15 5 / 2012
Reading 14
“Design” is primarily a method of finding solutions. In our own field, graphic design, we tend to think of those solutions as an effective layout or a visually stimulating brand identity. But in the much larger sense, absolutely everything is designed. The chair you’re sitting on, the floor below your feet, the roof over your head, your purse or wallet, your clothes, your hair product, and your toothpaste. I challenge you to look away from this page for a moment and find something, anything, that isn’t designed.
While the field of graphic design is rapidly coming into vogue (and has been for the better part of two decades), it is only the latest incarnation of a very human trait: We want everything to work properly and look good (though sometimes vice versa).
This is our challenge as designers. Especially as we collectively suffer through international economic turmoil, more than ever people are looking for solutions. This is precisely why so many people are finding value in an education that focuses so relentlessly on problem solving. We are training our brain to think beyond the linear.
