The Reflection Piece

When I first started this class over 2 months ago, I made the excuse of not having time to create an online blog to share my posts, thoughts, and opinions on the evolution of design. Upon reflection, I realized that creating a post had less to do with sharing my thoughts with the external world, and more with consolidating my thoughts to a central location so that I may come back and put the pieces together to really understand where I am at in terms of graphical evolution. 


Below are a collection of 10 Field Journals entered independently of each other. At the time, there task was to get the post in on time to get the necessary points to pass the class; there was no intentionality of connecting the posts to the weeks prior.


However, as I read through my posts, I realized that there were several key underlying themes that drove my thoughts, and if it weren't for rereading those posts, I would have never made the connection, or be able to competently explain where I stand in terms of design.


Human evolution has always been about survival, and getting ahead of others. Biologically, and culturally, humans have evolved in order to outpace whatever they deem to be a threat, even if it's another group of humans. With design, I see similar themes. Design ideas and processes have always evolved with the intention of getting thoughts out faster, further, and easier than competing thoughts. Whether it be marketing, political propaganda, or religious manuscripts; the one that got out faster, further, and easier always ended up winning, and design was key to that.


I also made the realization that what we have today, regardless of how new it may seem to me, has it's roots in the past. Beck's transportation map was a stoke of genius to me, even though I saw it decades after it was first introduced. Movie posters, architectural designs, computers, cars, etc... all have their design roots in the past, whether it be from the Victorian Era, Modern Era, or Post Modern era. Everything new is rooted in something old. 


I referred to Steve Jobs and Apple in many of my posts. Their design has always fascinated me. I like simple, smooth, and clean designs. Apple, in Steve Jobs' second term with the company, brought that to life. Their products have always been about simplicity, and that is where I see the future of design going. Apple has been able to do so much with so little, you see many other industrial designs following suit: simple, monotone, few buttons, large displays, etc... Even Apple's marketing has gone that route. Simple, yet powerful. 


That is the future of design: Simple, yet Powerful. That is until it becomes too mainstream, and someone with the right vision and tools turns it upside down and we start a whole new era of design.