1/22/2010 Lecture Reflection: What is Design?

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List of Manufactured Items Touched in the Morning Before Class:

• Clothing including Levis jeans, a sweater from The Gap, socks and underwear, a jacket from The North Face, Adidas sneakers, Brooks Brothers glasses, hat, and gloves
• Toiletries including Nutrogena face wash, Rembrant toothpaste, a toothbrush, Acuvu contact lenses, Dove shampoo and conditioner, Clinique moisturizer
• Furniture including a bed, a desk, a nightstand, a dresser, a kitchen table, kitchen cabinets, and chairs
• Electronics and appliances including a MacBook, an iPod, a cellphone, a hairdryer, multiple sinks and toilets, a refrigerator, an espresso machine and a dishwasher
• School supplies including Moleskine notebooks and a planner, Bic Pens, a backpack from The North Face
• Food including a box of corn flakes, a packet of instant espresso, and a milk carton

Reflection:
Many of the manufactured items that I touch in the morning I did not choose. Living with a host family means the space I am living in is not my own and does not necessarily reflect my personal tastes or preferences. Luckily, I live in a home that has a high sense of style, one that is modern and clean, simple yet elegant. Such a beautiful environment helped me feel comfortable in this new space. In this sense, I see design as something that both creates and is environment. It is something so central that often, you don’t think of it, don’t consider it unless it is especially beautiful, especially creative, or, on the other hand, especially unsuccessful.

Many of the manufactured goods I touch, especially my clothing, convey my own style and how I would like to be viewed in the world. Things that others can see, such as my jacket, are brand names that I like and trust, where as I cannot even remember the type of underwear I wore considered that it is out of sight and so out of mind. To me, this demonstrates the importance of the visual element of design. Of course, as was discussed in class, form should follow function. As beautiful as a bottle of face wash may be, I would not buy it if it did not clean my face properly. Nevertheless, a product’s design is an essential part of its success. I bought my sneakers not because they are better than another pair but because I appreciate how they look and what they say about me. Because of the interconnectedness of form and function, as well as design’s ability to convey ideas, to me design is a physical manifestation of creative processes that successfully balance aesthetics and usefulness and it is capable of sending messages, expressing ideas, being persuasive, and is in dialogue with society such that it either reflects or contests its values and beliefs.

It is ironic that design is at once so visual and tactile and yet so illusive precisely because it is everywhere. It dictates our choices, makes life easier, creates a more beautiful environment, and still many go through life rarely noticing the design of their pen cap or the layout of the supermarket. These little and big elements of daily life are all designed and so integral to life that we see them not as design but simply as the world is. Design then is something integral to the human experience.