User:Unclebenny 713/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Design history

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
This article ties into the university class I am currently taking, which explores the history and analysis of modern design. I thought this article would be a perfect fit to evaluate.

Evaluate the article
Lead sectionThe lead section does an excellent job at introducing design history and briefly describing its widespread effect across mediums such as crafts and architecture. However, the lead doesn't describe or preview later sections in the article. While feudalism is mentioned in the lead section, the term isn't brought up again in the article in order to further emphasize the connection it has to design history. Furthermore, pre-capitalism is only glazed over in this article, which leads to some missing context.

Content

All of the content within the article is relevant to the topic. However, a majority of content discussed uses outdated sources. Old sources far outweigh any newer ones. The article does a decent job at representing cultures across the globe but there could be far more representation, especially with the "lack of worldwide view" warning on the top.

Tone and Balance

The article maintains a neutral balance throughout. In the section where debates on teaching design history are discussed, neutrality is still maintained. There is a claim that design history will branch away from art history entirely, but the article doesn't attempt to side with the claim which helps its neutrality. However, the debate between realism and geographical diversity has more information in regards to the former rather than the latter.

Sources and References

As mentioned earlier, there are more older sources rather than new and current ones. However, there is a variety of scholarly articles presented that can be accessed. There is one source that cannot be accessed directly from the article, but it is cited for reference.

Organization and writing quality

The article is well written and well organized into sections. However, it lacks additional context to certain terms discussed like feudalism and pre-capitalism. The grammar looked good, but some sentences do drag on.

Images and media

The complete lack of images in the article makes it somewhat harder to envision and understand design history.

Talk page discussion

There aren't any current conversations going on, and not many edits have been made. However, the article is within two WikiProject collaborations, both discussing Industrial design and History.

Overall impressions

This article is a good starting description of design history, but it is far from complete. The biggest thing that needs to be added right now are images that tie in with the topics discussed in the article. While the article is well organized and includes many scholarly sources, it also lacks additional context for terms that are only briefly mentioned.