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The 4 Fields of Industrial Design: (No, not furniture, trans, consumer electronics, & toys), by Bruce M. Tharp and Stephanie M. Tharp
Cristina,
What about economical and environmentally responsible designs? Of course the beginning of the article is smart to call us out on creating labels but given the amount of focus placed on environmentally friendly or cost effective (for the consumer) designs shouldn't they be included for consideration under the "Responsible Design" category. I understand these fields are not an exhaustive list but I'd like to think Responsible design encompasses 3 pillars of social, economic, and environmental. Even if some of us place more emphasis on the former than others. Thoughts?
Parts of this article have been reproduced, assumedly without consent considering what a hack job they've done, at this link:
Luke, Thanks for looking out for us.
What would you say to potential students thinking of entering the field in terms of job access and security?
Tonya, Sorry for the delayed response. (Perhaps if you were looking for work at the time you wrote, you may have an answer to your question already :)
Job access and security are absolutely challenges with discursive design. While there are more approaches than just social engagement (activist mode), this is where most of this work is being done. This happens independently or pro bono. Much of it happens in educational contexts as well at universities of art and of design.
That said, there are models of designers who are working in this arena, either employed within a large company or as an independent studio or consultancy. Large companies, like Intel, Microsoft, and Philps have discursive design on their radars and have done work in this area. Undoubtedly there are not an abundance of in-house jobs though. What is happening is that the strategic foresight community, which has a longer history and has some credibility with industry already, has discovered speculative design (what we consider a subset of discursive design, which is an umbrella category). In a way, speculative design is gaining access to corporate work through the doors opened by strategic foresight.
There are independent studios like Superflux, The Extrapolation Factory, Tellart, Strange Telemetry, Situation Lab, and the Near Future Laboratory. They work for clients, and also mix in independent work. While I believe that there are increasing opportunities (especially in research capacities)--much more than 10 years ago--they are still not plentiful. If you are passionate about this arena, you will need to be more entrepreneurially minded. I often remind students that the responsible design positions were almost non-existent in the 1990's, but the field matured and gained visibility, so that now there are far more opportunities. (The design thinking movement also contributed to responsible design's advancements.) But if you have school loans to pay off, this is a more challenging (but potentially rewarding) path.
>Morgan imagines "what would happen if we disguise some of [these] plates in an expensive snob restaurant...
yes, we would agree that most designers probably have all four intentions with their design work, at least at times. rather than a designer simultaneously having all four, it is important to understand that we are focusing on the primary intention. often there is at least a secondary motivation. but, as we mentioned the commercial-discursive combination is a little more difficult, and likely has to be quite deliberate.
your comment about commercial suggests that a designer has to be concerned with "selling". with a great deal of the discursive work being done now, it is not sold and exists as an independent project. this certainly does not preclude having other design work, or a design job, that "pays the rent". a main point we are making is that discursive work can exist outside of the marketplace, as a small or quasi- or para-commercial project, or perhaps a limited run commercial project, or even what is indeed a commercial project.
and another point about discursive...you referred to it as "your own statement as a designer." we are hoping that designers differentiate between having a voice or making a statement and the quality or content of that statement. it is nearly unavoidable for a designer not to express themselves with a design--they are making thousands of design decisions. it is far more difficult to craft a discursive message as an abstraction within a design-- saying something that is of psychological, sociological, or idealogical importance and capable of sustaining a complexity of competing perspectives and values. so we are speaking about a special "statement" that can be considered a contribution to some discourse.
ultimately these categories are meant to help the designer self-reflect and focus on what they really are intending to do with their work. it is meant to help designers understand that their motivation or primary motivations do not have to be so homogenous and tied so tightly to 20th century notions of industrial design and styling for the mass marketplace.
comercial - how could you pay rent if your product is not selling.
responsible - as a human being & responsibility for the world & others.
experimental - well we have to discover new things.
discursive - your own statement as a designer.
and that's what make you a good product/industrial designer
The truth of the matter remains that the naming confusion may be cleared up definitively by retitling the field as "Product Architecture"; most persons realize that architecture melds the visual/aesthetic with the technical/rational, with the subtle differentiation of scale.
That's the term that I now use.
