Responsibilities in an Ever Changing Landscape (Digital meets Physical)

Davis Dunaway
Sep 4, 2018 · 2 min read

There is no question that we as a species are creating more and more objects that fuse the digital and physical realms everyday. Of course, whether or not this is a good thing is a topic that is highly debated in almost every field and for a lot of people (especially designers), the side of the debate that they are on dictates what role they want to play in the ever-growing field of environments design. If you are someone who think that we are pushing to far in are search for technological advancement you likely wish to play the role of the conscious and cautious voice that pushes back against technologist, while if you are someone who embraces new technological growth, you likely want to be the person incorporating the new technologies into your designs. Both of these types of people think they have the “peoples” best interest in mind, but, is that was a designers responsibility is? If a client wants something that is either objectively or subjectively bad, what are we as a designer obligated to do? Do we ignore the request of the client because we “know better” or do we give in because its our job to facilitate what they want? This is honestly kind of a scary question to me because it applies to almost every aspect of design, especially when it comes to the fusion of Digital media into are everyday physical environments. Obviously, there are somethings where you must draw a line in the sand and refuse to compromise; however, the timing of when that line needs to be drawn gets blurred when we have to balance our responsibilities as a designer for a client vs a designer for the world.