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Can you explain to your grandmother what Industrial Design is and
what that means you'll be doing at the turn of the century and beyond? What would people be missing
without I.D.?
Design both shapes and reflects our lives. It is easy to lose the sense of power of design as we get caught up in the day to day decision making process of our careers. Yet it is powerful. Throughout history design has both endeavored to solve problems and inadvertently caused them. (Such as the brilliant political move of trying to bring the country out of a depression through the principals of planned obsolescence. This of course ultimately transformed the way we think about designing, manufacturing and consuming, and has contributed to many of our current troubles.) The lessons of history are hard to learn as the parameters of design change with each generation and each new set of societal issues (wars, social ills, technological breakthroughs, etc.). It seems every generation has had to redefine what design means to them, and since it is a reflection of the times the definition from decade to decade is very elusive.
Today we are faced with issues of seismic proportions. Developing technology and the environmental crisis are both exciting and frightening in their potential. We, as designers, are in a unique position to affect the relationship between people and technology. We are also burdened with the power that our profession wields over the breakdown of our relationship with the environment.
These are the currents in our culture today. This is what we, as designers, reflect when we design. These parameters are somewhat heavier than they have been in the past. There is a lot more at stake and developments are taking place at an unprecedented pace. Design is about making choices in relationship to our given parameters. Today these choices will affect more than ideology - like many of the important design movements of the past - there is now the potential for physical effects as well. The power of design carries a lot of weight. It should be treated with care.
Hillary Ellison
March 3, 1995