines provide direction to a lesson in design a way to learn a fundamental. Play is involved to keep ideas fresh, keep the student or problem solver interested and finally to find solutions using imagination and individuality. For example in Josef Albers paintings he used a strict geometric rubric to challenge his use of colors to eventually create a 2 demnsional image. He accomplished this by playing with the interaction of colors. This strict limited format challenges the artist to make a 3 dimensional pattern transform into a 2 dimensional image teaching the power of color theory amongst other principles. This reading also touches on the point that if there is no challenge there is no fun. There needs to be obstacles in artistic advancement, you’ll never become a gifted designer without challenging yourself to design more complex projects. Overall the article discusses the power of restrictions in design. Complex design problems can be overcome with playful solutions.