Explaining Design

(how to make design interesting and relevant to my parents)

Introduction sometimes I find it hard to explain what I study or what a designer actually does. When there is being referred to ‚design’ people usually mean the visual aspect of an artifact. The general audience is not well known with ‘design’ as a whole process where an artifact is the outcome of a design.

Is it to hard to explain? I don’t think this is the case. Design as a profession does not have the complexity of rocket science. But now that I have mentioned science; Science actually seems to be way better in explaining what it does by relating it to our lives. There are a lot of science magazines, science programs even science channels that are being watched by people outside of the field of science.

Random voice: But aren’t we doing exactly that at Dutch Design Week?

No, Dutch Design Week is only about the outcome of design. The main audience are people who like furniture magazines such as VT Wonen and for people who already have at least a notion and already interested in design.

What we designers consider design

Trying to define the answer to the question „what is design” is nearly impossible since everyone, even designers all have different perspective on what design is. However I will try to explain it by some of the quotes and definition I believed to be representative for how we as students of Design Academy view Design as a whole. To start out with the complexity of what design ‚is’. I will use a quote of John Heskett:

“Design (voun 1) is to design (verb) a design (noun 2) to produce a design (noun 3)“

Noun 1 — A general concept, strategy or policy

Verb — A condition or action

Noun 2 — A plan or intention for implementation

Noun 3 — The finished outcome

Here is another quote by Herskett that captures the intention of design: Design is the human capacity to shape and make our environments in ways that satisfy our needs and give meaning to our lives

But even here it is still quite vague on what shaping can mean and the design process of the design artifact is left out.

Design is problem solving, but it’s also art, editing, curation, and research:

Research is developing a deep understanding of a topic or subject. The research designers do is both in service to the client as our personal interests — both inedibly make their way into our work. Curating is about looking at content and deciding how to organize and present them; curation is deciding what is important. Problem solving is how figuring out how best to serve the client. It’s about crafting the content into a form, beginning to turn it into an artifact. Editing is the act of simplifying and removing the unnecessary, along with curating, editing is about shaping the content. Art is the quest for beauty — the aesthetic layer that is found within the design process.

What emerges from this definition is a process of sorts, designing that leads to the creation of the object — idea to artifact, content to form. Within this process, the content shapes the design, but the design also shapes the content.

Perspective of design of the public

What the public (and even some other designers) considers to be design is mainly judged by the outcome. The artifact. Whether it is an object, system or anything.

Design is decorating. Design is something that has more (economic) value than a regular object.

Relevance of design in life

Somehow there is missing a discours or interest for the public to show the meaning and relevance of design in life.

“Science has two goals; one is to order the world and one is to extend experience”

When we change the subject “science” to “design” than we actually have a pretty good definition of the intention of design.

Now not everyone can understand what is happening in science or what scientists do. Despite this there are so many tv shows, documentaries, even entire science channels devoted to science.

Sciences can explain complex things and show there relevance to us. Where books about design are either coffee table books with a lot of pictures, or books that only practicers can relate to. Discussions about design are either on a superficial level of taste, or they are to academic or in a professional jargon for the audience to understand.

Project Work Titles:

Project 1

Purpose: Educate , enthousiasm about design by making it accesible and relevant for people.

Format: film/documentary/little movies

Design Community Anthropology of Designers

Anthropology of designers. Where do they live, what do they do, what do they believe? Who are these ‘designers’ where do they live and what is it they are doing?

To who we design?

(e-)Mail has a clear recipient but to who/for who do we design?

How is design being used?

Educate about design by looking at how people are using it to learn about design.

Error through bad design

What goes wrong if design is done wrong?

The culture of Design

Project 2

Between Design & Shit (Tussen Kunst & Kitch)

Purpose: A public place / context to discuss what is design, why it is design and what it is worth. Share the discussion with the audience instead of keeping this discussion between designers only. Format: Public platform / live- show during DDW 2015

Planning:

Define questions and processes occupations I want to explore or being explained

Interview & Document

Besides ‚design’ studio’s (which are often also not good at explaining exactly what they do) I should talk with people who make television programs and advertising agency’s (who are really good on explaining/communicating to an audience) on what are ingredients to make a topic tangible for an audience.

Question to myself: Am I just making advertising for Design?

No, Yes, maybe. But in the end we as designers, we all try to sell something, whether it is an idea, a protest, a system or a product.