My design statement

Hey guys sorry for the late post.

What are we as designers? What are we doing when we design? How does our design have an impact on the world around us? To me, design is much too broad a discipline to give a specific answer. If design is how we express ourselves and our feelings, then at what point would design venture into the world of art? Or are we as designers just a bridge between corporate companies and the public? I believe each designer would have their own answer to these questions and that is what makes design such a personal thing. Each designer is different, whether it is their style, their views, or even their design techniques.

During my years as a design student, I was faced with a question. What is design without feeling? My answer to this was simple; design without feeling is designing without meaning. If your designs had no meaning, then how can you ever come to appreciate it? And ultimately, how will the audience appreciate it? This has been true to me throughout all of my design experiences. Whenever I designed something, if it was something that I simply did not care about, I never felt satisfied after completing it.

Without the passion for design, we create things that are lifeless, meaningless. As designers, we should be drawing on our passion, and our inspiration from all corners of our lives and everything around us and this means not shutting things out. We should be brave and venture into the unknown for once just to see what we would discover. Do something we wouldn’t normally do just to see what it is like. The more life experience we have, the more open our eyes are to the world around us and the people around us. Having a broad vision of the world makes us better not only as designers, but also as human beings. For what other species can sympathise and empathise like humans can? When we understand why we design the things we do, we can then start to design things that have more meaning to it.

The things we design may not always get the reaction we want it to. Not everyone will love your designs and this is one lesson that took me awhile to learn. This is something all designers need to realise. As designers, we should not let comments offend our work but rather take those comments as constructive criticism which is something our teachers have told us a million and one times. But like I said, it took me awhile to get over this as I think it would for a lot of people. It’s only natural.

What we all need to realise is that as designers, we never stop learning, we never stop growing and the more willing we are to accept new and unfamiliar things, the better we will continue to get. If I were to describe my age as a designer, I am a toddler at most, being nurtured into the world of design. Soon, my life as a designer will really start and I simply cannot wait to see what is waiting for me.