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.