Roomba Cat!

Here is my response to this past Monday's lecture.

art vs design

            Throughout the earlier part of my college life it would not be irregular to find myself immersed in a conversation where I would be asked, “Where do you go to school?” I would always reply initially with, “Oh, I go to art school”. But looking back on the past few semesters, I find myself replying, “I go to design school”. What made me make that distinction, I don’t really know! I think design sounds cooler, and more modern. But is that really the only reason?

Design is a form of Art, but not all Art can be called Design. A Van Gogh would be called a work of art, but would it be called a product of design? Designed objects are created to serve a specific function or purpose. In response, one might say that Impressionist artists “designed” their paintings to express their emotions and show their personality. But I feel like it needs to be taken more literally, at a more basic level. The life of a designed object is planned from the start.  All aspects of the possible functions and purposes for the object, may it be an actual product or an intangible service design, are taken into account in the design of the object. That is what makes it design. A work of art does not necessarily need to have such a purpose in mind. Sure it will have a purpose, but not one that is so specifically planned out to serve a specific function.

            Having said this, there exists today objects and works that delve into both the realms of Art and Design simultaneously. One such object is “Urban Vinyl”, or Designer Toys. These objects are what their names imply: toys. Toys that were designed to be toys, to serve the purpose of being a collectible object, that may have certain functions pertaining to movable parts, accessories, etc. But the Designers that design these toys take a different approach that that of the designer of the hottest new action figure at Toys’R’Us. The designers work to make these toys as individual and unique as an impressionist painting. They are in themselves, works of Art, but at the same time service the purpose of a designed object: in this case, a toy. 

            I classify myself as a designer, not an artist. I may strive to be artistic in my designs, but ultimately I am a designer. Designers take Art to the next level, where it is no longer just an expression of thought or representation. Not to say that Designers are greater beings than Artists, but in terms of process, Designers take an additional step in the process.   

grameenphone

last weekend, i volunteered a bit of my time helping out at “a better world by design”, a student organized conference at brown. on sunday, i attended the last keynote presentation of the conference, by iqbal quadir, the founder of grameenPhone.

 grameenphone was started with the idea in mind that you shouldn’t have to be wealthy to be granted access to telephone service. quadir’s vision was to create universal access to telephone service in bangladesh, mainly aimed at the poor, rural communities. his philosophy was that we shouldn’t be sending aid to countries in the form of food, first aid, and everything else we are currently doing, but instead, the big companies of the world should put their effort into developing those poor countries. then, out of the support and money that companies put into these poor countries, they will in time improve and grow out of poverty. quadir made a point that we should look back to history and follow the examples that have been set before us, to look at nations that prospered and grew, while also taking note of the ones that fell. by looking at the reasons and causes for the fate of many of these societies of the past, quadir concluded that intervention of the rich will be the biggest form of support we can provide for poor countries.

quadir started grameenphone  in 1997, and since then has become the largest mobile phone company in Bangladesh, with more than 20 million customers.

http://www.grameenphone.com/

design for humanity

diversity is something we are coming to see more and more of in today’s society. with so many people coming into the states from all over the world each day, its not hard to explore around any city and find pockets of culturally rich areas, cultures that are not native to america. here at risd, or probably any other major design school in the us, diversity is no stranger. a large international student acceptance rate brings in people from all over the world, people from different backgrounds, different countries. these students have come here to learn the skills necessary to pursue a career doing something that they enjoy: art and design. perhaps some of these students wish to take back with them to their country what they have learned here, to help and change their country for the better!

 

i believe that one step we can take as designers, in designing for humanity, is to first start with our roots. since, for the most part, we are familiar with our home countries, where we were born, where we grew up, and where perhaps we will spend the rest of our lives. the best way to learn about an area’s needs, people, daily lives, etc. is to have actually spent time living there. rather than spend resources trying to learn about a new country so we can help out, why don’t we start with a place where we already know everything about, a place we call home? here at risd, a melting pot of so many designers from so many cultural backgrounds, we are in a great place to design for humanity.  using what we learn here at risd, learning from all the great resources that we have here at this institution, we can take them and bring them back to our homes to apply it. being the people that actually live in the country/state/city we are trying to make change in, we are the best and most effective people to get the job done. i am not saying that you should ONLY design for your own point of origin, but  just that one place that you could start, that would be effective and purposeful, is the culture that you come from. now being at risd, where there is such a diverse cultural background, collaboration is also a very powerful and effective strategy that can be implemented. sharing with others that may have similar design problems and ideas would further fuel and help develop the process in your own design.

 

this may not apply to everybody, perhaps the area where you are from has enough resources and your skills are much needed elsewhere. but if it applies, then the best place for a designer to start designing for change, for humanity, is right where they came from, their home.

designing meaning

products can be designed with an intentional meaning and identity. designers can have a specific identity and meaning of a product in mind when they design it. products such as gilette’s venus line which features razors for women. when designing these products, gilette takes into account every aspect of the shaving experience for women. the venus products were designed specifically for how and where women shave. the ergonomically designed rubber handles give a better grip when wet in the shower. different configurations of blades and blade housings take into account for different skin types, and also the desired after effect. aesthetically, these products also take on a much more feminine appearance than those designed for males. soft colors and smooth lines reflect feminine aspects and create appeal for the targeted user group. this design process proves that products can be and are sometimes designed with a very gender specific identity in mind.

Although products may be designed with a specific identity and meaning, that may or may not contribute to the final identity of the product that is created by the user. Sure, a razor may be designed with feminine colors and functions that serve the female specifically, but a male could easily take the same product and use it for their everyday use as well. There is nothing a designer can do to lock down the identity and meaning of a product and set it in stone. it may be intentional in the design, but the end product identity is all up to the user.  especially in today’s society, where almost all forms of the norm have been challenged and changed in one way or another, a designer cannot expect every user of his/her product to be used in the exact context that he/she had in mind when designing the product. the variation in human personality can create and see uses for products that the original designer may not have even remotely considered.

we are also in a time where material sustainability and environmental factors are causing us to delve deeper into design problems that were not considered as much in the past. this mindset will also create the opportunity to look at existing products and create new uses for them to extend their product life and usability. some of these redesign strategies may involve a recycling of the product, and resulting in the same product being products for the same uses. but this could also lead to the development of completely new uses for products that will extend their life, or take advantage of the materials used and create a new product entirely. 

products may or may not be designed with an identity in mind. it is up to the designer to include this in their design process. but whatever the end result may be of that process, whatever identity the designer had in mind to the product, the user has the final say in creating identity and meaning for the product.