The IDSA should therefore be rebadged "PASA".
first: nothing is learned or enhanced by only "doing it". if that were the case, amoeba would be fertility experts. design is as much about intellect as action. even commercial design involves more thinking than i want to think about!
second: if design is only about solving problems, then why does apple keep putting a new ipod on the market every six months? maybe we can remember the three functions of products as put by Lobach? practical is not the only function to be considered when developing a product, and if you don't have the intellectual capacity to understand your problem and to see beyond your little hole, you will never leave it. that is where critical thinking and discourse come in handy. and besides, if you look at projects coming from design centers, you will see that there is a lot of thought and discussion and reflexion behind it. think the simpsons of the design world!
third: we are, like it or not, opinion formers. and that brings with it responsibility. we can't all be lowerys. some must be rams as well. and who knows, maybe (and i like to think some have) thinking heads can come up with a middle ground!
fourth: we should care about what people think about design because that directly affects their response to it, and the value they add to our work. you slave away for months to make the most balanced possible chef's knife, a masterpiece of cutlery, and give it to a 20 yo guy who will end up using it to open chilli cans and spread pb & j on white bread. will he realize the potential of the knife, appreciate the balance, materials, lines? heck no! he won't even notice if the blade is dull. but put it in the hands of an expert chef, and you have true appreciation for craftsmanship and attention to details!
fifth: just because (bean counter) corporate heads segregate the world populace, doesn't mean it's right and we should put up with it. and we are in a position to, if not change, at least affect it. that is where the other three fields come in. and if we get enough leverage, we can change things for the better. when ive took the helm at apple, the company was going under. and he created a monster. if that can be done in one company, it can be done in more of them, and maybe some good can come off that!
sixth: some people actually like having a light in the middle of the tunnel. myself included. i am not comfortable stumbling around in the dark, and if someone with more experience can help me find my "neiche" then so much the better.
seventh: profit is always part of the equation. unless you're jesus, but even then, his reward is another soul to his side of the scoreboard!
eighth: design is design, art is art. except where they overlap. this discussion is boring and old and useless as there is not one answer but as many as there are people discussing it. the same can be said for design and engineering, but nobody is putting up those war posters! my opinion: art asks questions, design offers answers. but that's just me, with my two different majors in art and product design. other people with other formations might think differently. you're welcome to. and pointing fingers is soooo third grade. i'm looking at you mr. helper!
that's it. for now. will be expecting the book, as this very brief (sarcasm really doesn't translate to the written word does it) discussion has helped me with my graduate work in design. being able to analyse and classify what i want to do takes me one step closer to actually doing it. ty to the authors, and the commenters who have made this debate possible.
Doesn't art?
We just keep confusing the world and ourselves by not shedding our old ancestry of arts and crafts.
Discursive Design as you call it is Art. Design solves problems. Your article demonstrates why designers are paid for deliverables and not expertise of thinking.
Thoroughly disenchanted,
Mr. Helper
per: bruce m. tharp February 4, 2009 10:39 PM
We, society, including designers, are accepting a false constraint about the responsibility of business or corporations, public or privately held, in a capitalistic system. Despite statements or guidelines of the Chambers of Commerce, Congress, the SEC, the Department of Commerce or media pundits, the first responsibility of business is not to make make money or ROI. The corporation is an organization of more than one which can operate as one, with the same responsibilities as an individual. An individual's first responsibility is not to gain a good ROI, but to serve. To profess a standard greater than one's self, then live by that standard in performing an occupation is to be a professional. We allow corporations to exist to provide a group of individuals with a legal organization to serve society in producing goods or services for which they can be compensated just as an individual. Assuming a good service is provided, the individual or corporate business has a right to just compensation including a reasonable ROI for the risk of making the offer of the goods or service. The idea of ROI being the prime responsibility of a business to its owners, be they stock holders or one person is a misplaced ideology we must fight against. This faulty logic, not yours I assume, of the financial community is the reason we are involved in the financial meltdown today. Greed may provide a structure to do good design for a season. It soon fails the user, society, the corporation and the designer. A responsibility to serve humanity directly or serve God by serving humanity does not fail unless a distortion of the meaning of "service" is injected. My first responsibility as a designer is the same as a doctor, to do no harm. Safety, efficiency, social and ecological responsibility, and hopefully pleasure of experience by an encounter of someone who experiences my design work is my focus and should be for a business that offers my design to the marketplace. The responsibility of designers to address the sociological, psychological or physiological aspects of humanity's needs and desires does not change with the various government's financial structure, whether that system is capitalism, socialism, communism or a dictatorship. It's just that different systems provide different constraints on the designer to fulfill that responsibility. Of course, it's difficult to design under a dictator who has no care for the aesthetic values of a culture different than the dictator. In our efforts to evolve the "profession" of industrial design, especially in a global market structure, we need to evolve the language and semantics of theory and practice with linguistic awareness of a multi-language world and the connotations of past design methodologies such as those voiced by Bruce Archer, Walter Schaer, Eva Pfeil or others, while looking to new language structures with which we can speak in an evolving or revolutionary corporal voice. Core77 can be a good site for this effort if it would structure a morphological visual/verbal language format for idea generation and critique. I may not agree with your structure of "4 Fields." However, I do appreciate your work to explore the verbal language of design. Such nomenclature should not be constrained by any political system or financial order, but should respect language norms of past and existing design practice, even if the new language eradicates the old.
