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World Usability Day >
Miamisburg, OH
November 13th, 2008Katie & Sri presenting: Experiential Heuristics: Moving Beyond Usability
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What Have You Done For Me Lately? - a Design Research Work Session with Lextant >
Seattle, WA
October 9th, 2008What have you done for your local chapter of IDSA and what has your local chapter of IDSA done for you? Attend and see.
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IDSA 2008 Conference: Polar Opposites >
Phoenix, Arizona
September 10-13, 2008Chris will debunk 10 design myths at this influential industry event. Learn more.
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Our observations of the world around us
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Art and Science, in balance
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At the recent IDSA Mideast District conference (held right here in Columbus), I had an interesting conversation with an established designer who is currently in residence at a renowned art school. The theme of the regional event, Art + Science, served as a preview for the upcoming national IDSA conference (its theme: “Polar Opposites”).
Our discussion started when he asked, “Where are all the great American designers?” He said he felt that the “art” in American design has gone by the wayside. “Ouch,” I thought to myself. “That’s pretty harsh.”
My immediate response was to say that American corporations do not general encourage and nurture designers as artists; he went further, saying he felt industry was losing the art by focusing too much on the science.
What? Really?
As a design researcher, I am on the science side of the field. So, at the time, it was difficult for me not to defend the science side of things. In fact, defend it I did. We talked and debated the rest of the night. Now that I have had a month or so to mill this about in my mind, I began to wonder if he had a point. Here’s where I ended up…
Everything is best when in balance. If you look one of today’s successful designers (and one of my personal favorites), Naoto Fukasawa, (notably, not American) you see the evidence of balance. He thinks about the use, function, and needs of the user, and yet all of his designs have a unique and consistent personal expression. So much so that you can look at a piece of his work and know that it is his. There is evidence of art and personal expression and well as science and forethought in these simple examples of his work.
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