Oliver Reichenstein’s article “Learning how to See” talks about our life long adventure of developing a design eye. He states that “Seeing is not a passive act. We see what we expect to see, or, as Anaïs Nin put it so beautifully: ‘We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are’” (2013). We each bring our own perceptions into whatever it is that we are looking at. As we experience and learn about what design is, we are more able to recognize good design by noticing different design elements, and how they interact to convey meaning. We see things differently. As he says “Designers see more, and more precisely” (2013).
“…we don’t see that we don’t see.”— The Tree of Knowledge, Maturana & Varela
An example of this concept that happened yesterday comes to mind. I am working on a brand design for a company that my brother is starting. I had sent him an image that I had worked on for some time. It was pretty polished and finished. He responded with some instructions on changing the shape slightly. I very quickly sketched out the new shape and sent it to him as a very rough draft. He responded that the new shape was exactly what he had in mind, but he liked the first image better. He didn’t really know why, he just knew he liked the finished image better.
As designers, it’s important for us to realize that we see things differently and why, and also to be able to communicate the difference. We need to learn design terminology and language and be able to speak intelligently about what we see. “Designers see more, and more precisely. Part of our job is to make the invisible visible, to clearly express what we see, feel and do” (Reichenstein 2013). We need to get past the idea of explaining design ideas in terms of taste.
“Good design is when I like it”— Everybody
Good design is aesthetic, but as designers we are challenged to present design that conveys a message for a specific purpose. The most important thing to consider is how it works. As Reichenstein says “the aim of design is to facilitate use, and take care of details that are tedious for the inexperienced person” (2013).
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”— Steve Jobs
Up until this point, as I have discussed the company that I’m rebranding I have thought a lot about their history, what they stand for, and how they currently present themselves. The company has an interesting history, which I like. I like their products. I don’t like heir current brand. I didn’t really know why, I just knew I could do better. I have always viewed design in terms of how I liked it. This month I have really started look at design beyond it’s initial aesthetic appeal to discern why it works. We have studied how design elements convey emotion. We have begun to think of ourselves as designers, and practiced communicating as such. I’m thinking a lot more about how design works. In the process of designing my mood boards, I have been focused on conveying three distinctly different feelings. Going forward I will slightly shift my focus to be more on how the design works and how it will be perceived by the target audience that I have identified. A theme that has emerged for me throughout this program is that good design has to be distilled down to only the most essential elements.
“Good design is thorough down to the last detail — Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the user.” — Dieter Rams
Oliver Reichenstein’s article “Learning how to See” talks about our life long adventure of developing a design eye. He states that “Seeing is not a passive act. We see what we expect to see, or, as Anaïs Nin put it so beautifully: ‘We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are’” (2013). We each bring our own perceptions into whatever it is that we are looking at. As we experience and learn about what design is, we are more able to recognize good design by noticing different design elements, and how they interact to convey meaning. We see things differently. As he says “Designers see more, and more precisely” (2013).
“…we don’t see that we don’t see.”— The Tree of Knowledge, Maturana & Varela
An example of this concept that happened yesterday comes to mind. I am working on a brand design for a company that my brother is starting. I had sent him an image that I had worked on for some time. It was pretty polished and finished. He responded with some instructions on changing the shape slightly. I very quickly sketched out the new shape and sent it to him as a very rough draft. He responded that the new shape was exactly what he had in mind, but he liked the first image better. He didn’t really know why, he just knew he liked the finished image better.
As designers, it’s important for us to realize that we see things differently and why, and also to be able to communicate the difference. We need to learn design terminology and language and be able to speak intelligently about what we see. “Designers see more, and more precisely. Part of our job is to make the invisible visible, to clearly express what we see, feel and do” (Reichenstein 2013). We need to get past the idea of explaining design ideas in terms of taste.
“Good design is when I like it”— Everybody
Good design is aesthetic, but as designers we are challenged to present design that conveys a message for a specific purpose. The most important thing to consider is how it works. As Reichenstein says “the aim of design is to facilitate use, and take care of details that are tedious for the inexperienced person” (2013).
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”— Steve Jobs
Up until this point, as I have discussed the company that I’m rebranding I have thought a lot about their history, what they stand for, and how they currently present themselves. The company has an interesting history, which I like. I like their products. I don’t like heir current brand. I didn’t really know why, I just knew I could do better. I have always viewed design in terms of how I liked it. This month I have really started look at design beyond it’s initial aesthetic appeal to discern why it works. We have studied how design elements convey emotion. We have begun to think of ourselves as designers, and practiced communicating as such. I’m thinking a lot more about how design works. In the process of designing my mood boards, I have been focused on conveying three distinctly different feelings. Going forward I will slightly shift my focus to be more on how the design works and how it will be perceived by the target audience that I have identified. A theme that has emerged for me throughout this program is that good design has to be distilled down to only the most essential elements.
“Good design is thorough down to the last detail — Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the user.” — Dieter Rams
Reference:
Reichenstein, O. (2013, March). Learning to See. Ai. Retrieved from http://ia.net/blog/learning-to-see/