When I was in college, I had a lucky pen. It sounds silly, I know, but I was convinced that notes taken with my pen increased my fact retention, and essays written with my pen netted me a better grade. There was just something about the combination of the body (ergonomic but not in your face about it), the ink (smooth navy) and the ease with which it glided across the page that made it perfect, or at least perfect for me. I could stop thinking about the pen altogether and focus on what I was actually writing. And that's really what good design does: it allows you to do your task in the most beautiful and efficient way possible.
I write about design every week, and yet I rarely think about WHY good design is so important to our lives. Why we bother to endlessly search for the perfect coffee table or sofa. It may not seem as weighty an issue as many we face today. Having a flawless table certainly isn't going to ensure that there will always be food on it, or loved ones sitting around it, but being surrounded by comfort and beauty unequivocally makes our daily experiences better. There's nothing superfluous about beauty and nothing mundane about utility. Our lives are the sum of our days. Making ordinary tasks pleasurable and everyday surroundings inspirational is, I think, the surest way to increase your satisfaction both short and long term.
When something is both beautiful and functional, it earns a place in our lives, and becomes a part of our experience. We live in, on, and around design. Our lives change and evolve and so do our things. Good design isn't dependent on having lots of space or money; it comes from necessity and creativity. The spark you feel when you discover a new idea incites emotion, love or hate, but never indifference. Hate can indicate a lack of understanding, but indifference is the kiss of death. When something excites you, you've gotten to the essence of who you are. Things have meaning because they express ideas, and manipulating ideas is the purest form of communication. Like a Rorschach test, what someone visualizes putting in an empty room is very telling about how they view the world.
It sounds heavy, I know. I'm not making the argument that every vase you buy is slowly boxing you into a certain style where you'll be stuck forever. Just the opposite — noticing what makes you happy (and unhappy) on a gut level is a clue to what you're all about, and listening to that instinct can help you create a fulfilling, productive and fun space.
Tell me, why do you love design?
(Image: Shutterstock)
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Great article! It's such a complex topic. Design comes in many forms and genres. Each genre representing a different set of values and ethics. For me, I lie somewhere in-between it all. I love how design makes me feel and we all love how design can make our lives easier. I love the relationship I have with some objects as they bring me comfort.
I also love that design tells rich stories about history and culture.
Good design makes for a better quality of life. Some people are not aware of the impact, even though they may appreciate it on a certain level, but others are very sensitive to it, and constantly strive to achieve that beauty and grace in life. My definition of design includes the design of policies and programs, as well as things and spaces.
As Carolina has alluded to, design and design appreciation is about more than objects -- design tells stories about history and culture.
I see design as an integral part of a well-lived life. The two things which motivate me most are attaining justice and creating or achieving the best possible design.
Great post and good comments.
I live with a software engineer. In his world there is a concept called "elegance" wherein the code written is efficient and clean, nothing superfluous, it does what it is supposed to do and it is understandable by others who didn't write it. Maybe it even does all this in a very intelligent way, bypassing more mundane but unnecessarily complex methods from the past.
I think this also describes good design for other categories, or at least the type of design I lean towards. Lean, efficient, elegant. One thing interior design needs to do that software code doesn't is be aesthetically appealing, and that varies a lot by personal taste, but underneath it all, the bones of good design are probably the same for most everyone.
Good design can sometimes be a subjective thing. What is good design for one person is not necessarily good for another. Everyone wants to think they have "good taste," but good design is built into the thing that ultimately fulfills the need of the user/observer - whether the body/mind's need for functionality or the eye's (and ear's, and nose's) desire for beauty. I think good design is what brings more peace and contentment to someone's personal experience of life.
"Making ordinary tasks pleasurable and everyday surroundings inspirational is, I think, the surest way to increase your satisfaction both short and long term."
Great article. So many people take good design for granted. I think creatives of any type could benefit from reading this and being reminded of why what they do is so important. Will be passing along!
Good design is fundamentals. Nothing else.
Good design is like music. It incorporates disparate concrete elements of our day to day lives--like colors and values, natural surroundings, historical/cultural references, especially patterns of use & utility--into a harmonic whole.
It makes you feel good, but also contributes to psychological health, because good design helps the space you occupy make sense with who you are. It makes it into a home.
The perfect coffee table is one that I don't stub my toe on. Still searching...
Good article. For me good design is like nature, it is seemingly born that way. It doesn't always need a "pop".