Task 5 - Design for Life - Video Reflection

This show, Design for Life, shows a very interesting insight into the way Philippe Starck thinks about current design and more importantly, the affect it has on our world today. Many statements that Starck said in the opening episode made me rethink about the way i am trying to design right now. He says "product designers affect every moment of our life.....our chairs, screen, cups.....Each is the result of deliberate design decision" This put into perspective that design is much more important than just looking good enough to attract consumers to purchase it but to be safe, have a long lifespan and to be something that they want to pass from generation to generation. It must have specific purpose to make people's lives more positive and to help solve problems that people may not even know they have. Starck said it best when he claimed that "design is a force that can change society.....learn how design decisions now will affect all our lives in the future".

Philippe Starck seemed to want to emphasize to the designers that they need to design for everyone and not just a specific group of consumers. I realized this when he said "Its important that design is rooted in everyday life and belong to us all.....where as art is often for elitist"
I think that Starck wanted his young designers to question whether their product is really needed in the world now. His mind frame was that "designers need to question whether they need to design more products" He also said we must have less and less products and to get to that stage, he suggested that one of the designers combine two products into 1.

I think we can all learn a lot about designing for a better world if we heard a lecture from Starck. His examples and theory behind his thinking really opens up peoples' minds as to question what they are doing and if they are really doing as much good as their rationale seems to say about their product.