So lately, I have been thinking about design, specifically, what kind of designer am I? Am I designer that is creative? Am I a designer that consumes design? Am I both? The type of designer you are will have an impact on the world more or less. Not that consuming design is bad, but the more innovative or creative the design, the better impact you will have.
This past week, I watched a ABC News Nightline from ten years ago, The Deep Dive. This documentary focused on IDEO and their design process for reinventing the shopping cart. The documentary was very insightful about design and creating an atmosphere for creative thinking. David Kelley made one statement that was very interesting. He was commenting on the design process stating,
“Just wherever you are, look around. The only thing that is not designed by somebody is nature. The trees are not designed by us. But everything you see, every light fitting, every flower vase, every scale, every stand for fruit, everything is designed has to go through this kind of process, and they can do a better or worse job of innovating or improving, but everything designed has to go through this process.”
His statement got me to think about the origin of design. Where did design come from? As a human, how can I create or design at all. Some say we evolved, others say we were created. This is why I value David Kelley’s insight to design. He says that everything but nature is designed. I can deduce from his comment that nature has design, but we (mankind) did not design it.
So who designed nature? It is my belief that God designed nature. Because God designed nature, we (mankind) were created and designed. Therefore, God is the origin of design.
So what? You might ask. The fact that we were created by God means that we were created to design. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” A part of God’s image is design, therefore, we are created with the ability to design at any level of maturity.
So, what kind of designer am I? Do I relegate myself to consuming and recycling design or do I make the effort to be creative more often? I have not answered this fully, but this insight about design is great encouragement to me as a designer.
I write this post as encouragement to others who design. Whether you agree or not with me is not the point. If God has created us in His image, then He has gifted us with the ability to design. From my vantage point, this is a high calling and encouragement not to accept laziness (be a consumer of design only) in the design process.
So what kind of designer are you?
FYI: If you would like to see The Deep Dive, but do not have money to purchase the documentary, I found it on YouTube here:
The Deep Dive: Part 1
The Deep Dive: Part 2
The Deep Dive: Part 3
