Today I was asked about my project, and I gave a broad overview (I’m doing…). The following question was: Where is the design in it? I struggled a little for a moment. Because, of course, I’m doing design. I’m a designer. I mean, we are sitting in a design university and having a conversation about a master design project. So why the question: where is the design? Is it not obvious? Does it even have to be obvious?
Later that day, in an evening conversation with a friend, she mentioned that out of her studies, she doesn’t feel like a designer anymore. (Our MA studies are very research-driven; therefore, we have to deep-dive into other topics and fields of focus that do not necessarily feel like design, and also a lot of social practices. Sometimes you feel more like a social worker than something else.)
So what is a designer for us, for me?
In the book „Die Wildnis, die Seele, das Nichts – Über das wirkliche Leben", written by Michael Hampe, there is a conversation about what belongs to your “real” life. It is commented that the things that we do belong to that. He brought up the example of a lyricist: If you are a lyricist, you read poems; if you are a boxer, you do rope-jumping. They do not think about it, they just do it. (Page 139)
According to that, our practice defines who we are as “professionals” or persons. And I thought it was tough because, as a designer, as in other disciplines as well, you train your brain, vocabulary, and thinking in a certain way. When I look at a poster, I draw imaginary lines to see if the type is set well and if the spacing makes sense. But it can also mean that when someone describes a problem, I directly go into analyzing mode and develop suggestions and solutions. These things we train until they become subconscious to us, and we do them whether we want to or not. I sometimes refer to it as a filter through which you see the world.
But to add one more perspective on that, as Johanna Nadin explores in her short read „The Future of the Self“, we have different personalities in us. We develop and collect them each time we talk to someone else or see a movie with a person. We pick it up subconsciously. My thought on this was that, depending on whom I speak to, I sometimes act a little differently. With that one friend, I share mainly the topic of hiking; with the other, I spend more time on different topics. Also, in an interview, I show myself from another side than when I speak to my parents, which is, in some cases, a more intentional decision.
So I would like to say that as a designer, you can also switch roles within your discipline. Maybe today you are an interviewer, maybe a listener, maybe tomorrow a teacher. Maybe in this case, design is really a bit different from other disciplines, but I’m sure we are not the only ones, especially if we transfer it to our whole life personality perception. We are always not only designers. We are also daughters, mothers, friends, wives, sisters, lovers, visitors, participants… Never just one thing. So it is more the question: which hat do you want to wear today? Or just for the meeting, or even just for the conversation. I think sometimes we can play with it, but sometimes being real and true to what feels right in the moment is already enough.
So back to my initial question: Where is the design in my project? I just made very conscious decisions, so I designed my view on it through research and finally put it out in form as a tangible prototype. Because for me personally, as a designer, I make things visible and translate a context into a relatable thing. But maybe what you do as a designer is a different practice, and that is your way of being a designer. We all have a unique set of experiences and a mould of encounters in our lives. So everyone is truly unique. Finding the red thread in your story may reveal who you are as a designer. And maybe where you haven’t been and where you want to head towards.
P.S. And there is still also the philosophical question: who would you be if nobody was watching? 😉
(Let me know if you have a thought on that, that you want to share and also if you disagree. You can write an email to sags@fragmeister.com)
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