Welcome To Industrial Design: Chapter Comparison
By Kendall Williamson
The two chapter, “Black People Invented Everything” and “A Brief History of Industrial and Interaction Design,” differ their structure, purpose, audience, and message among other things. For “Black People Invented Everything,” the audience that the author is trying to reach is readers fascinated with the true origin of different variations of design in America. The readers that actually gave this chapter a look most-likely consisted of black people in America who are interested in the contribution that their ancestors had in this country. “A Brief History of Industrial and Interaction Design” is targeting people who are interested in learning more about the history of design in America and its evolution from the Industrial Revolution to today. It is assumed that the readers of “Black People Invented Everything” have little to know knowledge of the history of design for African Americans and what challenged or obstructed for their work being well known. The author challenges the reader’s knowledge of black’s history of design in America, which exemplifies their lack of confidence that the reader knows about the information that is about to be shared. The authors of “A Brief History of Industrial and Interaction Design” assume that the audience is unaware of the different periods of design evolution and the context in which these occurred. The first chapter referenced seems to value the truth and informing their audience of what the truth is. They intend to eliminate the previous knowledge that the audience may or may not have on certain inventions, ideas, and designs and replace them with what they believe to be true. Additionally, they clearly value the contribution that African Americans have on the United States and address them as if they are the starting point of many of the elements of design in America that we may recognize today. The other chapter seems to value the circumstances in which the designs that are part of each individual revolution were created. They also value the creative process and the challenges that were overcome by the designers that were referenced. Th voice of the two chapter are clearly different. The author of “Black People Invented Everything” appears to be very frustrated in the current lack of knowledge on significant black designers, creators, and inventors and the misinformed audience that accompanies this. The voice of “A Brief History of Industrial and Interaction Design” is much more informative and educational. They are simply giving their audience information on the history of design. There is no claim being made or argument being had on behalf of a specific group like the other chapter. “Black People Invented Everything” makes a claim in the title and affirms this claim in the subtitle with the hope that the reader recognizes the title is their honest opinion and not simply an attention grabber. This chapter covers several African American designers and their significant ideas that manifested into something important. The author of this chapter does not simply accept history as it is written and taught. They challenge it and disagree with it and choose to inform the reader that there is much more than meets the eye. They assign ownership of these ideas to African Americans because there was a period of time where blacks could not lawfully do so themselves. The other chapter is more focused on the design itself and the evolution of ideas rather than those who made it. However, the “inventors” of the products referenced in the chapter are also discussed. The author is also interested in the specific details of some of the products that arose from the different ages of design. They present a timeline from the industrial revolution up to today’s information age run by digital technology.
