‘Sir. I am new to DA, so I do not know if you publish comments. Nevertheless … One sentence in DA 63 calls for comment. Brian Donnelly wrote, about the Hudson’s Bay company redesign, ‘Indeed, the power of design might even rely on the absence of its creators, as its relative anonymity focuses on the audience and erases the desire to understand ”what the designer meant” [p.94]. ‘Might’? Of course! Design serves some purpose, otherwise it is not design, for design that shows itself serves its own purpose and is art. Design must definitely not detract from but, rather, must be subservient to the purpose of the object. Consider books. Books are published to sell a story, or to argue a point. The design, then, must help sell that story or argument. Design that stands out is bad design because it interferes with the purpose of the book. Thus, the best designed books are those where the design is not evident. As only people in the trade, in which cast (caste?) I include critics, and aficionados — hobbyists, essentially — read credits, consequently the best designers are and should be generally anonymous. Which is a cruel irony: no-one should notice your best work! This is true beyond books, too.’ — Gordon D. Jomini, Fredericton.