I am a fan of the idea of this video series, the simplistic but incredibly important questions asked and the wide variety of answers given, but I felt like it could be made better. I personally lost focus jumping back and forth between the designer’s 2-minute answers. I know it was probably supposed to be kept short, but these questions need a much longer time to be explored than I think they were given. This is where the power of numbers comes into play, thirty different answers yield a lot of information from a diversity of sources but are disjointed. The answers also seem kind of rushed and it makes me wonder how much prior notification the designers were given.
If this were a documentary, or even a focus group-type conversation between a few of these individuals, then the real important information could get uncovered. By themselves, the designer’s answers seem stranded by objectivity but in tandem the answers begin to paint a picture.
While I’m writing I may as well throw in my two cents:
My favorite piece of design has to be duct tape. Duct tape is both fun and incredibly useful. Sticking things to other things? Endless fun. Sticking what you need to something else you need? This is the stuff. I’ve seen duct tape repairs on clothing, cars, technology and pretty much anything else that isn’t edible. It is classically silver so that it is reflective and easily seen, but I have recently seen duct tape that is colored or has funny prints on the outside. Now you can attach two things using bacon-colored duct tape. It is also built using a gridded system so that multi-sized pieces of tape can torn, non-conditional with the width of the roll of tape.
Where do I think design should go? I agree with a few of the answers given in the videos that designers should focus on green design and making the lives of the average person not only easier but also more ecologically sustainable. Despite the naysayer’s naying, I believe that humans can live with the Earth instead of against it. We have the technology, money, and power to see this change but it is all put into different projects. I see the paradigm shifting towards this more every day and I hope it continues.