A Big Job

Photo taken and masked by me

When thinking of defining the word design, I think it is also appropriate to consider the job or jobs of the designers. There are the jobs that we readily pull up from our brain database: Graphic Designer, Clothing Designer, Web Designer, Interior Designer, and Architect (to name a few). What about those jobs that we don't readily think of? These can be jobs like teaching design (designing the curriculum for the classes), designing books (layouts, covers, illustrations), designing applications (iphone, iMac) and designing toys (barbies, Nintendo). What about those really amazing designs that we utilize everyday and we don't even recognize that they are designs?

Ever been on a nature trail? The kind that has little signs telling you about the nature that you are looking at? Who created the trails? Who designed them? Who invented the concept of the trails? What about toilet paper? Someone designed those little quilted flower patterns, and the roll that the paper is on, and the perforated sheets. Someone invented the toilet paper. But before the toilet paper there were toilets (or at least outhouses). Someone designed them, Someone invented them. Design and invention are constantly feeding one another, building upon their prior achievements, improving usability and allure.

I think design and invention go hand in hand. Maybe the ideas come from inventors and the application of the ideas comes from the designers. Maybe the designer is the inventor or vice-versa. Invention leads to design; design communicates invention. The person who created/invented Pepsi may have designed the flavor and color of the product, but a designer created the bottle that carries it, and the logo that sells it. The job of a designer is a big job. Whether that is to make more people aware of a great invention by designing an advertisement, or to design a new desk that is more ergonomically correct, Designers are responsible for sharing, communicating, and shaping the inventions and products that advance our society.