Re: Designers Over Designing

I had a conversation with a fellow student who felt that what we do is design "nothing but hot dog wrappers, made to be useful today but ment to be thrown out tomorrow." That statement nearly broke my heart and has bothered me now for three years. I hope, by now, that student has come to an understanding that good design is permanent, even if it's a hot dog wrapper, and that it's culture, technology and trends that change and influence what an audience thinks is good or bad design in the moment or era. As designers, we should be focused on keeping content fresh and accessible to our audience, and seen in historical context, our work should help visually defining the era in which we are designing.

When I see the 1980's cover of Big Lights, Big City, aside from the failed kerning experiment, I also see the beginnings of digital design. I can't say that cover would get my attention today, but in 83' I might infer this must be a hip, young author ready to tell a new kind of story. The same way the 90's cover of BLBC might appeal to the city-dwelling, SNL watching guy of the 1990's (Sean Connery Celebrity Jeopardy skits, FTW).

To use another 1980's product as an example, the Oakley Frogskin sunglasses have just been re-issued. Originally produced in 85', if you pay attention, these are now what's hot on the streets again. But in 1997 you might not be caught dead in Oakley's that didnt look like they belonged on a baseball player from the future.

I think the take away from this should be that designers who fall back on and rely on the Principals of Design, Balance, Proportion, Rhythm, Emphasis, and Unity, will end up designing something that might look of the moment but will ultimately be considered good design in the future.  


-MJYourishin