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Viewing entries tagged with 'design'
THE SPIRIT OF RANDOM
Recently I designed a staircase for our new showroom, which called for random lengths of wood. This posed a problem for the joiner: how do you 'do random'? Actually, I had hoped that we could access a source of waste off-cuts, because the stairs are made from short pieces. But our timber trade is too efficient, so he had to purchase new lengths and cut them. Hence the problem.
Design Resources misdirected?
I was recently talking to a designer who works for a top car company, and he revealed that he has just spent four years working on the steering wheel design for a new model. FOUR YEARS! I can't possibly imagine how one person can fill that many working days on just one object. what about all the other designers working there? How many are there for the whole car? How long will one of them spend on the rear light cover, or even the coat hanger hook??What really disturbs me though is how this obsessive search for perfection reflects the values of our society.How can the creative value of this design resource be so squandered when there are so many infinitely more pressing problems that need solving? Millions, even billions, of people on this planet are starving, malnourished or without proper basic facilities such as shelter or running water.
