Objectified!

A lot of what we are doing is getting design out of the way."

-Jonathan Ive

Two weeks ago, we watched a documentary regarding the everyday products we use and how their designs are sometimes misused and disregarded by people.

One thing that struck me was their explanation of why the toothpick has a weird looking top part. I really thought it was someone's weird design to make the toothpick more appealing. A glass shattering moment happen after the documentary. The top part was really designed to be used as a sign that the toothpick's already used and it can also be used as a stand for the toothpick. Interesting, right?

With this part alone, the makers of the movie already made a strong point regarding how consumers really disregard design and that we take them for granted. I believe it's partly because we are living a fast paced life. People believe that once you slow down, you'll get left behind. That is also why people are creating new things "without design," without design in terms of their lack of quality compared to those that are carefully designed by professionals. They just create and create just to have something to sell. If you create things faster, you can sell faster = faster money return. Compare this to products that have to pass thru industrial design professionals. A company must hire professionals to carefully study the competitors' products, think of something innovative for their product and create it. This will take so much time and money (cause ID experts don't come cheap). This is why most companies nowadays opt to disregard design and go to what is faster, easier and low cost. Minimum cost, maximum profit.

The topic of sustainability also enters. This is also a problem indicated in the documentary. Some designers admit that they also have a part in this. We live in a highly competitive world so people create and create to outproduce and outsell their competitors. Thus, more and more products are presented to the public, either products with design or without design. More people buy things to replace the old ones they have at home. Some opt to sell their replaced products to junk shops for a few bucks but most of these products are thrown away and placed into landfills. Since most of the products made are not biodegradable, they just stay there, forgotten by their previous owners.

After watching the documentary, I gained a huge respect to these designers. It takes a lot of time and patience to create newer, more innovative products for the public. Also, in creating new products, profit shouldn't be the number one priority. I think it's supposed to be the consumers and how it affects everything. That their comfort and convenience must be put into consideration and that the environment is not hurt whenever production of these happen.

In addition, I'll forever admire those who take into consideration the environment. Biodegradable products are not that cheap and selling these products at a reasonable price is really worthy of admiration.

Lastly, I realized that even if we live in a fast paced world, it wouldn't hurt to stop and slow down; to smell the roses, as they say. Too much speed can cause a person to crash. Slowing down, admiring the little things, the simpler things can give a person a newer, fresher perspective.