Design as a concept.
An Insight into the world of Design
Gazing intently at the sky, as he pondered on what to do next; though a young man of talents, he was in the desperate search to find himself, as he found out that life was becoming much more boring each day. Everyone knew him as an upcoming Genius, but deep down he knew he was yet to discover what he wanted to focus on, being envied by many, he was still on the search to find the point of convergence of his ideas. One fateful morning, as he was on a journey, intently glued to his book as he always did to avoid talking with lots of people. There and then did he find the secret that unlocked what he was struggling to find, it was hidden in a single word. He then paused to ponder on this single word, the more he stayed on this word, the more his mind opened to insights that unlocked a unique pathway that unified his previous goals and ambitions.
Today, we are invited to knowing the true meaning of that word that forever changed his life, “Design”.
When we think of the word “Design” we are sometimes quick to misrepresent its true meaning. The word “Design”, a word we often hear, what does it mean to us or speak to our minds. For some of us, it might be the intricate lines and curves that pattern the furniture’s of our homes, to the elegant designs of the car we admire, to the mouth-watering delight of a well-set dinner table, to what makes us admire the house of our dreams, down to the magnificent sculptures of a genius such as Michael Angelo, and to the globally admired Mona Lisa painting of Leonardo Da-Vinci. Considering this and many other cases of our choice, we might have different representations of designs. But let’s take a more generalized and insightful look into the World of Designs.
Design as a word can mean different things to different people, as we think of design, we often attribute this word to the Artisans, Photographers and those involved in creating art. Now is a time we must all come to the fact that we are designers, from the creator whose creations we are, this makes us designs of the creator; each with their own intricate patterns that make us different to the little baby playing with a set of building blocks, this leaves an infinite number of possibilities in each of us to create a different yet, outstanding creations, with each combination.
Generally speaking, design is the process of envisioning and planning the creation of objects, interactive systems, buildings, vehicles, etc. It’s user-centered, i.e. users are at the heart of the design thinking approach. It is about creating solutions for people, physical items or more abstract systems to address a need or a problem. It’s a broad concept and its meaning varies from its different use cases, its an important aspect of our lives which permeates every field of life, and branches into many different subgenres. We can see design as one of the cores of every field found in life, this is because design adds aesthetic appreciation to anything being done. Nowadays there are several misconceptions people have about design, its not all about making things pretty just for the sake of it, which is pretty far from it; as many would think design is all about aesthetic appreciation, nor is it about adding ornaments to an item. It’s about making the user’s interaction with the environment more natural and complete.
Could design be a science or an art?
While we cannot definitely classify it as just an art or a science, it takes elements from both. Art is all about creating something that expresses the author’s vision, ideas and feelings. Though designers are allowed to express their feelings and leave impressions through their work, this shouldn’t be their prime objective, as it takes the creative aspect of art, it also lends the crafting aspect embedded in science in producing an item, a tool or an experience as a whole.
Design is to serve the people: while it takes the problem-solving aspect of science. Design exists to address a particular need. As Steve Jobs said, “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” Design is should therefore be as a means of rendering service.
Invisibility of a great design: This is more focused on user experience and interface design; it is achieved when the user doesn’t notice its presence. When navigating a user interface, it should feel natural and unhindered. The user should be able to understand its core working principles and elements almost immediately, as the user is guided by an unseen hand made of colors, shapes, contrast and repetitions. This must be well implemented during the creative design process.
Creative Design Process
Every problem is best solved when it is approached in a comprehensive and systematic way. The goal of a design process is to serve as a guide and organize your work to turn ideas into concrete solutions. As it is a process of solving problems, designers are meant to do research and collect information about the problem they are solving, considering factors like; who am I solving this problem for? Why? How are other people trying to solve it? Then identifying the main features that solves the problem, experimenting to know what works and what doesn’t, in order to adapt your solution to fit the users need best.
