I’ve never really thought of design as anything more than just fancy colors or photos that just happened to be there and were appealing to the eye. That is, until I started reading into these articles.
As I read these articles on my laptop, I came to realize that absolutely everything, including the very laptop that I was reading on, was purposely designed. Especially after reading the article on Human-Centered Design, I started to think about how every single product that we use today is purposely designed and curated to appeal to the very audience that will buy said products over and over again because of their visual appeal. Everything is purposely manipulated and adjusted so that there will always be some person out there that is dying to get their hands on it. Not only that, but these designs are constantly changing and expanding to adapt with newer times, updating all the time so that everyone, even the most extreme of people, has a chance to want a piece of whatever you’ve managed to make appealing.
I also discovered upon reading Art vs. Design and the Joy of Losing Yourself in Purposeful Work that there is actually a rather significant difference between art and design that is not usually acknowledged as much as it should be. The article explained how design is not exactly art, and while both art and designed exists as answers to questions, those questions are posed by different audiences. Art is meant to satisfy individuals, such as the artist who has decided to create the work of art. On the other hand, design is meant to satisfy a marketplace or demand from an audience. To me, that makes absolute sense. Every work of art that I create is meant to be for my eyes and my satisfaction only, but when I decide to make designs I make them with the purpose to satisfy someone else (hence my instagram posts). This made me think about the way that design requires an economic system, some kind of supply and demand system that can carry the production of design, while art can exist on its own without the need of becoming a product for others to consume.
These articles really made me think about the way that design shapes our entire worldview, our economy, and especially ourselves. Design is everywhere and it is inescapable. From the carpet that I am laying on to use the keyboard I am typing on to complete the assignment inside the dorm I am staying in within the university I attend that is in the city I live in, every single thing has been purposely designed.
Interesting, no?
