01 Nov The Importance of Design in Elevating People’s Lives
How does design affect and improve our lives? The evidence of purposeful design is all around us, from architecture to smartphone apps. Each day, we are influenced by different aspects of design, whether it’s looking at a spectacular structure to using an intuitively designed remote control.
Truly great design combines artistic merit with solutions-driven design. A good designer will draw upon what’s relevant to both our needs and our cultural perceptions to create innovative new designs.
Here are some of the ways in which design improves our lives.
Solutions-driven vs. artistic design
The solutions-driven design focuses on need, rather than design for the sake of design. A designer will identify a need, such as an intuitive interface, and then look for ways to fulfill that need. This often involves a lot of trial and error, designing and testing new ways to provide solutions.
Artistic design, on the other hand, primarily focuses on expression. If you’ve ever been awestruck by architecture or bought products for their aesthetic form, you’ve encountered artistic design. Even artistic design can have solutions-driven components, though—like any type of art, encouraging people to feel a certain emotion can have an impact on their actions later.
When you combine solutions-driven and artistic design, you’re bound to get a more well-rounded end product. People love practicality, but there’s a lot to be said for form as well as function.
How design can affect our daily lives
Design is everywhere, including the book on your nightstand and the toothbrush by your sink. For example, the book you’re reading has an entire team of marketing experts to help design and weigh in on the cover, whose practical function is to sell the book. Even the interior has been carefully designed for readability. Solutions-driven design is why you won’t see many books typeset in Comic Sans or sans-serif fonts. They’re harder to read, and can be aesthetically displeasing.
The artistic design draws upon psychology to evoke certain emotions, ranging from “I want to buy this now,” to “I have to do something about this social issue.” Even the paint colors in a restaurant or retail store are chosen to make you feel a certain way. Design is a visual language that can subconsciously communicate many different messages—in fact, you might not even realize that you’re picking up and interpreting these messages through the lens of your personal experiences, culture, education, and more.
That’s why thoughtful design is so important and has the ability to affect and improve our lives. When you’re creating a new project, you need a designer who can fulfill needs while also communicating what the project or product represents. Just like Apple’s sleek, modern design attracts techies who like to feel like they’re on the cutting edge, great design can fill needs while speaking directly to your target market.
Emotive Architecture is a design firm focused on providing solutions-driven and artistic designs, from the ground up. Call us today to learn more about our services, and get started working together.