Make Life Better. By Design

The aim of many designers is to create timeless work.  Whilst aiming for a long design life is admirable, we shouldn't get hooked up on trying to avoid the time in which we live and work.

This episode explains that good design can be timeless yet still reflect the times in which it is designed.   Indeed understanding and learning from the past is just as important as familiarity with new developments in materials, technology and thinking.  

To talk of sustainability without a timeframe is meaningless. But nowadays things are labelled sustainable without any reference to duration.

Sustainable forever applies to a very select catalogue. The best we can do is aim for as long a lifespan as possible. This must of corse vary depending on the subject.

The key to long life is maintenance. Not sexy but capable of giving great satisfaction.

Knowledge, Learning and Better Choices was the title for this issue suggested by the AI elves.  Perhaps I should listen to then next time.

Making life better by design is about making choices and taking decisions. The more you know about a subject, the better your choices should be.

This episode looks in more depth at that premise and emphasises the benefits of involving both head and heart in the process.

Avoiding being overwhelmed by the accumulation of stuff is the subject of this episode. From early suggestions to limit our possessions based on utility and beauty, to the beginnings of minimalism and ideas of doing more with less, the episode charts the swing from rampant consumerism to better understanding of our limited resources with concern for longevity and techniques to repair, reuse and recycle.

It's often the case that when we do something with the aim of making our life better, that the decision, the choice has unanticipated effects on others.

How concerned should we be about this? Few people act from entirely selfish motives, but trying to tread the path to self-fulfillment without inadvertently straying onto someone else's patch can be tricky.

However much we'd like to act alone, we are part of a wider society; the butterfly wings of our choices and actions can have consequences that deserve consideration.

Humans are blessed with a range of senses plus the most powerful brain of any species. We make life better when our choices and decision making use both our brains (Head) and senses (Heart).  

The smallest choices can make a big difference to the quality of life if both head and heart are employed together to best effect. 

• Everything is designed.
• Better design makes life better for everyone.
• Everyone is a designer.

But what does all that mean? This episode goes back to the basics of what the podcast is about, including a practical illustration of how we are all designers.

Having recently looked at how natural light can be considered as a design element, this episode moves on to investigate the almost endless possibilities of artificial light to make our lives better.

Doctors have been known to undertake drug trials on themselves before releasing them on the public. Many architects try out new ideas when building their own homes. In this podcast Kevin Drayton considers three such schemes, each with a very different character.

The late Sir Terence Conran could claim to have done more to bring good design to post-war Britain than any other individual. He was a genuine believer in the power of good design to make life better and never lost his zeal despite going on to father a vast business empire.

He believed everyone had the right to good design and the pleasure and enjoyment it could bring. No design ascetic, he enjoyed comfort, convenience, food, drink and a whole lot more to the full.

For me, he represented so many things I believed in and his influence was enduring and deep. He deserves a permanent place in design history.