film: The Genius of Design (part 1)

designers exist to meet needs and solve problems in our daily life. 
they design to make it a better world.

part 1: Ghosts in the machine

the modern city is a complex organic environment that reflects our design. designers rethink the existing design to make it better, usually with the use of new technology. all designers have their own thoughts of how to design, Dieter Rams´ design philosophy is : "design should be as discrete as a english butler", followed by the principles that good design is innovative, useful, aesthetic, honest and simple.  all design is affected by the world around, and is influenced by politics, economics, fashion, etc.

before the industrial revolution designers operated in small workshops creating design with handcraft. craft design was made with passion and brought an individuality and personality to each piece. people bought not just for the object but the work behind it. the designers were true to the material were they designed glass pieces, pottery design, etc. mass production could never bring this kind of unique passion to each product, but they needed to start mass produce their designs to be able to live of it. 

the design revolution and industrialism came with the production of iron bridges. the first iron design object created for the people was the iron cooking pot from 1702. mass production developed more, and as the machine production got more advanced, the people demanded more. but not all designers wanted to mass produce their designs. in the 19th century, the well-known victorian designer William Morris believed that machines could make peoples life better, but beautiful design must be made in beautiful environments.

design is influenced mostly by capitalism and relates to how the design is used, sold, re-used and thrown away. the design should be universal affordable for the people. Henry Ford made design affordable when he designed the faster horse: automobile. it was a way to get around for a affordable price and a production that changed the world. 

ford wanted to sell all he could and developed the assembly lines that made it possible for the workers to built faster. the first time it took them 12 hours to assemble one automobile. as they advanced they ended up building one automobile in 93 minutes. the first automobile in the world was the Ford Model T (1908-1927). 

people wanted choices so they started to offer people different shapes, colors, more comfort,and more power; giving people design. the automobile was a object designed for us by us to make the world better. it was a solution to the transportation  problem.