Design As A Conversation

Design is a conversation. It is a perpetual discourse between audience and designer, between consumer and brand, between reality and conception. The two inform each other in a never-ending dance of tug and pull, advancements and retreats until equilibrium is found…which it rarely ever is. The dynamic relationship of the designer and his/her audience is what makes this field so engaging. The conversation is not just confined to the designer and the audience either. It pervades the landscape of design before anything is ever produced. The conversation includes advertisers, marketing, engineers and accountants maintaining a budget. The conversation speaks in a universal language of haptic and optic and not necessarily words. The conversation speaks with numbers and colors and is a system of inputs based on outputs and vice versa.

Design must pursue the inquisition of what is needed or can be improved and not dictate what is appropriate. A good designer is never satisfied with the final product because satisfaction breeds complacency. A good designer is always listening, looking and feeling for a way to improve their craft. A good designer is a listener and does their talking with their ideas and contributions. This is why some of the best designs go unnoticed, because they fit so well and execute their function flawlessly so they need not be addressed. The conversation will never end because the world will always need improvement. The conversation will never die as long as life persists. The conversation is happening right now…have you spoken up yet?