|
I think the problem with areas like architecture and industrial design is, there is no clear performance metric for what is considered "good design" - or at the least, what designers consider good isn't completely aligned with what users consider good. The switch designer in this case was overly focused on aesthetics and his own cleverness, rather than on making a "good" switch. The fact that you'd need directions on how to use it makes it a horrible switch. It fails its most primitive task, which is to be identified as a switch. Secondly, you can't tell how it works just by looking at it. And to ignore the iconography of something utilitarian like a switch, is a bit self-indulgent. Here, design gets in the way. This is a problem with design education, which turns people into cake decorators rather than problem solvers. The entire science of how-things-work is ignored and worse still, not even considered as a source of inspiration. Instead, you get perversions similar to that of the post-modern literary crit world. Designers talking amongst designers, giving each other awards, and curating some new form of design-incomprehensible to outsiders. And this leads to the false dichotomy between form and function. Almost like art vs. engineering. You get students who study design, who have no interest in how things work. And you get engineering students who don't understand that products are experienced in layers - you have first impressions and expectations, recognition of what it does/how to use it, perceiving of quality (would an iPod feel cheaper if it was lighter?), durability, etc. and that process must be managed/controled via design. I sometimes think studying bridges is a better way to learn about design than studying architecture. You can't ever ignore the fact it has very real constraints. And yet, there are tons and tons of beautiful bridges. Every component must be functional AND aesthetic. A designer is the engineer and the engineer is the designer. You get a very "fat-free" structure. Different bridges have different experiences. And they never get in the way of you driving across them either. James Dyson gave an awesome talk about this at MIT, called "The Art of Engineering". I definitely recommend watching it if you see engineering and art as one: http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/362/ |