Design matters immensely to all of us whether we know it or not, and it represents a huge frontier of potential in everyday life. This belief is what this book, “Design, A Very Short Introduction” by John Heskett is concentrated on. One of the most mysterious features of the modern world is how the word design has been broadly elaborated throughout the history of this earth. Design is the crucial details that have shaped our environment for the enhancement and pleasure of everyone who witnesses it. It affects all people but in their each individual way they perceive the details. All aspects of the environment are capable of improvement in some way or another. The structures and forms that are put before us are all subject to change or to be innovated at one point or another with the improvement of technology, tools, knowledge, cultures, values, etc…
Human nature today has continued to be for the most part unchanged. In other words the methods of which we design or alter objects has changed such as culture and technology, but all for the same reasons. Natural objects have been used as tools and apparatuses to enhance the appearance, job, function, or purpose of something. Stereotypes of what things are supposed to look like have been adapted, developed, and were transformed over the years, and this is still happening today. Objects are not just limited to a simple answer to a problem but it is extended to give an idea of how life was lived in the past. In the mid-eighteenth century the industrial system became prevalent which brought mass production changes that most designers were unwilling to change to these burdens. After the First World War a school for designers called Bauhaus changed the spread of power of art by mechanically producing new innovations for the entire society. Before this Henry Ford produced his famous Model T in 1907 for the wealthy. After World War II, designers started focusing their talents towards fundamental problems to businesses. Throughout the history of design as the evolution of design goes on, it is layered and new innovations are made without starting from scratch.
Utility and significance are two tools used in the explanation of design. Utility is “the quality of appropriateness in use” (Heskett, 26). Significance of design is “how forms assume meaning in the ways they are used, or the roles and meanings assigned to them” (Heskett, 27). For example the toothpick: A Norwegian company produced a toothpick that had a wedged point on one side. This was designed for ‘utility’, which people could effectively use. A Japanese toothpick, which was circular and had one pointed side as well, offered the same ‘utility’ as the Norwegian toothpick. This one though had incisions on the other end which could be snapped off, and served as a rest for the other pointed end after its use. This served as ‘significance’ to the product. Languages also created new problems when advertising elsewhere. For instance the visual imagery of when Coca-Cola took their product to China. The pronunciation of the brand name was ‘Bite the wax tadpole’. So the problem was identified and changed to mean ‘Tasty and evoking happiness’. Certain designs can create a change in values or ethnic limitations. This can either be a good thing or potentially become threatening or give offense to a specific culture. The assumption of having the same standards throughout the world can bring new problems. Some theorize by contemplating that the understanding of design should be focused on the end outcome being in terms of what goals and perceptions the designer(s) used.
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