Today I had the, lets call it, opportunity to meet a fellow craftsman of my trade, furniture design. He had the advantage of years of wisdom, money, house, clients and a massive ego. But I want to learn design, so I saw this as something new.
He was showing his portfolio with the designs he has made and crafted throughout his career and it was good, definitely not my taste or style, but yet aesthetically appealing. I could see he was a fine craftsman and has many to teach. Yet the one thing that but me off, was the fact that through his years of designing, he always did the same thing. But that was OK, that was his way, I’m still learning.
After the man had shown us, me and my fellow student Joe, His portfolio and explained the way he works and creates his designs, he began to tell us that design is all about yourself. That mostly anything goes in design these days, that you can do anything and promote it as design. And right there I was overcome with extreme disgust!! And that is something I’ve been noticing more and more in the design world, that companies are under some one’s name, websites are personsname.com.
To be honest with you, my reader, if design is about this, about the designer itself, I am not going to get along with most designers. Yep, I understand recognition and that its moral to give it to a great designer/artist, but being this full of yourself and not really appealing to a wide variety of people, was truly discouraging to say the least.
And this is why I have great appreciation for the designer/architect Ron Arad. Great designer, even greater man!
