At The End of The Class-Design that I do

Looking back the class of ID History, it was time that I could think of what design is really about and where my design goes to. We have discussed about broad subjects such as designing a better mouse trap, real human needs of design, meaning of products and relationship between art and design. It was like traveling around design world to me. Different subjects were like traveling different countries and it made me ask myself the very basic questions. Why, what, how do I design? When you travel a long journey, you end up with self-examination sometimes. This class was just like that to me.

As traveling around, I have met lots of great designers from Charles and Ray Eames to newly rising Tokujin Yoshioka and also various design principles such as Functionalism, Design for the other 90% and green design. Then I realized that I never had determinate design principle for myself. I vaguely have had a design preference but that was more like preference as a customer rather than as a professional designer. It was like ringing an alarm bell. I am about to go to real field out of school and I couldn’t tell what my design is about. This class was great chance to think of it and now I can tell where I am heading to. In my view, industrial design filed is divided into two different genres overall, one is practical design and the other one is conceptual design. Practical design means literally design based on practical things such as market research, targeting user group, market segmentation, price point and etc. On the other hand conceptual design is something that might not be proper to mass production or everyday use yet is very innovative and experimental. They could be compared to ‘Pret-a-porter’ and ‘Houte couture’ in fashion design world. There is no ‘wrong’ and ‘right’ or ‘better’ and ‘worse’. They are almost in opposite side but I don’t think they are against each other. Actually it is in a symbiotic relationship. Conceptual design can enrich industrial design field and bring new aspect of design, and practical design can apply conceptual design in our daily life.

I am in the side of conceptual design and I love playing around the boundary between art and design. I like Tokujin Yoshioka’s crystal chair on which you can’t really sit, and I admire Ingo Maurer’s studio-made playful lamps, and I love to appreciate innovative design collection in MOMA. I know some people say those are design just for designers and I read a reply on Tokujin’s chair saying get out of the studio and meet the real people. But then what else we designers can design more? There are full of stuffs already in our daily lives. I am sure the conceptual approach to design can play the role of locomotive that brings us to a new era of design.