Designing to Solve Societies Problems
Designing to Solve Societies Problems
My role as a Design Manager
Spring 2011 by Cory Griffin
ICOR 490
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Designing to Solve Societies Problems
Thesis
Designers in society are creative thinkers and problem solvers that show their vision through their art and ultimately must come up with a way to create a more efficient and productive society.
Outline
-Intro
-Body 1 (Designs)
- Dieter Rams: Omit the Unimportant – Designing with a purpose/10 Principles
- Neumeier: Draftsmanship – Learning the fundamentals leads to higher success in design
-Body 2 (Creating something interesting)
- Gombrich: Truth and Stereotype – Individuality and incorporation of style
- Agrest: On Sergei M. Eisenstein – Thinking outside the box with unusual inspirations
- Body 3 (Tools like technology/google are good examples of design, that promote more design)
- Darlin: Technology Doesn't Dumb Us Down. It Frees Our Minds – Technology is a gift and makes somewhat tedious things interesting.
- Carr: Google is making us stupid – Opposite view point on technology making us stupid
-Body 4 (Doing something with your creative new designs)
- Fischer: Designing on Purpose – Implementing a new strategy
-Conclusion
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Designing to Solve Societies Problems
As a creative individual, you grow up constantly searching for ways to express your artistic talents. Some people show it through drawing, painting, inventing a new product, or even rearranging
3 living room furniture. However creative people let it out, the purpose is not only to self satisfy but to satisfy others. By having the intention of pleasing those that view or are involved with your creations, their opinions become a crucial piece of what makes your design successful. In addition to a visually stimulating piece of work, designers are creative problem solvers and are capable of discovering solutions that others might not. Designers in society are creative thinkers and problem solvers that show their vision through their art and ultimately come up with a more efficient and productive society.
Prior to becoming a successful contributor to societies design problems and creating the next visually stimulating piece of work there are some fundamentals that you need to follow. In a technologically driven society it has made the design world an entirely different place, no longer are animators required to sketch an entire storyboard of images to compile one scene of a cartoon.
Everything can be done on a computer with readymade graphics that someone just needs to learn how to utilize. This piece of the article “Draftsmanship” caught my attention: A professor of graphic design at the University of Utah, McRay Magleby, once asked his students why they had chosen to become graphic designers. He was surprised to find that it was their interest in computers, not drawing, that had placed them before him (Neumeier, 1997, p. 19).
To master your craft as a designer, learning the fundamentals will ultimately aid you in becoming the best that you can be. For an animator that means learning to sketch your animations before going digital, for apparel designers it means creating a mood board of inspirations, and for me as a design manager it means understanding the specific field and people and that I am managing.
Technology has truly changed the design world for the better, but by knowing how to be a designer without a computer gives you an edge that others may not have and an entirely different perspective.

Designing to Solve Societies Problems
Designers exist in many forms and in all different types of societies. Dieter Rams who is a
German industrial designer, discussed creative problem solving in product design in “Omit the
Unimportant”. Dieter Rams (1989) recognized that good design means as little design as possible (p.
111). He went on to discuss that design of products (such as coffee makers or blenders) should fit the function of the product instead of being complicated and confusing (Rams, 1989, 112). Using smart and
4 simple designs to products provides the greatest purpose. Some product designs are for flash and show little innovation. Although some product designs might be popular among a certain market group, Rams discussed that innovation should not be forgotten and that by giving into the designing just for the flash and glam we lose ourselves as designers. When a designer designs complicated and unnecessary forms they escape the function and capability of self-expression (Rams, 1989, p.111). They should find an innovative way of expressing the product’s functions (Rams, 1989, p.112).
Dieter Rams (1980) defined 10 principals of good design. These principals show his ideas of what good designers should create in order to produce good design.
1. Good design is innovative.
2. Good design makes a product useful.
3. Good design is aesthetic.
4. Good design makes a product understandable.
5. Good design is unobtrusive.
6. Good design is honest.
7. Good design is long lasting.
8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
9. Good design is environmentally friendly.
10. Good design is as little design as possible. (Rams, 1980)
Ram’s principals helped answer what the role of a designer is in society. Designer’s creative an object or form that is innovative, that is useful, that is honest, that is long lasting, etc. Even as an aspiring manager, I have to know these design principles so that I can effectively communicate with the

Designing to Solve Societies Problems designers that I am working with. If I do not speak their language and know what makes a good design I
5 would not make a very respectable or successful design manager.
Once you have the fundamentals down you have to put your creativity to work, but it is not always easy to get your creative juices flowing. This is where inspiration comes into play and inspiration just might come from an unexpected place. Diana Agrest (2001) who wrote “On Sergei M. Eisenstein” relates urban architecture and urban form of a city to the process and creation of a film. Agrest states,
“through film, the city can be read in its physicality and its visuality as a literal physical space and as a mediated reality” (2001, p. 4). In a film as in analyzing the overview of a city, a designer can look at both the physicality of the story or structures or the physical space between people or design. Reading the city through film allows access into the complexity, the expansive force, and sequential organization of fragments in time that characterize the city (2001, p. 4). Agrest discussed the concept at looking at a city or structures from a film view, almost from the outside. Creating a city using a narrative story helps the designer create a full design and picture from start to finish. Agrest said “architectures that include narrative, time, action, etc., that open and erode of the fixed boundaries of each disciple as institutionally defined, are produced by the city itself” (2001, p. 4). This idea allows architects to stop thinking in the way of “I have to design a building, it will be gray, and 20 stories” for example, and start looking at the design process in narrative, time, and action form. Agrest provides solutions and insight to an architectural creative process.
As a design manager, I also have to look for inspiration in different management techniques. I may not be designing the next big advertisement or creating a hip new iPod design, but I will be responsible for finding ways to inspire, encourage, and promote those designs as a leader. With that responsibility, I am constantly looking to for inspirational management styles to work with the vast array of creative minded people. I may not find solace in the way that a movie plays out like Agrest does, but I

