...still trying to figure more out about ID.

Design Discussions general design discussion
1

Yes, me again. After all the questions, research, and topics, I’m still in a tough spot, and can’t decide if ID is a college major and / or career I’d like to pursue. For the sake of the topic, please try to ignore past questions I have asked.

Some reasons I am considering ID:

  • I’ve always loved to build things (namely with Legos) and have always been curious as to how they work. I would consider engineering, but it seems too boring, and I’m not that great at math.

  • When using products, I see flaws in them and think about how I’d make them better.

  • I like to draw, and although I haven’t really spent much time on it / don’t have training, I seem to be decent at it. Meaning, I probably could be a great artist with time, practice, and the proper training.


    Some reasons I am hesitant:

  • I don’t really like the whole “design world”. Hard to explain what I mean… but from reading various magazines, web sites, tv shows, and a bunch of other items… I just don’t really fit into that mold. The magazine Azure for example. I’ve read it a few times, and just didn’t really seem interested in it.

I’m not sure how to properly explain what I don’t like…it’s too… hipster? liberal? artsy?

None of those words really describe what I mean, but I can’t put into words what I don’t like about it. I don’t really have anything against it, it’s just not my personality. How would you describe the design “scene” or “world”?

  • I was in New York City recently, and went to the Museum of Modern Art. There was a design-oriented exhibit there, which had furniture, housewares, some personal electronics, and a few other things. To be honest, pretty much none of it interested me, aside from a neat-looking cell phone.

  • The majority of modern art doesn’t interest me, largely because it’s abstract, which I don’t like because I feel it’s insulting to people who actually have art skills. Not sure how that really applies to ID, but there seems to be an art-focus in this industry, which I’m not too interested in. Function over form, I guess.


    Any and all thoughts / suggestions / etc. would be much appreciated. Can you recommend any particular books, magazines, tests, whatever that could give me a better answer if this is a match for me?

2

Does this mean you are also ignoring all the answers already posted? Not trying to be unhelpful, but most of these Q’s have already been replied to earlier…

R

3

None of those words really describe what I mean, but I can’t put into words what I don’t like about it. I don’t really have anything against it, it’s just not my personality. How would you describe the design “scene” or “world”?

ID is so broad, what you’ve described is just a small part of it. You don’t have to go down this side of design if you don’t want to, its easy to avoid. Just pick a degree that doesn’t lend its self to one of peices etc. and instead focuses on mass-produced, user focused products.

From what you’ve said I think you’d enjoy ID, the briefs at university allow you to go off on your own route and design what you think would be best, so your in control.

I was in New York City recently, and went to the Museum of Modern Art. There was a design-oriented exhibit there, which had furniture, housewares, some personal electronics, and a few other things. To be honest, pretty much none of it interested me, aside from a neat-looking cell phone.

Passion for the finer details will grow as you progress through school.

What your worrying about is easily avoidable, I imagine a lot of people in ID arnt a fan of this side of design. Go through coroflot, look at peoples work, if thats the sort of thing you want to do then look at the school they went to etc etc

4

I think you’ll find that only a minority of designers really go for the “design culture” that you find off-putting, it’s just that these things get the media coverage. This recent thread may be enlightening:

5

be careful what you say based on the limited knowledge/experience you have. The key to understand this, and the multitude of other questions you have is an open mind and first hand experience.

Based on our previous discussions (impossible to ignore), I feel like these questions have been hashed and re-hashed in various forms. I’m not sure what you are looking for Keifer, but I feel fairly confident that it will come from going to school and experiencing the actual doing of them first hand.

At some point we all have to make that leap to see if a career is actually right for us, there won’t be a guarantee. You keep coming back to the same starting point and that might reveal something to you.

6

Does this mean you are also ignoring all the answers already posted? Not trying to be unhelpful, but most of these Q’s have already been replied to earlier…

No, but I was kind of looking for answers as if I was new and hadn’t asked any questions before.

I think you’ll find that only a minority of designers really go for the “design culture” that you find off-putting, it’s just that these things get the media coverage. This recent thread may be enlightening:

would someone please put Product back into Design

Thanks for that link, read a few posts and it looks related, I’ll have to read the whole thing later.

What your worrying about is easily avoidable, I imagine a lot of people in ID arnt a fan of this side of design. Go through coroflot, look at peoples work, if thats the sort of thing you want to do then look at the school they went to etc etc

Thanks, I’ll have to look into that.

be careful what you say based on the limited knowledge/experience you have. The key to understand this, and the multitude of other questions you have is an open mind and first hand experience.

I don’t have a limited knowledge of abstract/modern art, unfortunately. My dad is an artist, so I’ve been to dozens of abstract/modern art galleries and shows. I like art that requires talent to produce (and a lot of people on here are very good at it.) But a giant blue square or a bunch of splattered paint is not, and will never be, art to me.

I really don’t like it at all, and will never like it. If that sort of thing is a large part of the design world, then I really have to consider my entry into such a field.