“This helps the designer move out of rigid patterns formed in our minds to start thinking out-of-the-box in order to find the best fit solution to the problem.” — Peace Adesola
“The creative design process is also non-linear in nature, which means you don’t compulsorily have to start with the knowledge of the problem and jump right into looking for solutions. It is more of a creative than analytical process.” — Theophilus Olaleye
The creative design process is of great importance to every designer, its effects can be felt in the following ways:
- It helps in understanding the concepts of a design.
- It helps in analyzing the problem in view.
- It provides possible solution to the identified problem.
- It teaches how the solution will solve the problem. — Bamiduro Opeyemi (@onartsng).
Moving on, let’s take an insight into the principles and Elements of design;
“The principles are the recipe for a good work of art. How the principles of design are applied determines how successful one is in creating a work of art.” — anonymous.
Alignment: this is the building block of every design, and one of the greatest principles one must follow in design.
Balance: is the distribution of interest or visual weight in a work. It is also a point in which there is an anchor point between every element of design. A balanced work will have all the elements arranged such that the work will have a sense of visual equilibrium or stability. Balance can be achieved in two ways:
- Arithmetic Balance: involves using dimensions and scales in determining the anchor point of the design.
- Eyes gauge: involves using the eyes to determine the anchor point of the design.
Contrast: is the comparison of opposing elements (opposite colors, value light / dark, direction horizontal / vertical). The greater the contrast, the more something will stand out and call attention to itself.
Emphasis: is created by visually reinforcing something we want the viewer to pay attention to. This is often used to train the viewer’s eyes on the center of interest, or a focal point. Some of the strategies employed to create degrees of importance are contrast of values, use of color, placement, variation, alignment, isolation, convergence, anomaly, proximity, size, and contrast.
Harmony: brings together a composition with similar, related elements (adjacent colors, similar shapes, etc.). Harmonious elements have a logical relationship, connection, alignment, or progression. They work together and complement each other.
Hierarchy: It shows the order of importance. A good design leads the eye through each area in order of priority.
Movement: is a visual flow through the composition. In some works, movement is implied by the use of static elements to suggest motion and direct a viewer’s eye along a path through the work. In a still image, aspects such as lines, diagonals, unbalanced elements, placement, and orientation plays the role of active elements. In others, movement can be real, giving some elements the ability to be moved or move on their own.
Repetition: of elements in regular or cyclic fashion creates interest. Repetition strengthens a design by tying together individual elements and bringing a sense of consistency. It creates a sense of rhythm (regular, alternating, flowing, random, progressive) and patterns. Variation introduced to repetition increases the level of interest.
Unity: is created by using harmonious similarity and repetition, continuance, proximity, and alignment. It is the visual linking of various elements of the work. This allows the disparate elements and principles to create a unified whole that can be greater than the sum of its parts.
As these principles play important roles, we do have to also consider the elements that do make up a design. These are the basic building blocks of any piece of art, and can be thought of as the ingredients used in your visual presentation. Whether well done or not, all pieces of visual art will contain most, if not all, of these elements of design.
Line: is a continuous mark made on a surface or the edge created when two shapes meet. May be actual, implied, vertical, horizontal, diagonal, and/or contour.
Shape / Form: is a self-contained defined area, either geometric or organic. Shape refers to a two-dimensional element with area on a plane, while form refers to a three-dimensional element with volume in space.
Size: refers to the relationship of the area occupied by one shape to that of another.
Space: is the distance or area around or between elements in a work.
Color: is the visible spectrum of radiation reflected from an object. Color is also sometimes referred to as hue.
Value: refers to how light or dark an object, area, or element is, independent of its color. Value is also sometimes referred to as tone.
Texture: is the surface quality of a shape, or how it appears to feel: rough, smooth, spiky, soft, hard, and glossy, etc. Texture can be real or implied.
A design be should to follow the “KISS” concept which means Keep It Simple Stupid, this allows the designer to focus on necessary concepts and drop the irrelevant excesses, and make the design light-weighted while still solving the problem or passing a message as the case maybe. The simpler the design the more mature, professional and easy its message would be understood by its viewers.
