A POINT OF VIEW
Hello Ali
Yes, it may be confusing, if someone considers "design" and "designing"
from a pedestrian stand. Indeed, there is "design" everywhere, and
"everyone designs" and every human is constantly "designing" in every walk
of life and at all ages..
However, viewed from up at any given 'upper floor', one sees many
differences in all those "designs" and "designing" The only common output
of the activity is that, at the end of the exercise, we all come up with
artifacts, whether material and/or immaterial.
Fundamental differences pertain to who is designing, and for what purpose.
Other differences pertain to the approach and method adopted by the person
designing for a given purpose. Other differences pertain to designing means
adopted, etc. etc..
All these differences above ultimately appear in respective designed
artifacts. That is how, for instance, contrary to some generalizations, not
all designers (must) draw or produce drawings as their artifactual output.
In that sense, to me, politicians are designers as well, like anybody else
around, however them producing ideas/policies (i.e. immaterial artifacts)
on how to organize their respective communities.
On this list, we all are different professionals (i.e. designing for
others, and rewarded for), who agreed to assemble in as those who devise -
or research on how to better devise - artifacts, material and immaterial,
for our respective patrons, politicians included. When hired by
politicians, for example, professional designers would then just translate
policy designs devised by the politician patron, into programs (immaterial
artifacts) conveyed to constituencies by the means of other kinds of
material and/or immaterial artifacts. And eventually, ultimately,the
initial programs will end up embedded (i.e. designed) into other immaterial
and/or material artifacts or implements. A good and successful politician
will follow the embedding cascade, making sure that the initial immaterial
artifact, her/his program, is being correctly and successfully implemented
by the means of practicals. Take a politician speech for instance...it is
successively designed by a series of professional designers, including the
boss her/himself who supervises the making of the artifact, until its final
use/physical performance (material artifact) by her/him at the public
scene.
We re here very far from just drawing/draughtsmanship, or just
self-expression ('creativity') as the sole attributes for a professional
designer
Regards
Francois
Kigali
On Fri, Feb 3, 2017 at 11:36 AM, Ali Ilhan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear All,
>
>
>
> I would like to add yet another dimension to this debate, a dimension that
> oftentimes confuses me, and for which answers –at least for me-seem pretty
> elusive. As this post highlights we, as the design research community, have
> begun to find design and designing almost everywhere, from governance to
> economy. But every profession, every discipline and [every concept] is
> almost always an attempt of bracketing. There is always “boundary work”
> involved and there are always things that are left beyond that boundary. By
> pushing that boundary infinitely outwards, it seems to me that we are
> creating an inherent danger to make design –as a professional act-,
> irrelevant. If there is nothing beyond the bracket, there is no need for
> that bracket: the concept looses analytical clarity. Or to put it more
> bluntly, if design is everywhere, who really needs designers? (Ok, I am
> exaggerating). This is why I found Simon’s classical definition both
> liberating and dangerous. His definition is so wide that even sitting on a
> chair becomes designing (the existing situation was me standing next to my
> desk with a dull ache in my knee)-I exaggerated again.
>
>
>
> I am no expert in these matters (I quantitatively study how
> fields/disciplines grow or die), so please note that I do not have a
> definitive standpoint on this issue, but I am, more than anything, very
> confused.
>
>
>
> Warm wishes,
>
>
>
> Ali o. Ilhan, PhD
>
>
>
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