Key Messages
Design For The Real World: An Eye-Opening Critique Of Disposable Consumer Culture And Practical Strategies For Sustainable Design
Are you looking for ways to create an impact and make the world a better place? If yes, then Design for the Real World can help guide you.
This 1971 book offers up an unflinchingly honest account of irresponsible design practices and their contribution to a proliferation of disposable, low-quality consumer goods.
But more than that, the author provides practical advice on how designers can redirect their efforts so they become proactive changemakers.
From learning why it’s sometimes better to produce a simple radio as opposed to one with tons of bells and whistles, to understanding why watching Saturday morning cartoons can be detrimental, this book explains why it is essential for designers to shift their focus from mindlessly churning out products to creating something more meaningful.
With these insights in mind, readers will discover how they too can use design as a powerful force to bring about positive change in the world.
Good Design Is More Than Just Aesthetics – It Incorporates Function And Human Needs
Design isn’t just about making things look pretty or feel soft—it’s so much more than that.
Great design goes beyond aesthetics and considers functionality, the methods employed by the designer, the purpose of the product, human needs and how they can be met by the product, associations with friends and family and an understanding of how it fits into nature and society as a whole.
Take Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper painting for example.
Its beauty is undeniable, but there’s much more to it than simply visuals; it also serves a practical purpose of covering an otherwise plain or dull wall and stimulates spiritual enlightenment in viewers through its biblical ties.
When designing something, designers must recognize all these factors in order to create a fully functional product instead of one simply focused on aesthetics.
It is also important for them to understand that design can have far-reaching effects that may not have been intended initially.
Designers Today Have A Heavy Responsibility To Society As Their Decisions Affect Us All
Designers have a huge responsibility for the consequences of their designs on society, something which many don’t take into account when they’re making their design decisions.
From fast food hamburgers that come wrapped in non-degradable plastic to products containing excessive sugar and salt, designers should be aware of the effects their designs can have on both the environment and people’s health.
Not only that, but designers need to factor in the costs of production, packaging, labor and environmental impact when crafting a product.
Even if the designer is creating a low-cost product for those living in poverty, he must carefully consider how much harm or good his design will cause.
A great example of this complex situation is designing a radio: balancing cost with quality as well as factoring in every aspect from labor conditions to environmental impact.
Designers have an important role to play – not only do they need to provide design solutions with maximum usability, but they also have a duty to ensure their designs create good rather than harm.
Designers Need To Re-Connect With Social Responsibility And The Needs Of Unserved Populations
It’s sad to say, but more often than not, design today is completely detached from real-world needs.
Instead of designing for society’s actual needs, there’s a tendency to focus on the highly individualistic preferences of only a narrow portion of society.
For instance, during the 1920s and 1930s there was a trend towards designing furniture that reflected the “de Stijl” painterly elements such as squares, rectangles, and straight lines.
Unfortunately, these designs were extremely uncomfortable pieces of furniture with little regard for practicality or functionality that often remained expensive due to their status as fashionable luxury items favored by the economic elites.
As a result, it’s really only people who can afford these luxurious products who benefit from good design rather than those who may actually need it most; including people with disabilities or those without extravagant means.
Take for example pill boxes which are difficult for someone with arthritis to open; yet there has been no famous designer or company dedicated to solving this issue until recently when some students trained in socially conscious design finally came up with a solution.
The Consequences Of A Profit-Driven Economy: Useless Products, Disposability And Manufactured Obsolescence
It is becoming painfully obvious that current design trends are more focused on producing products that serve no tangible purpose.
Unnecessarily loud, flashy and tawdry products just to create a “high fashion” trend instead of rendering any good service plague the shelves and websites of stores all over.
You can hardly take five steps in a shop or on the internet without being bombarded by robots, mink-covered toilet seats, shoe horns decorated with rhinestones and electric dish towels; none of which are particularly useful or have any lasting value.
Furthermore, it is becoming difficult to separate mere design from disposability and manufactured obsolescence.
Designs that lack any form of longevity are being produced in order to drive economic profits instead of offering true value to society.
Take your last car as an example: regardless of what it’s function was, how long did it take before the car lacked aesthetic appeal? Propelled by this unease at changing cars every three years (or sooner), manufacturers make repeated superficial changes to their car designs each year in order to curb those feelings while triggering customers’ inner desire for improvement and change.
Designers should consider their impact on our societies and expend their energies creating products that add value instead of feeding tawdry obsessions with meaningless objects.
After all, why purchase something you know won’t even last because it was designed to be forgotten about shortly after its release?
The Dangers Of Misdesigned Products: Social And Environmental Irresponsibility Comes With A Heavy Price
Product design can have a profound impact on both society and the planet, but particularly so when misdesign takes place.
When products aren’t designed with care or diligence, it can lead to disastrous consequences.
For example, safety goggles that break easily can actually cause injury if they don’t protect properly.
On a larger scale, color televisions emitted harmful rays that could damage children’s reproductive organs if they watched too close to the TV—a punitive consequence of misdesign.
Furthermore, an economy based on disposable products consume raw materials and their disposal often end up in landfills where their dangerous chemical agents get leaked into the ground or water.
Large-scale projects like damming projects can also mean environmental disaster as wildlife and habitats are destroyed by carelessly planned designs.
Misdesign has dramatic negative consequences for both society and the planet; its effects ripple far beyond its origin in ways we may never be able to stop or undo.
