Let’s go for inspiration…
Nick Myers: The Visual Interface is Now Your Brand.
“… about the considerations of visual interface design. First of all, Software isn’t fashion. The goal of visual design is really to support the user experience, primarily, and we also have to think about creating experiences that are timeless.”
The Norman’s book Emotional Design: why we love (or hate) everyday things is certainly praised by designers and non-designers.
Truly, it has made me a better person (I would never say that I’m now a better designer since I’ve just read a book). But yes, that’s the positive feeling you can get after reading it. You will feel like an alive and creative animal which understand the emotions through design and technology.
The book is full of examples, (figurative) pictures, experiences, and situations to illustrate why without emotions, your decision-making ability would be impaired.
There’s a kind of anachronistic tone in his view of design. He splits it in three different levels:
explaining why attractive things really work better: beauty and usefulness are inside everyone’s mind when we look at objects. Even if we would dislike something there’s always a strong emotion behind which affects to the interaction and the perception.
So interesting, so recommended… and ready for the next one.
Has the design a social mission? Personally, I believe that art has nowadays a strong commitment with our society; more than ever an artist cannot afford be a purely contemplative being. Should the design follow the same trend?
Blanksy, an artist that I love by his compromise with the need of denunciation and critic, has an important presence in the Wall of Shame built in Palestine. Apparently, not all palestinians have agreed with Blanksy’s vision of the reality, nevertheless they’ve contributed to express their feelings and to tell the story by using the same tool: the creativeness.
In regards of design, we can see more pieces of popular expressions like the #15M movement – also known as “Real Democracy Now” – which have provoked the contribution of such many different people – not only designers – and has used the design among social networks and public demonstrations.
This combination of support, talent, need, and commitment, is rising up as part of the ethic of a designer with his/her own profession.
There are, actually, communities dedicated to provide the designer’s talent to any NGO which need it.
I think that even UX/UI designers should be part of this tendency not forgetting the difference between the private and the public, and bringing back some forgotten concepts such as software libre, creative commons, and responsible consume. Now, when we seem to be safe.
