Design is Everywhere
Mon
19
Sep
2005
7:15pm
No Tags Wow. Being in a design class makes you look at EVERYTHING and just analyze. Here are just a few examples of things i noticed yesterday with poor design. These are things that I normally interact with every day.
- Window Blinds - Why are there 2 strings that you pull on to raise and lower the blinds? When would you EVER want individual control over both sides of the shades? Wouldn’t you always just want them to stay level and not hang crooked?
- Lamp Switches - Why is it that they only toggle on and off when i click the knob in the proper direction. It ensures that I almost always have to click the knob more than once because I turn it the wrong direction first. Shouldn’t turning the knob toggle the lights regardless of what direction you turn in? The device only has 2 states.
Maybe it’s just because these devices would have been harder to design the other way from an engineering standpoint. But then, isn’t that just lazy product design? Can I get window blinds from Bang & Olufsen that only have a single string so the shades always stay level? Nah, they’d probably just be totally electronic…
Curse you design class! You’ve made me question the function of everything around me. But we haven’t made it to the “how to fix it” part of the course yet. Drat!
Comments (2 So Far)
1
Daniel Kedinger says:
I agree with you totally. After I took my first design(graphic) class I began to look at design in a whole new light. I ask myself often, “Now why in the world did the manufacturer do that?” I think it is the nature of education in any field. Once you know something about inner workings you begin to approach from the inside out instead of being a spectator.
By the way, great pictures on istockphoto.com. That is how I stumbled onto your blog. I especially like the crosses. I will most likely be using them for a poster design soon. Keep up the good work.
-to design is seeing through
2
Shelley says:
Uhmmm. You ARE a musician, remember? People here still remember you as being super musical and couldn’t believe you weren’t going to be a music major in college. Don’t ever quit - singing, guitar, sax, writing music, being in musicals. you can do it for a lifetime, even if you’re also an engineer.
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