Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Design=Heart?

Stefan Sagmeister wants to "bring a sense of humanity back to design," he questions if design can touch someone's heart? Can design do more than sell products for our clients? Sagmeister believes design can "inform, delight, provoke, support and simplify someone's life." The author of Design=Heart? adds her thoughts, saying "the answer must come from your own heart...It take soul-searching. After reading this article and spending some time thinking about it, I came to the concluesion that this a great idea, but is it really that new of an idea?

I guess in deciding weather or not it's a new idea you have to decide if there is a difference between art and design. Many would say art is all about soul-searching, understanding your passions, and express yourself. And many artist have created art to "inform, delight, provoke, support and simplify." The De Stijl movement was all about order and simplifying. After World War I, De Stijl arose as a form of expression to help bring order to a generation living under a new social order. (this movement also occured in design) Picasso painted Guernica to portray the horror of the Nazi's bombing Guernica in the Spanish Civil War, he was expressing his own emotions and thoughts on the event but he was also trying to commicate the horror of what happened that day to others.

This idea of has been around for a while, but I think it good to try and make other designers (esp. students) aware of their ability to influence.

3 comments:

JMiah said...

You're onto something great "is it really that new of an idea". It isn't new. The application of it has become more apparent with recent events that have caused us to look inside ourselves (our hearts) to find the answers to move forward in a world that screams there is no future for this planet.

Haz said...

Jeremy's right! you are onto something great here that no one else mentioned. It isnt that new of an idea, it's not really new at all. Many things are designed every year to help others, it hasnt always been all about selling. Most inventions have been to help others, deisgned in a way that would accommodate everyone's needs. Even though this isnt anything new, it's still good to remind people (especially artist and designers) about what we can do with our work.

JMiah said...

absolutely!