Annie Leonard - The Story of Stuff

In today’s society we are no longer defined by who we are as people, but by what we own. It doesn’t matter what’s on the inside you are judged and determined by the clothes you wear, the car you drive and the house you live in. “The Story of Stuff” is a short film by Annie Leonard that shows the underlying truth of the before and after stages of consumer products. As a consumer we go to the shop, buy a product, use it for a while and then throw it out. Basically, to break it into five categories’, this film shows the processes of the materials economy from extraction to production to distribution to consumption to disposal. Although this may seem like a fool proof system, it has many flaws, the main flaw being it is a linear system for a finite planet, which arises the question, when are we going to run out of resources are ultimately destroy our planet.

The main problem with this system is that governments and large corporations are only looking at the money that comes out of consumer products and are always searching for the cheapest way to exploit these steps from extraction right up to disposal. They are not taking into account the interactions that each of these steps have with people, societies, cultures, economies and environments and they are fast reaching the limits of these processes and are running out of natural resources.

Governments and Large corporations run our societies, and if you don’t buy or own a lot of stuff, you don’t have any value to them and thus are not important, do not count. Even people that have sustained a happy life for generations and generations before consumerism are being forced into the ways of modern day society and are loosing the truth in them selves and their cultures to become another faceless body in the ever demanding rat race.

What I found to be an amazing statistic was that 99% of consumer products were trashed within 6 months of purchase. All products now days are put into two categories; Planned Obsolescence and Perceived Obsolescence. Planned obsolescence is when a product is made to break in a certain time frame and designers have been able to perfect this by creating the shortest amount of time for a product to break but still maintaining the consumer’s belief in the product to re-purchase a new one. Perceived Obsolescence is when something becomes no longer fashionable and there for will no longer have any use, all though it is still in perfect working condition. We are basically told these things were obsolete by market leaders and trend setters, and we then perceive these items to be as such. We like to consider ourselves as individuals, but our need for acceptance within our peer group which is the major contributing factor to Perceived Obsolescence.

Annie Leonard asks us to look at the big picture, and for people along the processes to get united and reclaim this linear system and transform it into something new, a system that doesn’t waste resources or people. We created the old system, so we can work towards making a new sustainable and renewable and closed loop production.

Don Norman - Emotional Design

“Don Norman studies how real people interact with design, exploring the gulf between what a designer intends and what a regular person actually wants.” - (http://www.ted.com/)

After watching the video, “Emotional Design,” we are given a better understanding of how human emotional responses affect the design world. Don Norman explains the importance of emotion in design and how the different responses and relationships between humans and products ultimately alter the designs. The human subconscious plays a major role in determining these responses and interactions.

Don Norman has a theory of emotion that he uses when critiquing designs, Beauty - the aesthetics of the product, its functionality and if it is reflective – creates a story for the user.

One of the products that he says fits into all these categories is a global cutting knife, made in Japan. It is has a beautiful shape and is wonderful to look at, there is a perfect balance between the handle and the cutting blade and holds and feels well, also it is very sharp and easily cuts and you can tell stories about it which make it reflective.

Don Norman expresses that the emotional side of design may be more critical to a product’s success than its practical elements and that attractive things work better than ugly ones. I believe this statement to some extent, as an example, the Philippe Starck Juicer, it is a beautifully designed product but functionally does not work well as a juicer. The product was still incredibly successful because consumers bought it because it created an emotional response in them greater than the need for its function. Norman suggests that when humans perceive design objects, they respond in three emotional levels: Viscerally (do I like the appearance?), Behaviourally (does it work?) and Reflectively (will I use it again?).

Emotions play a major part in the design society from the clients and consumers to the manufacturers and designers themselves. The consumers’ emotional responses determine whether they should buy something because it is eco-friendly or expensive looking to impress their peers, even if it is not functionally sound. Norman also goes into details of how designers emotional responses affect the designs they make. If designers are happy and relaxed they will come up with a lot more creative ideas, start to think outside the box, although the job will never get done because new ideas and theories will keep arising. If designers are anxious and confronted they will focus a lot more to getting the job in hand completed.

