How do you know you love someone? I am not talking about the first realization one acquires, which will be different for all us. I am talking about the years long relationship. The relationship where each person has become acclimated to the other: the moods, the looks, the voice pitches and patterns, so much that we can predict each other’s reactions.
In general, life just seems brighter, better, sweeter, and much more intense in the discovery time. We can see nothing wrong or if we see something wrong, it is explained away. Logic acquires a new meaning while our closest friends and family are skeptical of this new found logic. Our mind kind of has given up to our high ride. Nothing is more important than that person. Then, the routine kicks in. The highs are lowered to give way to the roots that make the relationship stable and secure.
You might be wondering “why is she writing about this in July? Would not this be more appropriate for February?”
Maybe you are right. Maybe February would be the most appropriate time to rant about love and romantic relationships. However; I find that when you are a designer, the process of creating is very similar to the process of falling in love and committing to a romantic relationship. I actually think that being a designer is a lot like being in love. Stay with me.
When we start design, be it because we fell into it through other failed jobs or we decided since youth that was what we wanted, there is this moment when we believe, truly believe that design can and will save the world. Design, its theory and practice is a discipline of hope and promise. With each new project or exploration, we set out to make something better, something for the good of humanity, something that will improve someone, a group, a process, or access to something. Isn’t that what love is; to look out for the good of our partner?
Remember Target’s ad campaign some years back: Design for All? The documentary about the campaign Design for All, is quite eloquent in explaining the concept of design for all, identifying what is presently unsafe, detrimental, or difficult, and make it better for others. A beautiful example of how design is like love is the project designed by Deborah Adler. In graduate school, Adler came up with a color coded system to differentiate medicine bottles after her grandmother confused her medication for her grandfather’s. An act of love.
However; like any love relationship there are highs and lows in our design practice. There is also light and darkness. Because let’s not forget, the design methods and practices can and have been used for harm, for deception, for promotion of things that are harmful. There is a book I want to read titled Deviant Design. It is written by the Postgraduate Research Director at The University of Edinburgh, Dr Craig Martin. The book discusses the duality of design. Everything we do as designers can be applied for harm instead of good.
Often I present students with a hypothetical situation. I ask them to imagine their first job as a designer and being asked to design something for a client whose business, values, and practice are in aggressive contrast to theirs. I ask them to think about what would they do? Would they do it even at the expense of their soul and humanity? Or would they say no risking being fired? Or would they do it hoping no one will know and decide to never put it on their portfolio? We engage in a discussion about the possibilities and entertain different scenarios. The majority of the students rarely contemplate a situation in which their values will be tested. The truth is that we do not want to contemplate it. We hope to work with designers whose love for humanity far surpasses any temptation to accept a project that is ultimately dishonest or harmful. Simple examples of these issues are whether to design a campaign ad in favor of smoking. Though we know how harmful smoking can be, someone is designing in favor of it. Someone designs their brands and packages. Is it wrong? Or is it just a job to pay the bills that ultimately would allow them to design something else that is healthier?
Design is like loving someone. Because we love humanity.
Like entering a new romantic relationship, we approach a new design job or client with sparkly eyes and hope. The hope to make a difference, the hope to contribute to social change, the hope to be relevant even in a small way to society. Because just like there is certainty in an established romantic relationship and has the foundation to catch you, there is also certainty that the design process and methods provide an avenue for much needed appropriate solutions to a plethora of problems we face today.
Design is like loving someone. Because we love humanity. And the practice of designing for the good of humanity is much like when we are in a romantic relationship. Because we want the best for them, we love to solve the problems, big or small. We love the magic that it is to create something that in the words of Shel Silverstein, that ain’t been there before.
How do you know that you love someone? Because even after the romantic love has settled, you are still committed to do things for their benefit. Like a designer, we find ways to ease their lives.
We design because we love.
Love, (not redundant)
Alma