What Defines Design?

On a TV program about interiors, the moderator said: “design is about good looks but it also has to function”. The comment prompted me to write a little twiddle about the topic of design. I was brought up with the pragmatic idea, good function goes before all design and design must always support the intent of the item and its function.

What makes good design?

Here a quote by Anders Toxboe, head of Danish Broadcasting Corporation.

“Good design is innovative. Innovative design can both be a break-through product or service or a redesign of an existing product or service. A break through product adds a not previously seen value to the user and market, while a redesign improves an existing product.

Innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, so brings the value of a break through but to improve an existing item, most likely new development in technology is needed to add meaning to the reinvention.”

A good example of successful redesign is the simple cooking pot series, designed by typographer Björn Dahlström for Iittala (previous Hackman). Their stylish new concept of kitchen and table ware named ‘Iittala Tools’ was launched 1998. The innovation with this particular steel pot is the embedded aluminium, cast in a thick steel sheet inside and out. Previously a soft metal such as aluminium could not be merged with hard steel. After years of research and trial, Iittala had found the solution. This meant, the pot did not have a separate layer for heat conduction, it was imbedded between the sheets of steel. Aluminium is a better heat conductor than copper, now, one had the benefits of a robust steel pot heating up in no time, with the embedded, invisible aluminium sheet, voila! Does it sound boring, no, it is innovation meant to support our everyday easy living. And the design, so simple, pared down to its bare minimum, just the way a child would draw the outlines of a cooking pot. It might need the clarity and confidence of a typographer to allow no 'add ons' to the form, but strip it to its bare minimum. The charm is the clarity of perfect proportion and the technological innovation. This product can’t be done simpler, yet is perfect in every sense. Just to mentioned, it was this pot that gave us the idea to start our Skandium, more about this another time. I highlight this product as it illustrates form and function working well in perfect synergy.

The Björn Dahlström pot also named ‘chef of all tools’…..

Of course good design is functional as it optimises its usability and often solves everyday problems in how to master the everyday of life a bit easier. At the same time it makes a product useful so it is purposeful for it to exist. Good design does not incorporate visual distraction.

A true master of this truth is Björn Dahlström, typographer by origin, who found his way naturally into product design. Typography’s prime intent is to communicate, creating clarity, clarity through the form of the typeface where its function is to underline the intent of the message to be communicated. It simply needs to function for the message at hand, what is the purpose, what does it want to express? Having been trained in this rigorous school of function and aesthetics, no wonder his product design is so strictly graphic, yet never boring. This gives it a certain allure, adding depth and a certain poetry, even in the simplest pieces such as with this little red fellow below, shaped like comma, the BD1 lounge chair (now included in V&A furniture collection). Even the simples is made exciting, if the proportions are just so!

Good design is of course very much about great aesthetics, grabbing attention through its beauty in simplicity, catching the imagination of the user, wanting to engage with it. It appeals to all senses and has an effect on our state of well-being. We want to feel supported and emotionally uplifted, all adding to the value of our life, making the moment a bit special, just the way it should be.

Good design is intuitive. Why, because we humans have an innate feel for what is supportive and what not and design has to have supportive value. Intuitive design makes the use of a manual unnecessary as it makes the usability obvious, it clearly expresses its function by appealing to the users intuition.

Listen to Dieter Rams: “Only well-executed objects can be beautiful. The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products used every day have an effect on people and their well-being.” Yeahhhhh!

Good design is good business, people feel attracted to it, want to engage with it, it stands out in a competitive market as it has integrity, it communicates clearly and therefore sells well.

Good design is honest, does not have flaws or tries to distract, it clearly communicates its function and values, never manipulating the user with promises it can’t keep.

Good design becomes timeless, long lasting, independent of fashion and trends. Good design sets aesthetic standards in what is visually pleasing and is always sustainable as good design holds the innate idea of the pursuit of quality. The producer values the idea and finds it meaningful to invest in high end production. Often, after many years of research and investment it makes sense to produce to high standards. Waste and over consumption are never part of good design as the item has to last through time, cherished and well lived with.

Good design is always reduction of material to its simplest workable solution. It is based on the idea to be functional first and foremost, offering to improve the task at hand. This adds value to the user and it’s simple form leaves room for he users self-expression. Such products are neither decorative nor works of art. Good design leaves nothing to chance as accuracy of production and care for the user shows respect towards the user.

Dieter Rams, the great industrial designer, makes a distinction between the common saying ”less is more”, instead advises my preferred saying “less but better” as this focuses on purity of form with maximum performance.

Dieter Rams “Honest design communicates solely the functions and values it offers. It does not attempt to manipulate buyers and users with promises it cannot keep”. The modernist manifesto extracted into one sentence.

Here, all items featured are by Björn Dahlström, Sweden, as his designs so often remind me of Dieter Rams.