"Designing Design"
Paolo Antonelli says designers will be the intellectuals of the future.
http://www.alvaraalto.fi/designseminar/choices/lecturers.htm
In contemporary society, designers are the ones thinking of new ways to fix issues, such as social issues, environmental problems, etc. Instead of philosophers like Marx did in the 90's, both are helping make things easier in life. It seems Antonelli may be correct, everything we interact with has been designed, from a knife handle to a car, all manufactured with for everyone, considering every factor that is impacted by its construction.
MOVIE : OBJECTIFIED
A documentary film by Gary Hustwit
http://logoblink.com/objectified-logo/
We give an object a meaning as soon as we see it. The goal of graphic design has always been mass production (industrial design), people don't realise those things were ever designed at one point, for example, the Japanese toothpick. The toothpick within it's country is understood for it's function but the design brought to the western world is not understood unless explained. The little bit on the end of the toothpick is meant to be snapped off after someone has used it (Japanese are very concerned with hygiene) it then acts as a rest for the pick. The concept is very smart but not necessarily conveyed into other cultures. Henry Ford cleverly stated that, "every object tells a story if you know how to read it." Understanding people and their needs involves understanding a narrative.
http://www.american.com/archive/2007/november-december-magazine-contents/the-glorious-toothpick
To design a product for a range of people one must cater to the extremes within the range, and that way the middle people are taken care of. Products no one thinks have been designed actually require a lot of consideration and experimentation. The veggie peeler for an example used to be a major strain on all people, especially older people suffering from arthritis, there was a lot of alterations to get something so simple. Catering for the elderly with arthritis (the extreme) allows the product to meet everyone's needs.
All to design a better experience, make it easier to use without making the change obvious. The design can be clever but it also needs to be clear, aesthetic, honest, innovative and understandable. There are a lot of unnecessary objects out in the world.
http://bestlaptops02.blogspot.com/2011/08/apple-macbook-pro-2011.html
Apple products have a very defined personality within their product range. The form developed in relation to how the designers wanted it to look and how the look would help people interact with it. The Apple MacBook changed what was known as eight different parts to assemble the key board bottom into one shell, the one part providing so much functionality and still being as un-obvious as it's predecessors. To get a design that is practically flawless, you have to determine what is important and what is not important. For example the MacBooks battery indicator is not needed to be a bulky indicator but a simply almost undetected sensor light.
A lot of products these days that have advanced because of technology, bare no relation to the function, for example the iPhone. It is basically a form of communication, the ways to communicate on it though have change epically from the original telephone. If an alien was to come to our planet and pick it up they would have very little if any knowledge as how to use the device.
Design is the search for form - what works best - looks best - easiest for consumer to use.
http://tarabernerd.com/Blog/?p=2207
Marc Newson is a successful industrial designer who works in a range of design fields and incorporates a style that is known as biomorphism. This style tends to have an absence of sharp edges.
http://www.ivarhagendoorn.com/blog/2004/12/26/mark-newson-design-museum-london
Newson designs from a future state of mind. He looks at whats going to happen not what has happened, the designs have to stand the test of time, or at least put up a good fight against it. Somethings that well designed should cost less in Newson's eyes, but sadly for the consumer it adds value and hence costs more. Anything that is very now or very next will not last long in this society.
The trick to designing something new or improving upon existing designs, is not to look at the form but to look at the function. When the toothbrush was needed to be redesigned the designers looked at redesigning oral care rather than redesigning toothbrush. Looking at the publics needs to guarantee that the product is actually improved.
http://www.ideo.com/people/jane-fulton-suri
Jane Fulton Suri, a partner at IDEO believes that designers are becoming the bridge between people and products that are hard to understand. We have to be interested in mass communication not mass production anymore.
Good design feels undesigned, so intuitive that we are not aware of it. Another concern other than making sure the public can use the object is to consider it's sustainability, the cradle to cradle scheme is talked about. This is where the object whole life is taken into consideration. That means the manufacturing, the usage and the disposal of the object is thought through.
Digital products have now become so bightous we now refer to a chair as analogue. There is an increasing 'democratisation' of design, why does 'designer objects' mean that it is out of reach to some people.
By studying the narrative (the way people behave) makes the product have the best function.
http://grainedit.com/2009/03/05/objectified-film-poster-designed-by-build/
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