Starting this unit, i would like to suggest to follow and learn about one particular designer, whose work somehow relates to the work we are doing.
So for this unit, we will learn a bit more abot Viktor Papanek.
Viktor Papanek was a controversial designer because he said things like:
“Advertising design, in persuading people to buy things they don`t need, with money they don`t have, in order to impress others who don`t care, is probably the phoniest field in existence today.”
― Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change
“Design must be an innovative, highly creative, cross-disciplinary tool responsive to the needs of men. It must be more research-oriented, and we must stop defiling the earth itself with poorly-designed objects and structures.”
― Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change
“The only important thing about design is how it relates to people.”
― Victor Papanek
His comments are, unfortunately highly relevant today. I spent so time today visiting a toy store and this is what I saw: rows and rows of plastic toys.
Papanek talked about the social resposibility of designers.
Here are some ideas on how his work relates to our unit;
- Can we design games to teach kids about climate change made of plastic if we know how highly pollutant that material is?
- what is our responsiblity as consumers? Are we going to be buying products that are not environmentaly sustainable?
Have a look at this video describing a recent retrospective of his work.