Designing to Solve Societies Problems 6 find comfort in paying attention to the subtle details given off by other managers and leaders that I look up to on a daily basis. Continuing on I look to promote individuality and style within designs which is represented well by an article by E.H. Gombrich entitled “Truth and the Stereotype”.
Gombrich (1961) gave examples of the human eye viewing one image or object from different perspectives but never being able to see both perspectives at the same time. These examples are given to support the idea that an artist begins to create an image with a specific set of schema, a set of classified motifs and forms already known (p. 34). Everyone has a different way of interpreting the same thing based of off preconceived notions and beliefs. With that understanding, designers should be encouraged to embrace their different viewpoints and contribute their perspective onto a given design or project. I know that as a manager it is my responsibility to get my team to brainstorm and come up with something fresh and new. Going along with what Gombrich wrote about, promoting personal style and putting your take on things to use will create something unique and your own.
Going back to earlier in, my paper I stated that one must learn the fundamentals of design before relying on technology (namely a computer) to do all of your work for you. However, if used correctly, I see technology as a gift and can make a complicated situation much easier. For example,
Google is an irreplaceable resource and has resulted in many different forms of information and inspiration. Damon Darlin (2008), the technology editor for The New York Times states that contrary to the Article in Atlantic magazine, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" technology does not dumb us down but frees human beings with automation, so that we can use our time for effectively to think and create instead of wasting our time with repetitive, difficult tasks. "But for all the new technologies that increase our productivity, there are others that demand more of our time" (Darlin, 2008, p. 2). For the sake of looking at both sides of the issue, Nick Carr (2008) the author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, makes a

Designing to Solve Societies Problems 7 good point that time can be wasted by going on a never ending search for information that can be much more easily found by going to a library or simply finding inspiration in a less digital manner (p. 3).
Lastly, within my process for managing designers to make a better society there has to be a purpose to their design. As a design manager, one of the first things I learned how to do was to create a design brief, which gives the details of a project and most importantly the objective. You could possess the most talented designers on your team, but if they do not have a direction, they will end up creating something beautiful yet useless. The article by Henning Fischer (2009) covered this concept to the “t” through an interview with David Butler – VP of Design for Coca-Cola. David was brought in to Coca-Cola to help give the company a sense of direction when their vision seemed to become clouded. He wrote this manifesto: “It was simply called “Designing on Purpose.” What I meant by that was that we as a company design literally millions of things all around the world, but a lot of it was without purpose and really not driven by user needs and opportunities that would build our business” (p. 1). I feel that as a manager this aspect of designing to solve society’s problems is where I come into play. I may not be the most artistic or creative individual, but I can most certainly give clear direction with a strong purpose behind it. This is where the business comes to play and I make a design or creation become marketable and appealing to a mass audience that will find it useful and meaningful.
Society is full of problems just aching to be solved, and this is where I believe the creative community comes into play. We make up the architects, the industrial designers, advertisers, and in my case managers. All we need to keep in mind when designing is to remember whom we are designing for as well as what you are designing. By understanding the fundamentals of your medium, you can have a strong starting point and will be a well-rounded designer as a result. As a manager, I need to be able to promote inspiration from unusual places and from the designer’s personal experiences, which result in unique designs or creations. Moving forward in the design process can sometimes be difficult, but by

Designing to Solve Societies Problems utilizing technology and resources like Google, you can speed things up if you do it correctly. Bringing
8 everything together, we come down to designing on purpose to solve a design objective. This is where my role of a design manager is really tested and where I make a design truly solve one of society’s problems.

Designing to Solve Societies Problems 9
References
Agrest, D. (2001). On Sergei M. Eisenstein. In S. Gray. Ed. 1, Architects on Architects. (pp. 3-9). New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Carr, N. (2008). Is Google Making Us Stupid? From the Atlantic. (pp 1-7) Atlantic Monthly Group
Darlin, D. (2008). “Technology Doesn't Dumb Us Down. It Frees Our Minds.” New York Times, retrieved
May 15, 2011 from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/technology/21ping.html
“Dieter Rams: Ten Principles for Good Design." Vitsoe, retrieved May 1, 2011 from http://www.vitsoe.com/en/re/about/dieterrams/gooddesign
Fischer, H. (2009). “Designing on Purpose: An Interview with David Butler, VP of Design at Coca-Cola”.
Adaptive Path, retrieved May 15, 2011 from http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/designing-onpurpose-an-interview-with-david-butler-vp-of-design-at-coca-co
Gombrich, E.H. (1961) Truth and the Stereotype. from Art and Illusion. (pp 33-47) New Jersey: Princeton
University Press
Neumeier, M. (1997). Draftsmanship. Critique Magazine No. 6 (pp.19-23) Neumeier Design Team
Rams, D. (1989). Omit the Unimportant. In R. Margolis. Design Discourse. (pp 111-113). Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.