Over the weekend I watched the movie Objectified. It’s examines the way we design and interact with every day objects. While the entire film had interesting observations and commentary from various designers one of the statements that resonated the most with me was that sometimes the most difficult aspect of design was to actually not design. At first I thought “huh?” but the more I thought about the readings for this class, as well as in GRDS 702, things started to connect. Do we as designers get so caught up in designing that it almost blinds us from finding a simple solution? And does each design have to be complex to be inventive? I started to think about “thinking wrong” and “thinking right” and it made me consider that perhaps “thinking wrong” is actually thinking and “thinking right” is to just let go of our biases, notions and expectations and start the creative journey.
Another segment that really caught my attention was a discussion about the perception that creating an inventive “new” design is often associated with using the latest technology. Immediately thoughts started to pop into my head about wanting the newest version of Adobe CS, or the newest MAC and if I’m using those technologies does I feel my designs are more current? I have to admit that I’ve fallen into that trap several times. A client wants something “new” and I think I need to jump on my computer and if I handed them something I created by hand would they interpret it as less professional? Why does something have to be designed using an electronic medium to be considered professional or new?
I could continue to write on and on about the interesting interviews throughout the movie. I hope others get a chance to check it out because it really was a great film and very related to both GRDS 701 and GRDS 702.