Four layers of design
Design is more than aesthetics, functionality, or strategy — it’s a way of solving problems and shaping the world. In my last essay, I explored the three layers of design: aesthetic design, which inspires through beauty; functional design, which enhances usability; and strategic design, which addresses business challenges. But is there a deeper layer? Inspired by Richard Buchanan’s “Four Orders of Design” and thinkers like Otto Scharmer and Rick Rubin, I propose a fourth: spiritual design. This layer connects design to the energy of what wants to emerge in the world, going beyond tools and systems to align with the future’s call. Let’s explore how design can become a medium for transformation, grounded in purpose and possibility.
Design is problem solving. This can happen in different areas. In my previous essay, I dove into what strategic design is. In it, I argued that strategic design focuses on business problems where more traditional design focuses on aesthetics or functionality. These could be seen as three layers of design: aesthetic design, functional design, and strategic design. But if there are three layers of design, is there also a fourth? If you are into design theory, you probably have heard of the four orders of design that Richard Buchanan defined. He defines the four orders of design as:
- Communication (signs and symbols)
- Objects
- Interactions
- Systems
Each order becomes more complex. Each order focuses on something different. These four orders have a slightly different way to organize design than I have with aesthetic, functional, and strategic although there is some resemblance. The three layers I have are:
- Aesthetic
- Functional
- Strategic
All three layers have a different focus and solve different problems.
Aesthetic design
Aesthetic design is about beauty. This is the artistic part of design. Beauty opens the heart. We love beauty, beautiful things. We are drawn to beauty. Beauty makes us feel good. If you want to attract people, you create beauty. With beauty, you can touch people. The quote that goes with this layer is: “Design won’t save the world, but it damn sure makes it look good.”
“Design won’t save the world, but it damn sure makes it look good.” — Mary Crawford
Functional design
The next layer of design is about the interactions we have with the world around us through our tools. Tools are one of the most empowering things in the world. Tools enhance human abilities. Tools make us faster, stronger, smarter. The shape of the tool dictates how it can be used. Some tools are easier to use and more powerful than others. These interactions with these tools need to be designed. The quote that goes with this layer is: “Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.”
“Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.” — Steve Jobs
Strategic design
The third layer of design is about business value. The tools we use are produced by businesses that need to make money to make those tools. These business in turn also use tools to be more efficient, create more value, and reach more customers. Design can help businesses to reach these goals and solve the problems they face. The world changes and businesses need to adapt. Technologies evolve and businesses need to find a way to leverage new technologies to stay relevant. Customer’s need change and businesses have to stay in touch with these changing needs. Design can help with that: not just with beauty and functionality but also with thinking. A quote that fits this layer is: “Design is thinking made visual.”
“Design is thinking made visual.” — Saul Bass
The fourth layer of design: spiritual design
Following these three layers, we are diving deeper and deeper. What would be the fourth layer if we dig even deeper than design helping business create value? We have passed beauty and love, our tools and our interactions with them to shape the world, and helping the organizations that create these tools and and the products that populate our world. I think the fourth layer is about the spirit, about what wants to be born in the world. Otto Scharmer touches upon that in his Theory U model. He talks about how we can contribute to the world by leading from the future, by being the landingstrip on which what wants to be born can land. This is a spiritual view on change and on design. Rick Rubin also talks about the fact that an artist or a designer is a medium for something that wants to be born in his book The Creative Act. This is a layer that goes deeper than the business layer but also touches the beauty layer because new things land in this world through beauty. So on the one hand, I would visualize the four layers like this (with going deeper):
But because what want to be born in this world lands through the first layer (beauty), I would draw the four layers as a circle:
The spiritual is the energy in the world that manifests and is stronger than the businesses we create. It is about doing the right thing, doing what needs to be done, doing what cannot be avoided. The question here is: where does the world want to go? How can what we do be linked to where the world is going? This layer is about leadership, leading the way, seeing the way, creating space for the future to land.
“Leadership is about being better able to listen to the whole better than anyone else can.”― C. Otto Scharmer
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