Blog 1: Design

I have never been a person that has had the greatest artistic or design intuition or talent but after Jeff Mulhausen’s presentation on Monday, I realized that design is far more then just the actual physical design of a product but an actual experience.  Industrial design also has a rich history and evolution. The designer Dieter Rams was the designer that most interested me during the discussion of design history because he demonstrated that industrial design didn’t have to be complicated or confusing but it could be simple and still functional. Rams also demonstrated that there are many principles of good design such as, honesty, aesthetics, unobtrusive, and little design as possible.  When I first read the last principle “little design as possible” I was a bit confused because I assumed a great deal of design went into most products but Jeff offered examples of Rams’s work to help explain this. Rams designed the modern calculator format that we still use today, and the same format found on my I-Phone, I would have never guessed. Rams also design a radio, which wasn’t the most aesthetic but was simple and easy to understand and use.  Both examples demonstrate really simple and minimal design but did a great job in serving their purpose without any complication involved.

This type of design theory of “less is more” can still be seen today with products such as the Snuggie, which is just a regular blanket with arm sleeves included.  Imagine being able to take the simplest product such as a blanket and add sleeves to it and transform it into a new fad that has generated millions of dollars in profit.  Many other examples of simplicity are often found though “As Seen on T.V.” products such as the Sham Wow and the Magic Bullet.  All of these products are simple, durable, innovative and honest, following right on track with Rams principles of good design.

Another interesting point made is that we have shifted in thought process about design.  At first companies were reactive and only innovated to keep up with the competition but now it is about designing in order to improve peoples lives.  A shift from being reactive to your competitor’s actions to being proactive about what your company can improve and innovate. What we are seeing today is design that is universal, empowers, simple, and takes into account it surrounding environment. Apple is a great example of a company that has mastered design and what good design should do and look like.  Take for example their I-Pod music player, a very simple design yet a revolutionary product that transformed the industry.  The I-Pod only has one button in the middle and turning wheel around it, no instructions but yet easy to understand and use.  Following the introduction of the I-Pod many competitors rushed to create their own MP3 player, many of which had many more functions, buttons, and capabilities but all of them failed to compete effectively with the I-Pod.  We again see Apple leading the way with the school of thought of “How can we use our capabilities to improve people’s lives” by the introduction of the I-Phone. As expected the old school of thought “We need to make a new phone because our competition has one” followed with their versions of smart phone, but again were not successful in being able to compete with the I-Phone.  Apple illustrates a company that is in front the curve and a leader in simple design but still offering a product that enhances the lives of people and a product that takes into account the bigger picture.  Apple helps us fully demonstrate where design is going and how design enriches people’s lives.