Hi, All.
I have been reading (and appreciating) all the comments and want to make a
few comments in particular.
In Rosan's last post I believe she made reference to the UCI proposed
school of design in relation to the economy:
So why these choices? (This to me is not obvious but may be so to
others).
1 Why build a design school in a public university to serve mainly
economical interests rather than other interests?
2 Why talk about a design school from an institutional rather than a
human perspective?
3 Why talk about design education in terms of commodity rather than
character?
Most design programs in the US have major content on human factors,
universal design, assistive technology, sustainability, recyclability and
so on. The programs are not just about economical interests but ideally
making better products for peoples' lives. This is a wonderful underlying
philosophy to the programs that has attracted me all these years. I did not
find these humanistic underlying philosophies in some of the other
disciplines I have worked with or been a part of . The UCI program, without
a doubt, would have these same philosophies in their content, and while the
products have to sell, that doesn't mean they cannot serve, and be
manufactured with less material waste.
In response to Rob's comments on China:
In all western countries the proportion of the population involved in
manufacturing has shrunk substantially over the last few decades. In the UK
it has halved. This trend of global manufacturing is not going to reverse
as western countries move to information based economies.
I also see the companies all over the world moving their manufacturing,
engineering and design to China. China wants this and is ready for it. They
want to be the manufacturers to the world. They also want to say "designed
in China", not just "made in China". They have their own population to
consider for products but they want to design for the rest of the world.
All countries are in danger of losing their "uniqueness" in relation to
product design. I am tired of going to major shopping venues and seeing the
same store chains all over the world. I am certain there will be a
backlash to this but not for many years.
Lorraine
Lorraine Justice, Ph.D., FIDSA
Director, Industrial Design
404.385.0462
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