What is Successful Design? »
Our task for the Ma this week is to talk about a successful piece of design. What appeared to be an innocent task — how hard can be it be to talk about a piece of design I like? — soon took a turn. I realised two things: that successful design is hard to define, and that I am not inspired by design I can only take at face value. Every time I define a criteria for successful design, it works against what I feel has an interesting process. These are my questions, and though there are no definitive answers I feel that perhaps they will provide my criteria for what makes successful design.
Is successful design communication? Is it the victory of the message what defines it as successful? If so, does that mean that design is only successful retrospectively?
Is successful design tangible? Is it something that is consistent, that lends itself to a variety of mediums and materials? Does it depend on the quality of a product, or does a product depend on the quality of the design?
Photograph by the_justified_sinner
Is successful design timeless? Does it transcend its inherent materiality? If successful design is deemed as such retrospectively, then how do we reach this consensus?
Is successful design controversial? Does it have to go against traditional design rules in order to create new ones? Is successful design something that stands out and dares to make its own trend?
What do you think successful design is? If possible, show me what you think qualifies and tell me why. I will post my own answer in another entry soon.
Since design tends to be for another person/company, or I suppose even when it’s for yourself, surely a successful design is one which completes the brief and achieves the targets set out in the proposal.
If you were talking about a successful piece of art, different kettle of fish!
Short and simple. I think successful design is design that solves a problem.