In my mind, I’m hoping that industrial designers, or at least some of them, are tinkers with basic engineering skills that want to make products that solve problems, work well, and look good.

I’m just trying to figure out if that’s possible in the field, or if it’s mostly art-related people.

7

In my mind, I’m hoping that industrial designers, or at least some of them, are tinkers with basic engineering skills that want to make products that solve problems, work well, and look good.

I’m just trying to figure out if that’s possible in the field, or if it’s mostly art-related people.

It’s possible. ID is full of the ‘tinkers with basic engineering skills’. Do it.

8

I predict with a fair amount of certainty that you will take most of that back in 6 years.

There are many tinkerer designers. Read up on Charles and Rae Eames, and the Bauhaus. There was a firm principal of being able to engineer and build what you designed in both. Check into how Marc Newson got his start, he built the Lockheed Lounge Chair himself, finished it in his apartment.

While you are at it, read up on Sol LeWitt, Agnes Martin, and Joseph Albers.
Replicating real life is a skill, you can go to the mall and get a dude to sketch a pastel of your likeness. Seeing inside of things, and abstracting them is Art… and a big part of being a designer as well.

9

Well said.

10

These questions have been answered before and you’re still disregarding them.

Stubornness and ignorance have no place in ID or anywhere else.

You come in with an open mind but disregard people who tell you your inclinations are wrong.

You don’t have to be a hipster and design neon green plastic trash cans to be an industrial designer.

I’m a video game nerd/car guy who wears $15 blue jeans from Old Navy, watches football, and designs industrial rugged computers for use in freezers. I don’t care about Karim Rashid’s newest personal massager, but I can still appreciate the design details that go into a BMW motorcycle or an Eames lounge chair.

The beauty of design is you can pick whatever you want to design. But you keep asking questions like every designer is a hipster who’s doing the cover art for their lesbian roommates new indie record - and it’s ridiculous stereotypes like that and your inability to read and UNDERSTAND what people are saying that’ll be your downfall.

11

Keifer
You are concentrating on the media’s coverage of design instead of the actual occupation. Don’t worry about being drafted into an army of guys in pale pink suits and huge glasses. If someone wants to be a part of that scene they have to persue it. Just like you need to persue any area that intrests you. I suggest focusing on finding design directions that do intrest you and don’t waste your time rehashing things you don’t care for. In other words, find you passion.

I don’t follow your connection between abstract art and product design. When was the last time you looked at a design that everyone was raving about and said “that took no talent”? Even seemingly simple designs often are the product of keen insight into materals, physics or user behaviors.

Stubornness and ignorance have no place in ID or anywhere else.

You come in with an open mind but disregard people who tell you your inclinations are wrong.

You don’t have to be a hipster and design neon green plastic trash cans to be an industrial designer.

Well said.

12

You are getting the same answers over and over again, because you are asking the same questions over and over. The people who are actually answering you actually know a lot about this, and I’m not referring to myself but my colleagues here.

You need to open your mind up, which school will do. You will try this know it all bit the first critique or discussion group, and everyone will react unfavorably, and you will hopefully drop it. We have all done it.

You are skimming through articles, and using stereotypes, which says you aren’t really researching wholeheartedly. Engineering isn’t boring to engineers, in fact I’ve even seen some really exciting engineered things in my short career. And I also at one time thought engineering was boring, thats why I switched to ID. The difference between all of us and you so far is at some point we quit talking about it and started doing it. Everyone hear has done research, but then stepped out of their comfort zone and tried something. If someone aggregated all of our collective failures either in design or in life the numbers would be astounding, especially mine, but also I have had some significant successes. It takes big risks to have big gains.

Design isn’t about modern art, or contemporary art, or eames chairs or noguchi tables or being in the MOMA, its about researching problems, developing solutions, and taking risks to get your solution out there.

Finally, if you feel you have contaminated your name on this site, you can do one of three things, get a new name, which people will see through rather quickly because of your general attitude, move on and harass a different group of people, or actually change your outlook, and be open to ideas and have courage to take risks. Chances are you aren’t still reading this though so I doubt you’ll take anything from any of this.

13

The beauty of design is you can pick whatever you want to design. But you keep asking questions like every designer is a hipster who’s doing the cover art for their squirrel roommates new indie record - and it’s ridiculous stereotypes like that and your inability to read and UNDERSTAND what people are saying that’ll be your downfall.



Keifer
You are concentrating on the media’s coverage of design instead of the actual occupation. Don’t worry about being drafted into an army of guys in pale pink suits and huge glasses. If someone wants to be a part of that scene they have to persue it. Just like you need to persue any area that intrests you. I suggest focusing on finding design directions that do intrest you and don’t waste your time rehashing things you don’t care for. In other words, find you passion.

Okay, well I that’s good that my initial impressions of the design world are wrong.

But I’m just going by what’s in the media; what I’ve read and what’s out there in magazines, etc. I don’t know very many industrial designers, so all the information I gather is from the media and internet. That’s just the impression that I got from it.

