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The Student Life an ongoing journal by Donald Lehman |
....who is Donald Lehman? |
July 21, 2001  by Donald Lehman It was inevitable. The summer before my first year of college I got asked the question that every high school grad has to answer innumerable times: What’s your major? If you are in Industrial Design, the answer can be tricky. The first couple of times I was asked, I answered, "Industrial Design," naively thinking that other people would know what I was talking about. But, you can’t just say Industrial Design to the unaware. The name brings too many preconceived notions because of the word industrial. In their eyes, I am becoming an engineer, which to them is a respectable, safe and steady form of employment. But, depending on your own religion, engineer can be an ugly word. I think to myself, "I am more than just an engineer! I breathe life and instant sex appeal into things that would otherwise be boring boxes!" So when the twitch I developed from hearing the E-word too many times would subside, I elaborate, "Well, it’s more like an art than engineering." This reply tended to do two things: 1) People felt sorry for my parents who would be supporting a starving artist the rest of their lives and 2) they have intense confusion of the joining of the words industrial and design. And just the term art isn’t quite right either. Where there is confusion and room for interpretation, I want to make things clear and logical. Now believe me, I don’t have vendettas out on either engineers or artisans, but we designers are clearly not either one of them. But we are parts of them. We do make things beautiful and desirable and then at the same time easy to use and mass-produce. So what’s the deal with the job title then? Couldn’t we find something a little more descriptive? After I thought about it though, I decided Industrial Designer is a good name because while industrial and design both refer to engineering and artistic creation, they don’t exactly mean "engineer" or "artisan". Also, its vagueness lends to the fact that Industrial Designers are omnipotent and can design anything. Anyway, it’s better than "Engineering Artist" or "Dorky Art Kid". By the way, here’s a tip for all you newly or soon to be graduated high school seniors that are probably getting slammed with this question: it may be easier to say Product Design from the start. Personally, I like Industrial Design better but this is a bit more palatable for most people because it doesn’t sound as mysterious as it does with the word, industrial. Sometimes for added kick, I also tell people examples of what I could be working on. This is your chance to exaggerate and say you are going to work on some really cool stuff like remote controlled luggage or anything with rubber grippy stuff on it. "Self-Indulging" Design of the Month club: Apple PowerBook G4 Titanium. I know everyone and their moms have this on their "best design of 2001" lists but I just picked up one of these so at the risk of sounding like one of the crowd (gasp!): 5.3 pounds, 1-inch thick, 15.2-inch screen, 500 MHz G4 and Titanium skin. Regardless of your OS orientation you still are going to go gaga for it. The only laptop clinically proven to get women and win IDSA gold. |
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