Design philosophy
"Design philosophy" is
simply someone's philosophy on design: what they are trying to accomplish with
design, and, more importantly, what one thinks design should accomplish.
Basically, it's someone's way of spelling out exactly
what they think the purpose of design is, what it's role is in the process of
completing a project. Some think aesthetics have nothing to do with design.
Some think design follows content, not the other way around.
Function over form
Dieter
Rams inspired a generation of designers, including Jon Ive, with his philosophy
of making a product useful, above all else. Under his reign, no product passed
through the Braun assembly line without an intense focus on function over form.
“My
aim is to omit everything superfluous so that the essential is shown to the
best possible advantage.” – Dieter Rams
Simplicity
It
doesn’t matter whether you are designing a boat or a boot, simplicity always
works. Strip things down to their essential, core purpose and you get the most
fundamental, simplified version of the object.
As
Jonathan Ive, easily the best known proponent of simplicity in modern design,
says:
“Simplicity
is not the absence of clutter, that’s a consequence of simplicity. Simplicity
is somehow essentially describing the purpose and place of an object and
product.”
Aiming for ‘WOW’
Milton
Glaser, the legendary graphic designer who made some of the world’s most
recognizable logos and graphic art, once said:
“There
are three responses to a piece of design — yes, no and WOW! Wow is the one to
aim for.”
The
“wow” is shorthand for a powerful, visceral reaction to visual images. Aim for
wow, and everything else will fall into place.
Form and function are
one’
Frank
Lloyd Wright coined the phrase “form and function are one” and spent his life
creating organic designs. This was a decidedly post-modern approach to design
–instead of focusing on form (like most contemporary designers), Wright focused
on creating integrated designs that flowed easily into the surrounding terrain.
“Form
follows function – that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be
one, joined in a spiritual union” – Frank Lloyd Wright.
Deconstructivisim
Although
Frank Gehry would be the last one to align himself with a school of design,
much of his work has been obsessed with deconstructivism — destroying all
traditions and rebuilding things in your own vision.
“Life
is chaotic. Buildings should reflect it” – Frank Gehry.
THE ROLE OF DESIGNER
Today design is still about innovating within the same
parameters and driven by the same ambition, but applied to a much broader
specter of challenges, where the designer is part of a value chain where
in-novation – that reaches far beyond material outcomes – is addressed by
multi–disciplinary teams. Thus the role of the designer has increasingly become
that of facilitating qualified choices by individuals, enterprises or society
between real and more sustain-able alternatives than current ones – rather that
creating more of what’s already there. Design is all about attractiveness,
sensuality, aesthetics and functionality, about real people and real problems,
about individuals and their encounters with systems, about encouraging
responsible behavior and choices, about challenging our prejudice ,about
fellowship and ownership, commonality of reference and cultural diversity,
about expressing identities – for the individual, for groups of individuals,
for corporate entities and for societies at large; design is all about ”people,
profit and planet”.
Design for global, environment and social
Design fundamentally builds
on an analysis of what could possibly be done to improve the perceived quality
of any given situation. Design respects the sensual sensitivity of
the user. Not only the
visual, but rather the combined and rarely rational sensual
reaction triggered by the
experience. If the solution resonates aesthetically with the
user, it will automatically
be perceived as relevant, thus somehow appeal to any one
out of numerous forms of
engagement. In the case of a physical object, it might incite
usage or merely visual or
tactile enjoyment. A well designed service or relation invites
the user into active
engagement, while well designed –most often visual communication is more easily and immediately understood
increasing the probability of
the user actually relating to
the message communicated..Design is also a means of promoting involvement,
inclusion and coherence by offering
access to products and
services that are often and rightly so perceived exclusive
and prohibited by many because
of their physical or mental impairment, or simply
because they are different
from the vast majority.
Design and designers can
neither save the planet nor humanity on their own. However,
design and designers can make
a significant difference and contribute to a development
that matches the more
optimistic rather than the most depressive scenarios being
discussed globally.one
of the roles of design will be to define the needs and aspirations that future
technologies should fulfil. Many emerging economies face a historical choice.
Should their people have the right to experience the same material growth as
the western world and
thereby perpetuate our pressure on the earth
All designers have an influence
on the future of the earth through their work,
and they can all work towards
more sustainable solutions and to optimize the products, services or
environments they work with within the limitations of the task at hand.
One important factor for more
sustainable production is the choice of materials
and suppliers. In a
globalized world, an increasing part of the actual manufacturing takes place in
poor countries. Thus, a meticulous choice of suppliers and demands
of both environmentally and
socially responsible behavior could influence hugely on as
different parameters as the
living conditions of the workers and their families and the overall
environmental consequences. More than three out of four decisions directly
influencing on the final choice of materials and manufacturing processes are
made in the design phase.
the most important role of
design today is to ensure that the most responsible solution whether design driven or driven by technology is also perceived by the client and the user as
the most attractive. One of the most effective ways of achieving this is to
create products that are more meaningful to the individual and that are kept
and cherished rather than being disposed of and replaced long before their
functional lifetime has come to an end.
The User-centered design
The
User-centered design (UCD) process outlines the phases throughout a design and
development life-cycle all while focusing on gaining a deep understanding of
who will be using the product. The international standard 13407 is the basis for many UCD methodologies. It’s
important to note that the UCD process does not specify exact methods for each
phase.
According to Userfocus , there are multiple principles
that underlie user centered design. Design is based upon an explicit
understanding of users, tasks, and environments; is driven and refined by
user-centered evaluation; and addresses the whole user experience.
The process involves users throughout the design and development process and it
is iterative. And finally, the team includes multidisciplinary skills and perspectives.
The following are the general phases
of the UCD process:
- Specify
the context of use: Identify the people who will use the product,
what they will use it for, and under what conditions they will use it.
- Specify
requirements: Identify any business requirements or user goals
that must be met for the product to be successful.
- Create
design solutions: This part of the process may be done in stages,
building from a rough concept to a complete design.
- Evaluate
designs: Evaluation - ideally through usability testing with
actual users - is as integral as quality testing is to good software
development.
There are many variations of
the UCD process. It can be incorporated into waterfall,
agile, and other approaches. Depending on your needs, the user-centered design
process is composed of several methods and
tasks. What you are developing, your requirements, team, timeline,
and the environment in which you are developing will all help determine the
tasks you perform and the order in which you perform them.