Overcoming Social Myths, Emotional And Intellectual Barriers For A Responsible Design Process
Certain myths can often hinder designers from discovering a more meaningful design process.
For instance, there is the popular misbelief that market research and sales departments have the ultimate control over what gets produced, so designers feel like they cannot influence a more positive outcome.
Thus, instead of designing something useful for society, designers are pushed to create excessive amounts of aesthetically pleasing items in order to make big profits.
In addition, the idea that designers serve the masses is another false concept; if 22 million chairs were produced in the United States each year, with many varieties developed, this would mean only 500 people per chair.
A conscious designer with a specific purpose can avoid this by creating practical simple furniture for schools and homes in several lower-income areas rather than catering to those privileged few.
Furthermore, emotional and cultural hindrances also block the path to innovation.
As our society becomes increasingly conformist in values, creativity and problem solving are strongly under valued.
It’s been seen how individuals view waste as dirty or undesirable when it needs to be thought of as an opportunity to repurpose it; one example being utilizing chicken droppings or manure energy as an alternative power source.
All these myths form physical roadblocks on the road towards progressivism with design processes which could lead us towards greener and more meaningful practices.
Integrated Design And End-User Input Is Necessary For Socially Beneficial Product Design
It’s time for a radical rethink in the world of design.
Designers must begin with the real needs of people, not just what looks good or is easy to make.
In order to create designs that meet those real needs, designers must look at the problem from all angles and expertise and use integrated design strategies to break through existing barriers and old-fashioned ways of thinking.
An integrated design strategy pulls together multiple inputs into the decision-making process, such as anthropology, culture, business, etc., resulting in a much more comprehensive design strategy.
In addition, it seeks to create positive future outcomes instead of just reacting to current conditions.
A multi-disciplinary design team made up of a representative cross section of society is key in implementing this new approach.
Then it’s up to the lead designer to bridge any gaps between these different approaches in order to shape an integrated way forward.
Importantly, integrated design also takes into account both manufactures who will produce the product or service and end users who will be using it as well – how else can you really understand what people’s needs are? Designers should leave room for improvement with local users able to personalize product designs Such as when locals decorated tin-can radios with materials found in their own environments like shells or glass.
Designers that embrace this radical rethink will end up creating much better products that reflect real human needs – something we are sure everyone would appreciate!
Designers Can Learn From Nature To Revolutionize Design And Solve Complex Problems
Designers looking for new ways to innovate and revolutionize their designs should consider the natural world.
After all, nature’s been perfecting design principles for billions of years!
The natural environment is a great source of inspiration, with powerful lessons to be learned from examining how plants grow, animals move, and many other things.
A simple study of the hammer or rake will show how humans have long drawn on nature when inventing new tools.
But it goes beyond just studying individual organisms: designers today also need to understand entire natural systems in order to tackle increasingly complex societal problems.
Take dragonflies, for example: we don’t just look at their wings and bodies — but also understanding how elements like aerodynamics come into play as they fly off, soar through the air and land again.
This helps us design flexible aircrafts that use less fuel, as well as give us predictive data about weather patterns and ocean currents.
Clearly, the natural environment offers important insights for designers who are trying to find better solutions for society — so it’s worth taking some time to observe Mother Nature more closely!
Designers Need More Than Just Technical Knowledge To Succeed—They Should Enhance Their Education With Real-World Experience And Practical Problem Solving
Designers who want to be effective forces for good need more than just technical information from their study; they need experimental design education.
This means learning from a variety of sources and understanding different disciplines, such as anthropology, psychology and behavioral science.
By leaning on these various disciplines, designers gain invaluable perspective that helps them to understand the needs of people, the role of social dynamics, and more.
Additionally, this multi-disciplinary environment allows idea to “cross-pollinate” in order to come up with unexpected design solutions.
Further gaining real-world experience is critical for students as it will translate into successful designs with meaningful implications for society.
Young designers should be encouraged to travel outside of the classroom so that they can gain knowledge from other cultures and environments in order to come up with new tools, machinery and structures tailored specifically towards their end users.
With this type of educational approach, both designers and those they serve ultimately benefit from these foundational design experiences.
3 Simple Steps To A Responsible And Meaningful Design Career
When it comes to making positive design contributions to the world, we must put our focus on research, personal ethics and design education.
To start off, large-scale research efforts must be conducted by multi-disciplinary design teams to gain an understanding of cultures, institutions and sociology in order to answer the “big questions” of what optimal ways there are to live or organize societies.
This will give designers an informed perspective in order for them to be a force for good.
Next, designers should stop participating in immoral activities and gradually allocate more time working on solutions for social and environmental problems.
Lastly, design education should be fundamentally rethought with small class sizes that encourage individual development and practical learning while also fostering a spirit of international cooperation.
The idea is that these three steps will guide us towards creating a better world; let’s make sure we take them!
Wrap Up
The final summary from “Design for the Real World” is one of responsibility and innovation.
Designers should always strive to create products that take into account the real needs of real people, both socially and morally.
They should also consider the environmental consequences of their designs, as well as make sure that they are creating positive forces in society through their work.
Designers mustn’t forget that their products have the potential to make a positive impact, and they should act accordingly by keeping these principles in mind when creating their products.
Design that fails to do this carries with it unacceptable repercussions not just for the consumer but also for the environment.
It’s up to designers to ensure that this never happens by staying true to these principles when designing!
