Design is Omnipresent

*Image Prerna Dudani

I chose to call this blog Design Omnipresent because this statement is very prevalent in today’s society. According to the Merriam-Webster definition omnipresent is an adjective meaning present in all places at all times. This is what I perceive design to be. In my definition of design I include both objects and people thus, I find this word to have weaved its way into the fabric of our society.

Design is everywhere and it impacts every aspect of our life. This may sound like an overgeneralization, but when you actually think about it we find design at work, at home, in nature and even in humans. Can you think of something that is not design?... think harder... still nothing?

Well, according to the Greeks design strives to capture the elusive, to capture what it means to be human. So, it’s hard for us as humans to detach ourselves from something that is a reflection of us. This is why we have difficulty distancing ourselves from the objects and people around us, and why you were having a hard time finding examples that weren’t design.

Design is also a verb, so it is not something that we admire from a far. We engage in the act of designing everyday as we pick out which clothes to wear, which order to put ingredients on our sandwich, and how fastest to get to work. All these examples require decision making; a core job of a designer described by Charles Eames as “the ability to realize and work within constrains” (Design Q & A).

We also make decisions as consumers’ everyday. Many of these decisions are prompted by our definition of good design: function’s well, look’s good and as is affordable. Each consumer has these criteria in mind while buying, but each one assigns a different ratio to each aspect (ie. affordability and function more than style). This is where the designer comes into play; he/she has to predict which ratio will match the consumer’s ratio for any given design they produce. Many times they get the ratio correct and we, the consumer, end up purchasing the product or watching the movie.

So, we come in contact with design just by being part of the world, and we engage in the process of designing just by being human. Design truly is omnipresent.