To me, the issue of the language is whether it serves the advancement of the profession or just one designer.
The languages of science, math, music, humanities, art and geography have old and new words and structures. Why cannot we forge a corporal language of industrial design that builds on our past and the foundations of other professions?
thanks for your comments regarding your categories of 'Design Methodologies' and 'Types of Design' and how they correlate with verbs and nouns.
from what i understand you are looking at the design process and the outcome of that process, whereby there is human activity (verb) and the mostly physical product of that activity (noun).
fundamentally our framework is based upon design intention. so it precedes the normal process and product scheme. so there is first, what the designer wants to achieve, then how they go about achieving this, and then what they produce.
often when looking at others' work and trying to make sense of it, we are focused on the object and we must speculate on the process and intention. because intention is not so explicit, you run the risk of incorrectly interpreting this.
for us this taxonomy is less about a tool for classifying others' work. instead we see it primarily as a tool to help designers design and make sense of their efforts.
i hope that this helps.
bruce
it seems to give a name(s) to what initiatives I'm already involved in. This facilitates communication with my colleagues and potentially other adopters of the same.
Secondly, as a design-outsider interacting constantly with the design community, I can vouch for the confusion generated by the myriad monikers for niche and not-so-niche design disciplines. (Yes, I realize I just advocated adding about 4 more to that list).
Finally, I think these terms could be viewed as another axis and not substitutes for other terms, like universal, eco-, etc. Seems to me, for example, that universal design fits equally well with Commercial and Responsible. Ultimately, I feel these four new categories would best serve more of a design-external exchange, while still maintaining the granularity w/in the design community (referring to jay's post)
For my work, I've previously viewed IDs primarily in three categories:
Innovators (in the sense of creative, open innovation partners);
Influencers (IDs who need and use materials and technology for their jobs);
Conceptualists (path to pictures of the future thru design thinking).
To me, these would correspond to Responsible, Commercial and Experimental Design, respectively, with Discursive Design also being used more as a means than an end.
-b
I have also worked on taxonomy of design, classifying my design practice, methodology and concept. I use brain mapping software to define and classify my personal vision.
Some time ago I came into a dilemma when I was classifying my version of what you call here the Fields of Industrial Design. I had two categories:
1. "Design Methodologies" which were verbs to me, how projects are done.
2. "Types of Design" similar to what you call here Fields, which are nouns to me. For me things like "Critical Design" (for you it's a subcategory of Discursive Design) were both a verb (a methodology) and a noun (a kind or type of result). What do you think about this? Do you think that your fields are also both verbs and a nouns? Can you do Experimental Design and end up with AN Experimental Design?
When a designer is working on a commercial project, his or her purpose is different from a designer working on a discursive project. Dividing design into four categories is useful because it simplifies how we understand our work's purpose. If writers are not confined by having their work fall into one of two categories, designers should not feel confined because their work can fall into four.
Thank you for clarifying an issue that has muddied the profession for a long time.
for engineers its easy as they work on quantitative stuff.
consider the GMAT itself encourages student to develop a vocabulary/ communication skills and analytical skills as well.
I would say most design schools have selection procedures based on innovativeness and visualization skills which is fine but analytical and communication skill testing should also be mandatory at entry level itself
thanks for your comments; we appreciate critical feedback, as ultimately we are striving for a fundamental taxonomy that is relevant for practicing designers and not merely a piece of theory. we also took a look at your extended thoughts on your own blog.
the discomfort you feel with the commercial/responsible distinction relates to what we feel is the most important caveat/condition with our scheme. the drive for profit, service, exploration, and voice are rarely independent--most objects are hybrids and most designers are likely not so singularly-minded.
we completely agree that a practical way to serve on large scales (and even smaller ones) is to engage with markets. certainly capitalism makes so much of the world go 'round. we do not feel however that concern for return on investment (ROI) is a necessary component of wanting to serve the underserved. we see this self-service (making a profit) as distinctive from a type of selfless service.
ultimately corporations have a mandate to make money for (serve) their shareholders, not the underserved. corporations are understandably loath to enter into ventures that do not produce sufficient ROI and may ultimately jeopardize this responsibility to shareholders.
we like to think that designers could have 'pure' philanthropic intentions. of course enlisting the profit motivations of others along the way can help them, which makes understanding this a little more complicated.
