Design Manifesto

During last weeks museum visit, we were asked to create our own personal manifestos, and observe museum artefact's through the 'lens' of that manifesto. I hadn't realised that i had such strong views on what i should design, why i make it and how i should make it.

My three manifestos (relevant to three different pieces in the museum):

1. Design should be safe: designs that i make shouldn't have to be carefully handled, or require any specialist training to prevent injury (this of course would not apply if i was a designer of things such as industrial machinery).

2. Design should be animal-friendly, and ethical: i disagree with the harm/killing of any living thing if not being directly used for food. I do not use fur for this reason in my fashion work, and would not wear it myself. I am Eco-friendly in my work.

3. Design should be socially responsible: The owner of the well head fountain from my previous post shipped in fresh water during a massive drought in the 1900's. I feel that designers have a responsibility to create things that do not harm other people or worsen their quality of life: either by design or by insensitivity.

I feel that this sums me up quite a bit about me as a designer.


I looked up alternative manifestos online and found a fair few. I have picked sections that i feel mirror my sensitivities.


Dieter Rams:
http://www.vitsoe.com/en/gb/about/dieterrams/gooddesign

My favourite line of his 10-part manifesto is that 'good design is as little design as possible'

Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials.

Back to purity, back to simplicity.

 Allan Chochinov http://core77.com/reactor/04.07_chochinov.asp

Teach Sustainability Early
Design education is at a crossroads, with many schools understanding the potentials, opportunities, and obligations of design, while others continue to teach students how to churn out pretty pieces of garbage. Institutions that stress sustainability, social responsibility, cultural adaptation, ethnography, and systems thinking are leading the way. But soon they will come to define what industrial design means. (A relief to those constantly trying to define the discipline today!) This doesn't mean no aesthetics. It just means a keener eye on costs and benefits. 

There is a fine balance in design, as ther e are often a huge amount of people involved including various designers, production/manufacture, and finally the considerations made for the numerous end users. Applying my my design manifesto to my work may not always be possible when working in the real world. For example that design should be safe. As a designer i would rarely have input into the whole creative process start to finish: what if i were asked to make a kettle, which was later made unsafe by the 3D designer and production team in order to make it fit their aesthetic. This i could have no control over.