Some Random Thoughts on Design

I find this semester amazingly coincidental.

I am taking Out of gas! for my advanced studio. In this studio, we are to build a green urban vehicle. We selected Kisumu, Kenya and Providence, Rhode Island as our two primary markets, and this gave me a chance to ponder over the relationship between design and the world. Then, we started discussing the concept of “Design for the Other 90%” in our History of ID class. And on the weekend of that very week when we talked about humanitarian design, A Better World by Design Conference took place. Furthermore, on Wednesday right after the Conference, we talked about sustainability and green design in Manufacturing Techniques!

All my classes are correlating to each other, orbiting around the topic of sustainability and social design. This semester has been a lot of thinking and investigations for me.

What is the definition of “design?”
What does “design” mean to the world?
What is our role, as designers, in this world?
What can we, as designers, do?
Can we solve anything? Do we want to solve anything? Do we need to solve anything?
What does “design” mean to me?
What do I want to do?
What kind of problems are we trying to solve? What are the problems?
What can I do?

I still do not know for sure what I it is that I want to do as a designer. There are so many different needs and so many different people – there are just so many problems in this world. It is overwhelming to even think about it. But I am going to try to focus. Focus – that was perhaps one of the most important things I learned from the Better World by Design Conference. Instead of trying to tackle all the gazillion problems that exist in the world, we need to focus, and start. Start. Starting is the most important step. Nothing can happen unless we start somewhere, somehow.

Someone recently told me that we, as designers, have so much power – the power to CHANGE something. I do not quite remember who it was that said this…I think it was either Dave or Michael, but maybe it was one of the speakers at the Conference, or one of my friends. But anyway, I think this is true, and that is why I chose to be in Industrial Design. I have no idea where I will go in the future. Maybe I will be designing for the top 10% at one point. I admit that that will just create even more landfills, but there is a need for that, since the world is not simply black and white. But I would love to be able to contribute somehow to the world, to the other 90%. Even if the change does not happen directly in my lifetime, it will be amazing if whatever I do could lead to making this world a better place to live.