Great things are made by people who put good design first. When a project starts they make sure a designer is there and is empowered to help shape what the project will be.
Yet many things in the world are made without much involvement from designers at all. And it shows.
Good design can be thought of as a kind of quality. It takes more effort or resources for good design to happen. Often you pay more for better design. It makes sense you it might cost more to get something that solves a problem, is easy to learn, looks good and lasts a long time, compared to something that’s ineffective, hard to learn, looks bad and is disposable.
There are kinds of designers just like there are kinds of doctors. Visual designers, Video game designers, Prison designers and UX, or user experience designers, who design from people first rather than the technology.
Most things you use, including your favorite things, involved the craft of many different kinds of design. Working in partnership with engineers, marketers and countless other experts.
Some good places to start learning more about design are:
Books
- How To See, George Nelson. A great first book about how to look at your everyday life and notice the good and bad designs all around you. Highly visual and a short read.
- Welcome To Your World – Will help you see how every built thing around you influences your life.
Movies and Videos
- Speedee System McDonald’s – an example of how the McDonald’s brothers conceived, prototyped and designed their food production that started their empire.
- Urbanized – a documentary about how our cities are designed and how they need to be redesigned.
- Podcasts
- 99% Invisible – each episode focuses on stories about the designed things that make up our lives.