i still believe in design

Esto le pensé en castellano, o que és muy raro.

I do, after all, still believe in design.

A friend of mine was rambling the other day about why he is getting everyday closer and closer to social sciences. He wants to pursue a Master Degree in the social sciences department. And he tells me that he is doing so because he does not believe anymore that design can change the world into a better place. He tells me that the modernists did believe in that and that their dreams have come to naught. He says me this means that design itself cannot be a tool for making a better world.

I have somethings to say about this “modernist utopia has failed” thing, too, but it is not ready to be blogged. Nevertheless, i still believe in design. And i still think it is a crucial tool if one wants to try to change the world. Here’s why.

When designing a “new world” the designer does not change the world in the sense of swapping a BAD one for a GOOD one. The designer swaps a world for another world. No judgments are presented. No strings attached.

Obviously, a politician can have this mindset — to try to not make judgments — and a designer can make all the judgments in the world. Actually, most designers i know do make lots of judgments.

But in the act of designing, the judgment is a intermediary step, it is a path to completing your task. The designer uses judgment itself as a tool, so to say, and i believe this provides a unique perspective.

I don’t say every designer is a suitable world-changer, or someone that would make the world a better place to live in, or that every design makes the world a little better. I just think that the designerly way of thinking can shed a light in the whole “betterment of the world” idea that is very, very important.

Design, therefore, is just a piece of the puzzle of changing the world, but one piece that connects to many other ones.