Design Excellence

David Kelley - Human Centred Design

After watching this video it has helped to create an insight into the industrial design industry and the connections between people and the products and environments with which they interact. I believe the main focus of this video was to show that for a product to truly be successful all aspects of the product need to be addressed not just function and aesthetics. David Kelley talks of how design used to be entirely focused on the products, objects and prototypes, where as now it is moving towards a human centred approach to design which focuses on designing behaviours and personalities in the products. Also the way of presenting the products and ideas have developed from 3D models and 3D rendering to getting the actual products in motion, showing how they will actually be used, which creates an experience prototype that shows the connections between man and machine.

David Kelley shows various innovative technologically advanced products and environments developed by industrial designers using this new method of human centred design. His work on the Prada shop in New York is a prime example of this, were he has taken the shopping experience to an entire new level. He has enhanced every aspect of the shop from the changing rooms with liquid crystal glass doors and a magic mirror with a 3 second time delay to see the back of the outfit to the staff’s scanner which ultimately makes the job easier for both the staff and clients. He has created a new technological culture.

The design I was most inspired by was created by Dr Martin Fisher, from Approtec, which was a deep well, low cost, manual pump that has been used in Kenya. It address the need that they previously couldn’t grow crops in the off season, they could only grow them in the rainy season. By actually interacting with the people in Kenya and visiting and experiencing their environment they have been able to manufacture these products tailored to their needs and have developed over 19,000 companies and created over 30,000 job opportunities for the people in this disadvantaged country.

This video reinforces the fact that it is very important for designers to keep up to date with the every changing advancements in technology. Also that designers’ should be aware of the needs and interactions that the consumers and clients have with a product or an environment.

My Design Career

My biggest influence and who initially set me off on my path to design was my mother. Being an artist by trade she was always encouraging my creative side and has taught me much of what I know today about art and design. As I child I was always breaking things to see what was inside, my mum was never too happy about this. I was always bringing junk home to see if I could turn it into something or try to recreate objects so that they were ‘better.’ Looking back and having recently found a huge pile of junk in my garage I definitely think the world could have done without a boomerang with kitchen knifes super glued to it or large teddy bear with a staple gun duct taped to its hand, but it created a fascination within me with everyday objects and there functions and got me asking why they were the way they were.

When I started high school was when I was first introduced and understood all the different aspects of design. This is where my passion for design was established. My two favourite subjects in high school were; Visual Arts and Design and Technology. Equally I had a passion of hate for Science and History and this was very evident in the marks I was receiving for these two subjects, as I would put extra effort into the Art and Design subjects and do the absolute minimum for the rest. As I was advancing into the later years of high school and just finished the School Certificate, it came time to choose subjects for years 11 and 12 (the HSC). I didn’t want to be doing subjects I hated, and going to an Anglican private school, this was forced upon us. I decided to change schools to further my knowledge and love for design in a more creative atmosphere and design orientated school. I started at Bradfield College were I studied Visual Design, Visual Arts, Design and Technology, Design Fundamentals and Industrial Design (multimedia). This really helped me in establishing possible career opportunities and introduced me to the design industry. I believe the reason I did well enough to get into this course is because I liked the subjects I was doing at school and actually put in the extra hours not only for the marks, but for my own personal satisfaction. To truly achieve something great you have to challenge yourself, you get out as much as you put in.

Ever since I started doing Art and Design subjects I knew that’s the career path I wanted to follow. My dad always said never do anything you don’t love doing, which I found hard to comprehend as he is a financial lawyer, although he is very passionate about his work. I have a love for the arts and appreciate its many forms, thus why I want to pursue a career in the design field. I say design field because I haven’t thought into too much depth or created an endless obsession in just one field. So I am keeping it general at this moment in time and would be incredibly happy to secure a job designing anything.