We are all designers?

Here is a quote from a famous designer on the meaning of design before moving on to the question:

“Design is about the betterment of our lives poetically, aesthetically, experientially, sensorally and emotionally.

My real desire is to see people live in the modus of our time, to participate in the contemporary world, and to release themselves from nostalgia, antiquated tradition, old rituals, kitsch and the meaningless.”

–Karim Rashid, Industrial designer—

 “Huh? What the hell does that mean?” I suppose most people will give a big frown on the face. You might catch a glimpse of it if you study design, do design or work on design. But for some people, it just does not mean anything. So what exactly does that mean?

Design = art?

Design = for the rich?

Design = fashion?

Design = decoration?

Design = aesthetics?

Design = branding?

Design = beauty?

Design = utility/ functions?

Design = meaning?

Design = ideology?

Design = quality?

All these may be part of the answer but definitely not the final answer. This quote is what most designers see in the value of design:

“To design is to purposely put things together to accomplish something better.

Humans are design-beings. We cannot help but design all day long, because we are all designers.”

 – David Butler, Vice president of global design of The Coca-Cola Company.  

Nowadays, design has become a form of new language or a new subject, like English or Japanese, Maths or Science. This creates a huge barrier of communication for those who think that they do not engage in design work, just like people who will immediately shut off the computer the moment they see the word “design”. The theory applies to those who do not study in that particular language or subject.

Whether you are a junior designer, senior designer or even a creative director, designer is not just about a job position. This job position comes in only when we talk about the value of money.

We design our career path, design our image, design our study program, design our plans for tomorrow, we design who we want to be. Even at this very moment, I am designing how my blog post should look like to the audiences.

For example, every lecture we attend is a form of design created by the conductor of the lecture. As lecture is often designed for mass audiences, there is no guarantee that every single individual will take likings to the design. For people who appreciate the design, they get engaged in the lecture. And for those who are not, they either shut off or sleep. If the majority of the class dozes off during the lecture, this might show that the conductor may not be a good designer for his lecture. Some reflections may be needed.

If designing is all about problem solving to our lives, why not design?

Jasmine 

Rashid, Karim. (n.d.). Quotation at Karim Rashid. Retrieved on 27 October 2012 from http://www.rashidglobal.net/?page_id=212

Butler, David (2009). Redesigning design. Retrieved on 27 October 2012 from http://www.aiga.org/video-makethink-2009-butler/

Lupton, Ellen (2009). Modern Design Theory. Retrieved on 28 October 2012 from http://elupton.com/2009/10/modern-design-theory/