Welcome to Industrial Design

Reading Understanding Industrial Design felt like reading my high school history textbook in terms of its tone and content. It seems to want to appeal to the very broad audience of anyone remotely interested in design, and therefore embodied the value of tradition. I applaud the way in which they condensed such a huge timeline into such a brief chapter, smoothly transitioning from industrial to interaction design. However, because of the generality, only the heavy hitters of design were mentioned. I was more disappointed by what the authors omitted than what they included. It’s understandable that not everyone can be mentioned in a relatively brief chapter, but the point remains that the generally circulated narrative of design and innovation is dominated by white men.

In contrast, Black People Invented Everything is a refreshing counter narrative on the history of invention. In fact, reading Understanding Industrial Design just before only emphasized the importance of giving credit to the legions of men and women described in Black People Invented Everything, to whom we owe life as we know it. Though just as ambitious in its scope, Black People Invented Everything is a text with a far more pointed goal. It made me laugh, made me angry, and gave me a new perspective on design.