'pure' forms of responsible design also do not necessarily eschew the marketplace. the market may be the way that their work is disseminated--people can trade money for their objects of service. but the designer/producer may choose not to make a profit. certainly they could charge more than their costs, but they do not have to--this is the divergence with 'commercial design'.
so we posit a range of this responsible work: design can be simply given away; design can be sold, but not for profit (no ROI); designers can donate their work (no ROI) in a system where others can turn a profit, e.g., manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers; and designers can make a little money (low ROI). the idea is that their *primary* motivation is not to make money; this does not mean that they necessarily work in a moneyless system. when the designer's primary motivation is to make money, then this is what we are calling commercial design.
we hope that this makes a little more sense. fundamentally i think that we would agree that one effective strategy for 'responsible' work is to engage these efficient and potent capitalist systems. but we do not see that they should be necessarily be linked.
we are happy to tease these issues out further if you still have concerns.
-bruce
But I'm troubled by the commercial/responsible distinction because it implies that responsible work cannot also be made commercially viable. The OLPC is a case in point, it's been a failure in most respects, and overtaken by highly commercial developments in cheap laptops.
I've written more thoughts on my blog:
http://www.richardsona.com/main/2009/2/4/a-taxonomy-of-design.html
the range of experimental design and discursive design is not limited to the domain of exhibition, print, and film, though these are certainly their primary venues. i am particularly interested in the area where discursive design exists in the marketplace. these are the hybrids that were mentioned in the article. what you find is that they are not as provocative, because they have to demonstrate restraint demanded by markets. this begins to differentiate 'discursive design' from the territory carved out by 'critical design', which dunne and raby define as not being able to exist within mass markets. (we feel that discursive design is the broader rubric beneath which critical design exists.)
so, while many designers have a commercial design day job and then 'play' experimental or discursive (or responsible) designer in the evenings and on weekends, this does not have to be non-commercial play. i would agree that these forms of work are difficult in the in-house and consultancy model, but it's still possible in an entrepreneurial model. the hug salt and pepper shakers may be one of the best examples of this. this was a project initiated by the Mint trio and was then pitched to MoMA, where it has sold so incredibly well. so you may want to think about licensing or self-producing some of your experimental and discursive work (though you may have to rein the provocation in a bit or specifically try and translate the experimentation into more commercial products.) it is my belief that as consumers increasingly demand more from products, discursiveness is one of the attributes that they will sometimes desire--"so what if a product is functional and beautiful and 'green,' does it say something/does it have a strong voice?"
I have struggled with this question for years: How do I "survive" (buy food, pay the rent) if I produce experimental + discursive design? is it really a sustainable field for people that are not famous? if its domain are books and exhibitions doesn't that make it art (design being a mere medium)?
For a lot of time I've had to alternate between doing commercial design to get some money and my other work that relates with art, exploration and cultural comment.
Thanks
Just as some people argue that everything is art, you can argue that everything is design but then you'd still have to specify distinctions within. It is precisely because design is not bound to specific disciplines that we need a common language with which to describe the nuances and that is what Bruce and Stephanie are trying to do.
Consider the music industry for example. Categorization and keywords run rampant but that doesn't prevent people from experimenting in cross-genre music.
In short Hughmama, you're treating Bruce and Stephanie's adjectives as straitjackets when you should be thinking of them as expressions of what makes your work special.
Design, at least interior design, does have many popular TV series, at least on cable. I hope you are not saying that having a television show based on your profession makes it more valid. Those shows, like "Trading Spaces" are the worst possible demonstration of what design should be about.
I think "the Fountainhead" is responsible for the romanticism that surrounds architecture? Maybe someone could write "the showerhead" and make a movie starring Brad Pitt. However, I for one, don't care I am famous, or if my profession romanticized.
However, I do agree that design, especially what is typically called industrial design, does need more definition, and this article is a worthy attempt. I also agree that licensing would be a good way to give it definition, although implementation would be extremely difficult.
-Ben
I understand some of hughmama's impatience. I think we do learn a lot by just doing some stuff, but there is inevitably a moment when we have to explain our work to someone else. Then it can be useful to have a framework.
