Role of Design in the Age of Emergent Technology

There’s a mentioning of design in juxtaposition to the economy & technology in Kenya Hara’s Book on Designing Design. Its peculiar statement perfectly describes the sentiment of many business stakeholders about design today. Kenya Hara mentions that – Design hasn’t always been in the role of a servant to the economy & technology sector, which I’d feel is an adequate description of many of us designers. He continues that in the age of Modernism, design kept its presence as a high-functioning industry by seeking for truth. The truth they were seeking was the harmony between form & function. Bauhaus being a prime example; to the extent where economy was used as design’s fuel for its search in harmony. In comparison to today, we lack a stance in seeking for the truth. Design has been standardized to the degree that there is a right & wrong. I feel designers feed especially the technology sector repeated structure and processes that promises ROI rather than a search for authenticity that initiates a dialogue.

We are reminded of the ideas of Paul Rand, Saul Bass, Coco Chanel, Corbusier, Christian Dior, and many more. Back then, the design industry was able to provide solutions in balancing the form factors in the ever changing landscapes from the industrial revolution. Those who challenged the mechanization in the shift of industry found success and brought the ideology behind design to the forefront creating dialogue.

There is many dialogue in product design where form must fit function for the users. The last stance we see of a dialogue where function fits form is that of Steve Jobs’ Apple products. The creation of the job market asking designers to build on a flat screen have belittled the context of form and have disproportionally increased the importance of function because design has become standardized on the screen.

I feel the reason there is a resurgence in the emphasis in aesthetic branding is the fact that the industry have created an imbalance where designers feel uncomfortable about function-first and now gravitating back to the ideology of form-first. The feelings are clear as we see trends adapting more visuals cues like that of gradients, morphism, and brutalist designs as a core aesthetic value. The gravitation towards retro, vaporwave and the likes is a result of the unbearable atmosphere in the design scene where everything feels the same, and is expected to do the same.

That’s why I believe talented designers are jumping into new industries like that of Crypto, AR/VR, Healthcare, Wearable tech, AI, and etc, it is open to interpretation to create new forms of design that seeks harmony between form & function. However, the only problem is that people with the funds starting new businesses have already decided what the designs will look like in these incredibly innovating and unfathomable industries. It’s the aftermath of the revolutionary App industry created on the 2D screens. But I do hope I am completely in the wrong. It’s more important than ever for designers to take a stance. As I believe, the role of design for emerging technology will be decided by those who challenge the status quo.

*This thought is NOT about form trumping function, but a thought about how design is indeterministic that requires unending dialogue especially from an aesthetic and meaning-driven viewpoint.