Welcome to Industrial Design Response
The chapter “Understanding Industrial Design” attempts to give a general overview of the roots of industrial design and interaction design. I did not find it particularly stimulating but it was a nice summary of popular (often white) names and events to be aware of in design history. I got the feeling that the target audience is the general public or a novice designer who is looking to learn more about the “big names” and key historical events in the development of industrial and interaction design. This chapter seems to embody the value of Self-Direction. It outlines different constraints to industrial design that designers chose to work within and how that expanded the definition of industrial design. A large portion of the chapter is taken up by explaining advancements in digital products from computers, to the web, to smart phones and smart objects. The chapter talks about how as the context of consumer products skewed more digital, industrial designers had to begin answering new questions of how users interact with digital interfaces and how those interfaces should interact with their physical devices and other physical devices. Because this chapter felt like a very broad overview of the shifts in industrial design over time it seemed to assume that the audience is not previously knowledgeable about industrial design.
The second reading “Black People Invented Everything” feels completely different from the first. There are large differences in the tone and the target audience. The author refers to the reader and their family as part of the back community using terms like “we” to include the reader when referring to trends in the black community. This implies an assumption that the target audience is black. The author assumes that the reader is unaware of all of the products and practices invented by black people and even begins the article by asking the reader to ask their family to name something black people invented. It is insinuated that their family will not be able to think of anything other than peanut butter because the history of black inventors is not taught in schools and white people often took credit for black inventions. The tone of this article feels very casual. It is written almost like a person’s train of thought or a direct conversation with the reader, often directly referring to the reader or asking questions. It has an overarching tone of frustration and disbelief that this history is largely unknown (a lot of exclamation marks are used). Overall, I think this article is focused on the value of Universalism. It is written to promote understanding of black history and give proper credit to black inventors who created most of the products quintessential to American life. Unlike in the first article, there is less of a focus on the philosophy and design choices behind each invention, and instead this article serves as a compiled list of black inventors and their inventions, sorted by field. There is also a section that focuses on highlighting the readers qualities that make them a creator which promotes a greater self-appreciation and understanding of ones ability to invent, further falling under universalism.
