ANTI-DESIGN

I must admit that I have long time ago got completely sick of Design as understood by most. It is the development of products and services that nobody needs, the high streets full of far too cheap stuff, produced in underdeveloped communities in factories run by global conglomerates like H+M. 2-3 years ago there was an interview with me in a magazine in Norway and the title of the article was ‘Fuck Design!’

But this does not mean that I do not support the development of design and designers because there are actually other forces that drive designers. The underlying reason for design is

a)    to make life easier and simpler

b)   to make the world more beautiful

c)    to help develop human survival in more harmony with the environment

It is interesting to observe how the design community in general is sick of the direction that design has taken, – - or maybe better to say how design has been taken over by uncontrolled business that has invisible owners and drivers. I am not going to pretend we designers are not responsible for this, we have participated often and for a long time in developing innovation that has none of the three statements as a basis. More often it has maybe been one looked out for but not all. Designers and architects are responsible for many of the disasters that have happened during the last decades. But we can develop and we can change our mind.

The Anti Design Festival is taking place in London these days and I put here some interesting links to the activity. I like the statement about the festival, it says:

“The name, Anti Design Festival (ADF), is not about being against design (or anti-design). It is about challenging the creative threshold of what has become socially correct and acceptable. It is about examining the industry as a whole and challenging the standards that have made us stagnant.”

“Directed by graphic designer Neville Brody, the Anti Design Festival is a spin-off in response to the over commercialized London Design Festival. Instead of being traditional and formal, the Anti Design Festival seeks to be bold and experimental, promoting the unhindered freedom of creative opportunity, which can lead to a true cultural revolution.”

September 19, 2010   Posted in: DESIGN, PONDERINGS