Do Designers really “suck”? Bruce Nussbaum says they do. Actually, he says a lot more in his BusinessWeek rant this week. While his true purpose is to elevate the value of design and add to the discourse about sustainability, he does it in an unusually provocative way.
Nussbaum takes on star designers with a passion, suggesting they are zealously guarding their craft as sacred at at time when we all have the tools to be designers. And in this, he’s right. The real win in this era of the democratization of design is that we are all appreciating design, valuing design, filling our lives with great design. No longer the sole domain of the rich, great design is finally accessible to all. And technology has enabled us to become designers - what a wonderful thing! Why on earth is that so threatening?
Affordable digital video cameras have created a society of home cinematographers (although, that’s a real overstatement if you look at the quality of most home movies!), but they haven’t obsoleted the movie industry. Bloggers are everywhere, but other media still thrives. The tools of technology enable us to play the game and take our own work to a new level, but it in no way replaces true expertise. Designers shouldn’t be threatened, they should view the fact that so many of us have jumped into their pool as a sign of a more secure future. What could be better than a newfound mass appreciation of their craft?
Nussbaum also raises important questions about the role of design as it relates to humanity and the planet. We need to reframe our view of sustainability, the definition of organic, the value of recycling. It’s time to question our assumptions and open our vantage to new design challenges. It’s time to focus on what counts, not what’s easy or has historically defined the solution.
Read the essay. Go back to it. There’s a lot in there. What is design? And should we just call it a banana?