I don’t follow your connection between abstract art and product design. When was the last time you looked at a design that everyone was raving about and said “that took no talent”? Even seemingly simple designs often are the product of keen insight into materals, physics or user behaviors.

I guess it’s just my impression of id from media and such again. It seems like a lot of designers are into some abstract art, which I have no interest in and never will.

I’m not referring to industrial design stuff at all, it just seems to be a common interest among designers.

There are tons of items that I feel are excellently designed which obviously took a lot of work to product.


Finally, if you feel you have contaminated your name on this site, you can do one of three things, get a new name, which people will see through rather quickly because of your general attitude, move on and harass a different group of people, or actually change your outlook, and be open to ideas and have courage to take risks. Chances are you aren’t still reading this though so I doubt you’ll take anything from any of this.

I know, but it’s not like a 80k college education is just something I can experiment on. I’d like to be as sure as possible that this is what I want to do before I spend that much time and money.

14

I have been following these threads for a while and have reframed from chiming in because like carton said, you are getting the same answer over and over and just like to argue.

I don’t have a limited knowledge of abstract/modern art, unfortunately. My dad is an artist, so I’ve been to dozens of abstract/modern art galleries and shows. I like art that requires talent to produce (and a lot of people on here are very good at it.) But a giant blue square or a bunch of splattered paint is not, and will never be, art to me.

Making comments like this just shows that you are immature and really don’t know what you are talking about. Looking at art in a gallery and taking 3-5 college art history classes and learning the meaning behind it are two totally different things. You say you do not like this stuff but don’t really know why you do not like it.

You gathered your info on design through of what you have read in the media? Come on!!! You know how ridiculous this sounds. That’s like saying I wouldn’t move to Miami because the kids on the real world made ass out of themselves. ID is about so many different disciplines and not just in product development. To say that we are all the same and have the same interest is just ludicrous.

Okay I am done now. I just had to put my two cents in but now I am going to go back to ignoring your posts and I think everyone else should do the same until you change your attitude.

15

I have been following these threads for a while and have reframed from chiming in because like carton said, you are getting the same answer over and over and just like to argue.

Making comments like this just shows that you are immature and really don’t know what you are talking about. Looking at art in a gallery and taking 3-5 college art history classes and learning the meaning behind it are two totally different things. You say you do not like this stuff but don’t really know why you do not like it.

:

I like art that requires talent to produce (and a lot of people on here are very good at it.) But a giant blue square or a bunch of splattered paint is not, and will never be, art to me.

I don’t need to be an artist to have an opinion about it. I don’t like it, and never will. Honestly, I didn’t ask for your opinion on my opinion, I just asked if that’s a big interest in the ID world.

I’ve never said that I don’t like art; I love older stuff and modern stuff that shows it took talent, and (gasp) also has meaning.

What I don’t like are giant blue squares that represent some complex idea, when an actual artist can create art that also has the same complex representation, while being attractive.

You gathered your info on design through of what you have read in the media? Come on!!! You know how ridiculous this sounds. That’s like saying I wouldn’t move to Miami because the kids on the real world made ass out of themselves. ID is about so many different disciplines and not just in product development. To say that we are all the same and have the same interest is just ludicrous.

One over the top TV show =/= tons of magazines, television shows, and websites. That’s just the impression I got.

And of course there are certain cultures for certain industries. Similar careers = similar people = similar interests, at least some of the time.


Okay I am done now. I just had to put my two cents in but now I am going to go back to ignoring your posts and I think everyone else should do the same until you change your attitude.

Fine, ignore them. I’m just spilling my mind onto a forum, and I wasn’t aware that I had to abide by some specific code of posting. If anyone doesn’t want to just tell me what they think, then go ahead and just ignore me. Delete my posts, it doesn’t matter. I’m just looking for thoughts, not insults. And I thank Boogey_Man, bennybtl, and Diko Day for answering my questions.

16

I’m coming out of retirement on this thread to give you the FINAL SOLUTION.

Enter this contest: http://www.tea-off.com/

It’s really the perfect answer to your question. You don’t even need to submit your design or show it to any of us. If you’re happy with the results, submit it. If you then think you want to do this kind of thing for a living, put it in your entrance portfolio–maybe you’ll even win a scholarship. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

17

Thats a really good idea, you should just try the contest. Teapots are very versatile, you could do one that looks really slick, or you could do one that is very ergonomic and considers how it will fit with the human users. You could do one that heats the water to the perfect temperature for tea, as there is a specific temp tea is supposed to me made at for optimum steeping. Or ideally you would combine all of these considerations and come up with something really cool.

I, and I’m sure anyone else would be willing to put aside anything from the past and check out any concepts you have, and offer some constructive criticism should you desire it. How about it? A fresh start, an opportunity to see what design is really about?

18

I agree. This is a chance for you to get your hands dirty and have fun. Go for it!!