On the topic of categorizing things: There is a social psychologist at Harvard named Ellen J. Langer who studies how people engage with the world, especially in a state she identifies and describes as 'mindful'. In her work mindfulness is shown to enable learning and problem solving, among other things. She says 'The creation of new categories ... is a mindful activity. Mindlessness sets in when we rely too rigidly on categories and distinctions created in the past.."
I found the categories new and useful.
Design is a contextual adaptation directed by a brief with democratic, non violent, comforting and aesthetic sensibilities. Also every nation or ethnic demography has its own pre-occupations that direct thought and action which 'determines' design. The prefixes are mere specialisations or sub categorisations at the brief level. The intutive and instinctive sensibilities are the stirring of martini.
Thanks for choosing my work to represent "Discursive Design"...I guess that's just what it's supposed to be.
Cheers,
Rafael Morgan.
Categories that help to clarify the scope of this diverse profession are useful indeed. And well done here. Thanks Bruce and Stephanie!
Thanks for your comments. To clarify:
The problem is that 21st design activity is not adequately reflected beneath the colloquial banner of "industrial design". With the maturation of our profession we have ventured beyond our historic boundaries of industry handmaidens who only work to 'solve problems' Granted this historic activity still represents most of what we collectively do. But should it? We posit that these other forms are important, and increasingly relevant in a post-industrial world. Design and designers can be relevant and contribute in other/broader (social, cultural, ideological) ways. A first important step in the advancement of this is acknowledgment and a common language. The article takes a stab at that.
Our point is not to make design simpler, in fact we are stressing the opposite--its increased complexity. The four fields are a way to help make more sense of this complexity as it relates to our historic footing.
You are correct that the four fields--based upon primary intentions--are not exclusive, as we state. The complexity of intentionality adds to the richness of design. Acknowledging and articulating these intentions serves designers, the profession, and our consumers. Having a framework and language helps in self-understanding and expression and debate.
The word 'discursive' has at least two primary meanings: one is "digressing from subject to subject", which I think you are referring to when you say that: "We all work on different types of design that are constantly changing, so I guess you could say we are all 'discursive'". The meaning which we refer to is "of or relating to discourse". Perhaps that helps to clarify a bit.
We probably disagree on the point: "You identify it [the work you do] by doin it." Identification (recognition via shared understanding ) is not something that is easily achieved without a means of more explicit communication (verbal/written language). And without common definitions and perhaps categorizations it certainly makes any fruitful discussion of the work difficult.
Thanks again for the opportunity to elaborate.
If you just want to talk about "discursive" design because that is what you are writing a book about, then just do it. We all work on different types of design that are changing constantly, so I guess you could say we are all "discursive". You know what kind of designer you are, just look at your work. You don't need these useless categories to identify the work you do. You identify it by doing it.
then, what about software programmers, biotechnologists, astronauts and so on????
all those professions began much later than design did.
anyway, as hughmama said:
Oh god another teenage crisis of identity.
thanks for the comments. we certainly agree with you that the OLPC does have flaws. we chose it as an example because it takes what might be seen as a typical commercial product, the laptop, yet orients it differently in the world. comparitively, we think it is illustrative. from their website:
"OLPC is *not*, at heart, a technology program, nor is the XO a product in any conventional sense of the word. OLPC is a non-profit organization providing a means to an end an end that sees children in even the most remote regions of the globe being given the opportunity to tap into their own potential, to be exposed to a whole world of ideas, and to contribute to a more productive and saner world community."
for us this is an explicit intention of doing good and serving the under-served. intentionality is key. whether in the end it accomplished that is certainly debatable, given the many contexts in which they might exist. a commercial object can try to be successful in the marketplace; if it does not sell well, this, to us, does not mean that it ignored capitalist principles.
we hope this helps to clarify.
Surely after reading a couple of these superficially interesting mirror conversations it becomes obvious that the best design practice is anti-disciplinary and anti-professional and without the rest of the world, the things to which it is applied and so often improves (including the most important component of any design activity - the mind undertaking it), it is empty. Good design practice at its purest and most potent is not a discipline, it is more like discipline itself.
I was always told that the weakest design dissertations categorize and criteria-orize. Names and frameworks are powerful ways of making consultants money and getting academics published. In my experience they are not very good at inspiring good design.
Designers explore what you can be more and why and spend as little time as possible listening to people trying to tell you what a designer is. Then you might actually do something interesting.
the only downfall was using OLPC as the best example of "Responsible Design"- what is it with that useless overpriced trophy product? not only is it obsolete, it was never appropriate for the target users, so how can it be responsible???