INTO THE NEW CENTURYDesign from the 90's to the Present

What does design in the context of our current society mean? In his recent book entitled A Whole New Mind – Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future, Daniel Pink writes that “Design is a high-concept aptitude that is difficult to outsource or automate… Good design, now more accessible and affordable than ever, also offers us a chance to bring pleasure, meaning, and beauty to our lives. But most important, cultivating a design sensibility can make our small planet a better place for us all. To be a designer is to be an agent of change.”

In that short paragraph are, I think, some of the most important concepts affecting current design and design of the future. We have been through the technological revolution and we now have a pretty good feel for where technology has taken us as designers. Although there may still be some surprises, there are a few things we know for sure and, as design professionals, it is our responsibility to make sure that these aphorisms continue to be true. They are:
-Good design has become more accessible and affordable
-Good design can improve our lives
-Good design is necessary to help sustain our planet

Even back in 1975, the Pop Culture icon and artist Andy Warhol recognized the importance of good, accessible design for everyone when he wrote, “What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it...........” !

Being a designer today is not just about being trendy or avante garde, or even in sync with the latest gadgets and technology. It is about the responsibilty of creating meaniful experiences that will improve peoples lives and sustain our world. Good designers today understand this in their bones and they are in it because the want to be “an agent of change.”

In the 21st century, life and design are inextricably intertwined. The beauty of the profession that we are in is that it is a juncture where art directly serves life. Rock star designer Karim Rashid confirms this fact in what he calls his “Karimanifesto” – a fifty-point guide to life and design. Here are some excerpts:

1. Don’t specialize
5. Before giving birth to anything physical, ask yourself if you have created an original idea, an original concept, if there is any real value in what you disseminate.
6. Know everything about the history of your profession and then forget it all when you design something new.
7. Never say, “I could have done that” because you didn’t.
24. Consume experiences, not things.
33. Normal is not good.
38. There are three types of beings – those who create culture, those who buy culture, and those who don’t give a shit about culture. Move between the first two.
40. Think extensively, not intensively.
43. Experience is the most important part of living, and the exchange of ideas and human contact is all life really is. Space and objects can encourage increased experiences or distract from our experiences.
50. Here and now is all we got.