Comments on: Designing Chairs vs Changing the World http://www.designwala.org/2010/05/designing-chairs-vs-changing-the-world/ We become what we behold. We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us.-------Marshall McLuhan Sat, 21 Jan 2012 21:22:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Where Do We Fit In? « http://www.designwala.org/2010/05/designing-chairs-vs-changing-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-690 Where Do We Fit In? « Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:32:01 +0000 http://www.designwala.org/?p=801#comment-690 [...] http://changeobserver.designobserver.com/entry.html?entry=13878 [...] [...] http://changeobserver.designobserver.com/entry.html?entry=13878 [...]

]]> By: admin http://www.designwala.org/2010/05/designing-chairs-vs-changing-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-451 admin Tue, 25 May 2010 18:25:26 +0000 http://www.designwala.org/?p=801#comment-451 Thanks for commenting Maria. My reaction was from a perspective of a designer and not a design writer. I am a designer who likes to write about design sometimes so yes, I did remove the point from the context. But in doing so, I made a point about how some of us feel about social design. That being said, social design is exactly as the name indicates. Its about the society. Design writers will have to get to the field and start talking to engineers, house wives, farmers, doctors and all kinds of people who innovate and solve problems to create solutions that light up remote corners of the world or create refrigerators that dont need electricity to run. Those stories need to be told and I glad you made a point regarding surfacing that aspect of design. Thanks for commenting Maria. My reaction was from a perspective of a designer and not a design writer. I am a designer who likes to write about design sometimes so yes, I did remove the point from the context. But in doing so, I made a point about how some of us feel about social design. That being said, social design is exactly as the name indicates. Its about the society. Design writers will have to get to the field and start talking to engineers, house wives, farmers, doctors and all kinds of people who innovate and solve problems to create solutions that light up remote corners of the world or create refrigerators that dont need electricity to run. Those stories need to be told and I glad you made a point regarding surfacing that aspect of design.

]]> By: Maria Popova http://www.designwala.org/2010/05/designing-chairs-vs-changing-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-445 Maria Popova Sat, 22 May 2010 05:03:59 +0000 http://www.designwala.org/?p=801#comment-445 Shagun, I appreciate your response. However, I think you've removed the point from its context – the BigThink article wasn't about what designers should or shouldn't do, it was about what design *writers* should focus on. In a perfect design world, there will be a healthy balance between aesthetic indulgence (said slick overpriced chairs) and social responsibility (the broader "design for social good" realm, from self-adjustable eyeglasses to the XO laptops of the world). The trouble, however, is that whatever imbalance now exists in this healthy ration, design writers quadruple it by gushing over the former at the expense of the latter, thus severely skewing the public perception of what contemporary design stands for. Yes, designers *should* continue to be excellent at what they do. But design writers should learn to better recognize – and reward – the entire spectrum of excellence, not just one narrow aspect of it. In any case, thank you for engaging in this discussion – it's only through conversation about this that we'll ever begin to think about design writing more holistically. Shagun,

I appreciate your response. However, I think you’ve removed the point from its context – the BigThink article wasn’t about what designers should or shouldn’t do, it was about what design *writers* should focus on.

In a perfect design world, there will be a healthy balance between aesthetic indulgence (said slick overpriced chairs) and social responsibility (the broader “design for social good” realm, from self-adjustable eyeglasses to the XO laptops of the world). The trouble, however, is that whatever imbalance now exists in this healthy ration, design writers quadruple it by gushing over the former at the expense of the latter, thus severely skewing the public perception of what contemporary design stands for.

Yes, designers *should* continue to be excellent at what they do. But design writers should learn to better recognize – and reward – the entire spectrum of excellence, not just one narrow aspect of it.

In any case, thank you for engaging in this discussion – it’s only through conversation about this that we’ll ever begin to think about design writing more holistically.

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