I feel as if I'm massively overstaying my welcome on the list, but I
must respond to The Poet Eduardo. He says:
"I like to think that a Designer is a producer of soul like
qualities on products that elevates him/her above any other producer."
This is a beautiful image. It is also an explicit reference to the
incredible power wielded -- knowingly or unknowingly -- by designers.
And why I think it is so important for designers -- maybe even more
than some of the people they work with -- to be insatiably curious and
well-informed about the social implications of what they're doing as
well as aware (and welcoming) of the authority that is vested in them
and their work.
As one who watches designers work with a profound sense of awe and
envy, I am sometimes struck by how little reflection there is on this
profession as agents of social change and stability. It is a
profession that directly and profoundly redistributes and concretizes
the distribution of power on a daily basis.
My friend Harvey Molotch at NYU shares this sense of wonder, by the
way, and I think it comes through in his even-handed and charming book
on the design profession, based on over a hundred interviews with top-
level and up and coming practitioners: "Where Stuff Comes From."
Another friend, economist and NYTimes reporter, Virginia Postrel, is
equally admiring if a bit more stylishly provocative in her reflection
on the growing power of designers in "The Substance of Style."
Ciao!
Christena Nippert-Eng, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Sociology
Illinois Institute of Technology
312-567-6812 (office)
312-567-6821 (fax)
http://www.iit.edu/~socsci/faculty/nippert-eng.html
|