The word 'design' means different things to different people - a wallpaper pattern, a fashionable dress, how a car is put together, the comfort of a chair, the user-friendliness of a gadget, and much more.

Areas like applied arts, engineering, architecture and other creative fields come readily to mind when the term “design” is used.

Design can be viewed in several ways: Design as a universal activity; Design as centred on our human needs; and, Design as a discipline that people are trained in.

Design as a universal activity
Design need not be conceived of as only for an exclusive few – it is ‘done’ by everyone at some point or another. All of us have probably attempted to ‘re-design something in our heads’ that we thought ought to be ‘better’ – our wardrobe, our furniture, the appliances and devices we use, the buildings we live and work in, for example.

Design as centred on our human needs
Design is also problem-driven, activity-centred and context-bound. Often centred on our own human needs, design works towards solving specific problems we may encounter in a particular context. Examples could be: “How can I make more comfortable shoes?”; “how can peak-hour traffic jams be avoided?”; “can my laptop be lighter but still work as well?” Design is the solution that address the needs behind these questions.

Design as a discipline
Design is also a specific form of training and skill development. Examples of design disciplines include industrial design, architecture, urban planning and graphic design. Each is concerned with creating possibilities for their domain. In Engineering for example, design can be seen as the application of science to the making of something. In Science, people try to discover a pattern behind a design in something to find out the way things are or how they work.

Design embodies imagination, creativity, skill, the human spirit, and the striving for excellence. Design is about ideas, and the realization of these ideas.

Also check out::
one+one=three: Find out varying takes what design is from this design blog that has put together quotes on design from famous designers such as Charles Eames and Frank Lloyd Wright, to design critics like Paola Antonelli and Victor Margolin. It may get you more confused, but it certainly sets you thinking.

The Design Interaction: A skeletal look at all possible domains of design - design as a universal activity, a discipline, a process, what are the interactions of human-centred design?

icon's take: icon magazine editor, Marcus Fairs, thinks his article on 'What is Design?" as a "clumsy start". But it started strong with his exploration of how this definition has evolved according to the definer and the changing role of design in the marketplace. A worthy read, though the end turned a little "clumsy" by concluding "design" in 3 statements as defined by the contemporary landscape, elite users, and taste. Is it?

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Re-design has been defined as “To make a revision in the appearance or function of.” Typically, the creative drive for the original design is stirred by necessity – the need to fulfill specific functions or needs. However, it is quite often the case that once a design has been incorporated into a product and been produced or used, there is an inherent resistance to change even when the original product may have ceased to adequately perform its original purpose. It is for this reason that re-design is sometimes required, to ‘re-think’ the design of these items and to think of new and better designs for them.

There are many reasons for re-design. One classic example would be that of accessibility. In the past we had the staircase to move between different floors. People would have to make use of physical strength to climb up to the next floor. However, as technology progressed, buildings got taller and taller and the stairs were no longer a satisfactory method for moving between floors. As a result, redesign came into play. Stairs were modified; escalators were born - same function as the stairs, but without requiring user effort.

Another reason for re-design could be convenience for a changing society. In the past, coke bottles used to be made out of glass. They were heavy, cumbersome and could not be easily carried around. The Coke company realized the changing needs of society and came up with the can. This enabled consumers to carry coke around with them easily and dispose of the containers conveniently too.

In a sense, every ‘new’ design is not new per se, but builds on the collective knowledge, experience and context that have been captured in a previous design (some of this collective body may no longer be applicable for a present situation, hence the need for re-design). The process and benefits of redesign can be summarized by a quotation from Donald Norman, author of the bestseller “Design for Everyday Things”:

“Improvements can take place through natural evolution as long as each previous design is studied and the craftsperson is willing to be flexible. The bad features have to be identified. The folk artists change the bad features, and keep the good ones unchanged. If a change makes matters worse, well, it just gets changed again on the next go-around. Eventually the bad features get modified into good ones, while the good ones are kept.”

Also check out:
On Seeing Design as Redesign: This paedogogical exploration of design from the perspective of an industrial designer-teacher from Oslo School of Architecture is a good exposition on the idea of the significance of seeing design as redesign ~ "any new thing that appears in the made world is based on some object already in existence".

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The first question to ask when considering if a design is good is usually “Does it work?” We have seen examples of clocks where the hour and minute hands are so similar that one cannot easily tell the time and jugs that do not pour well, or (pet peeve in sometimes-rainy Singapore) covered walkways in public places that don’t keep out the rain! These are examples of bad design, and there are many others.

Good design always considers the way which the object is produced, the materials which go into making it as well as what the object is to be used for. You cannot design a silk blouse and make it in cotton, and you cannot get good results if you design something to be produced by hand and then give it to a machine to do it. Materials too should be chosen with care. It is no use making a tea cup out of plastic which will not be able to withstand the heat of hot water.

There are always hundreds of solutions when it comes to a design question and there is no right answer. There are thousands of shapes that would be possible when designing a flower-vase. A designer is one who is constantly aware of shapes and is able to choose one that will work well and maybe even symbolize something. The same applies to form and color. The designer is able to shape the aspirations which the lay person has for something but may be unable to make a reality themselves.

Good design is not a luxury that is only available to the ‘high end’ market, or only for ‘high end’ users. There is no reason why objects of good design should not be affordable and readily available; the notion that an object is low in price is low in quality is false too. Good design is also not something that can be added to an object during the last stages of planning or manufacture. It forms the base before anything is begun.

One might have heard opinions that there is no such thing as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ design, that it is all a matter of taste. Well, as society becomes more affluent and connected, more people will appreciate that good design has value, and will be willing to place a premium on it. Good design will thus play an increasingly important role in society.

Also check out:
Paper from 1949: See if much has changed in what is meant by good design in 1949 and today from this essay written by the founder of Britain's top office furniture manufacturer Gordon Russell.

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