Background. Within the framework of art-historical discourse, the peculiarities of the influence of design developments and concepts on progress of humanity are considered. Researchers offer ambiguous estimates of this phenomenon, discussions are lasting and different opinions on the issues of influence of design on technological and cultural progress of human society are putting forward. The aim of the paper is to systematize and generalize scientific concepts about the design role in the society progress. Novelty of the research consisting in synthesis of information on features of development of design for the last years in various spheres of culture and social practice defines its practical significance: the Ukrainian educators and art critics can consider the information contained in the article useful to develop new strategy of training in bases of design to non-specialist students. Methodology. Major publications and monographs on the subject have been reviewed. It has been found that terminological judgment of design began with the middle of the XX century, first, within postmodern paradigm. The design as a component of culture correlates with cultural and art traditions, philosophy, ecology and other areas of public and humanitarian knowledge. Hence, the study of the role of design in ensuring progress provides for the wide use of theoretical and methodological tools not only of design theory, but also of other disciplines: art history, cultural studies, social psychology, aesthetics, ecology, etc. The design is considered both as universal and as a national phenomenon. The definitions of design in the works of a number of domestic and foreign authors in the context of its cultural-creative influence are compared. The analysis of design in its connection with artistic creativity is carried out. The components of contemporary design art are determined, the characteristic to the newest manifestations of design is given. Results. The design represents the hierarchical structure expressed by means of а material, space and balance of proportions, contrasts, repetitions (in ornaments, etc.), scale and a form, a size, a color and density, texture and weight, and other. It is possible to consider culture of design as the huge multilayered text, which is written down by different ways in different spheres of culture and art. However the dilemma “art or production” in the sphere of design is inevitable. Design is directly involved in technical progress in material culture and uses the art of planning, invention, modeling as a method, also introducing new object forms (see, for example, Vershinin & Melentyev, 2005: 1001). The design role in culture is connected with creation of esthetically perfect fine environment. At the same time, it is differentiated essentially depending on the region of the world. So, design creativity is reasonably considered a manifestation of project activities and project culture of the 20th century. However, the progressive function of design at the beginning of the 21st century is that design is becoming a way to bridge the gap between technical civilization and spiritual culture, and design projecting is becoming a way of harmonizing human life in a modern environment. The importance of design for the progress of humankind is clearly demonstrated by the modern ecological direction, one of the components of the international movement of “green” design, namely, “environmental” design. This concept implies the creation of products that are compatible with the environment, the reduction and complete elimination of the negative impact on nature through the use of alternative resources and energy, as well as non-toxic materials. Ideally, the design should be in line with the “3R” ecological principle: reduce, reuse, and recycle. The value of design for progress in art can be understood, having only tracked integration of painting, architecture, industrial and graphic design and having seen what the role in tangled process of creation of design is played by contents and a form, which also are the expression of the thought, the point of view and social responsibility of the designers. It is also important to emphasize the role of the designer’s profession, because for many artists design and art is a cultural mission, where life and work are inseparable. Judgments of design in art are formed, proceeding from two types of estimates: symbolical, or associative (external), and formal (internal). Symbolical estimates are mostly subjective and have no relation to design or art per se, being most often based on a habit, rumors, others thought, personal factors, prejudices, misunderstanding, that is on social, psychological, political, financial and even religious factors. Internal assessments concern an esthetics and actually design (appearance of the work of art, its visual quality) regardless of what it personifies. If external estimates belong to contents, then internal – to beauty. The latter is difficult to measure it and here such factors as talent, erudition, taste, susceptibility, experience and visual feeling matter. When determining a role of design in art, it is also necessary to remember that the principles of laconicism, laws of color, a rhythm and even plot equally work in any material, these fundamentals exist out of time, space, the state, school or style. To resume, human progress is largely driven by the positive influences of design concepts. Summarizing the views of Ukrainian and foreign researchers, it can be argued that design as a type of purposeful creative activity of mankind contributes to progress, since: 1) provides support for the development of civilization by creating new and improving known man-made objects; 2) creates an optimal human environment in order to achieve maximum comfort of his existence; 3) contributes to the formation of creative personality traits, its purposeful activity, which is one of the main social tasks. Design acts as an universal phenomenon, which covers different spheres of human activity, being, at the same time, the factor of socio-cultural communication and the basis for personality realization. As the socio-cultural phenomenon, it correlates with understanding of the person as source of intrinsic forces acting like the harmony catalyst in space.
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