GoLibrary Singapore Design 101
For the National Library Board GoLibrary August Edition, Lawrence Abrahamson contributed his thoughts on the basics of design:
For the Singapore Design 101 program, I thought it would be good to roll back the curtain on the method of design itself and return to the basics, return to two essential lessons I have learned over the course of my experiences.
That first lesson is short, “Design is a process not a product.” Looking through the lens of the library, design is like a novel, a good story that develops over time, a journey that builds until the end. Just as we would never open to the last page of a long book expecting to be moved or to understand the final climax, design requires a complete process to make it successful and to achieve the intended impact of a great tale.
The second lesson builds on the first, and breaks the practice down into three parts: Process, Funding and Product, which deal directly with the basics elements of Time, Money and Quality. Similar to the way the five elements or phases are linked together in an interconnected endless cycle, one affecting the other, the design process contains this relationship as well. When beginning any project you have to choose two out of the three elements or attributes that you want to have in the end. The hard lesson to learn is one can’t have all three. Picking two elements means the third one will suffer. You can have something fast and cheap, but the quality will suffer. You can have a high level of quality fast but it will cost you. Or you can have high quality with a low cost but it will take a long time to create. This scenario reveals a simple equation, the science behind the design method where it is easy to see the fundamental rules and properties that are beyond our control.
If I proposed we take all the novels in the library and chop off the first ¾ of the chapters and return them to the shelves you would say I was crazy! Yet just as scandalous is a design method that tries to shortcut the process, or tries to achieve all three elements at the same level. The journey of a project is just as arduous as a great read, filled with twists and turns, packed with drama and suspense that ultimately all contribute to the end result. While shortcuts do exist, abridged versions and CliffsNotes readily available, something is always lost and left out of the picture.
Design is a great novel in the making. It is an intensive process that when done correctly can develop a fantastic story and change the way we perceive the everyday world. The next time you encounter a building, a product, magazine or show that does that to you, ask yourself what sort of journey took you there, what lead you to the moment of aha! Then ask yourself if that experience could have been cut or shortened.
A skilled comedian doesn’t just give his punch lines away. He leads you to the right moment and the best emotional state to make those last few words mean so much more. A good joke requires a set-up followed by the perfect punch line just as design needs a rigorous process to culminate in a strong project.
These lessons are my take on design. What is yours? As Singapore steps out onto the world design stage we are in the midst of creating a dialogue of what design is and what it can be. Join in that conversation and share with us your definition of design. You don’t have to be in the design profession as everyone interfaces with design everyday. A good story contains many characters; it is not full of only authors! Submit your definition and be part of an exhibition to be held at the National Library Building in November during the Singapore Design Festival. How would you define design? www.definedesign.sg
