Thursday, February 7, 2013

Reading The Language of Things, Ch. 1: Language




Objects are themselves stories. We may not see them in the same way we see a narrative film or children’s book, but each object, whether a MacBook Pro or a KitchenAid toaster, has a story about itself. 

Deyan Sudjic’s The Language of Things is a very insightful read on the phenomenon of designing. Only reading the introduction and the first chapter “A World Downing in Objects” and “Language,” I’ve gained a more thoughtful perspective of what designing really does for our world. Being someone like Jonathan Ive at Apple really has a lot of responsibility to it. He isn’t just picking out what Mac products can look the coolest, he is actually creating narratives and meanings through his material, formal and semantic decisions. 

I appreciate the author’s honesty in his writing, in the first chapter he looks past the epic nature of design icons and points out realities. He refers to many well known designers’ examples, and doesn’t get hung up on any of their legacies. This is very helpful in understanding the language of design, he explains how a designer like Raymond Loewy basically added streamlined shrouds to machines to make them sell better, and then designers like Dieter Rams strove to make the quintessential designs of his electronics, like the perfect calculator, which quickly regenerated to more complex designs or digital iPhone versions. 

I think where all this understanding of design icons is helpful is how much it evens the playing field. Yes, their excellence is important, but they are in no way kings of design. Leaders yes, but not gods. Design students can easily get either annoyed or caught up in the legendary nature of famous designers. Instead, they are storytellers. Because of the ever changing nature of design reception, as well as format (like emerging technologies and manufacturing capabilities), Sudjic says,

“What the designer is left to deal with is the surface, the appearance and semantic shades of meaning that allow us to interpret and understand what an object is trying to tell us about itself. These messages range from what an object does, and how much it is worth, to how to switch it on. They are far from trivial issues, but they turn the designer into a storyteller. And, while it is certainly true that design is a language, it is only those who have a convincing story to tell who know how to use that language fluently and effectively” (Sudjic, 34)

This is very helpful with understanding the value of designers, as well as the call they have to the world. They aren’t mere hotshots that are very creative, but they are to help us understand our objects better. We use objects for reasons, and we buy them for reasons, and those reasons can be a wide range of needs, interests or emotions. Emotions and interests are sometimes just as valued as utilitarian needs. This was an interesting thing to understand from the chapter. Language and identity have much value that we may not see in scientific, technical minded environments. Sudjic writes 

“If you question the premise that objects mean anything beyond the utilitarian, just think for a moment about all the emotional content so far beyond legibility that we can read into the minute nuances that shape a typeface and give it a personality. The fact that it’s called a ‘face’ at all is certainly not a coincidence. Type is fully capable of showing the character and personality of the human face.” (37)

Seeing a human face in text is very important for writing. It gives the writing a presence, as does a conversation with a real person. If we lived in environments that were purely machine, we would have nothing to attach our humanity to. Just as with art, design has cultural value. 

“Design is the language that a society uses to create objects that reflect its purposes and its values. It can be used in ways that are manipulative and cynical, or creative and purposeful. Design is the language that helps us define, or perhaps to signal, value.” (Sidjic, 50)

Both aesthetics used for emotional value, as well as semantic value seem to be important to design. There is much more to understand in the area of design language, and this chapter begins to scratch at the surface of a huge reservoir of potential. Design styling and aesthetics may have more substance than purely a selling point like in the days of Raymond Loewy. In the conclusion of Sudjic’s chapter, he seems to mean that this deeper purpose has to do with semantic communication,

“Design is used to shape perceptions of how objects are to be understood. Sometimes it’s a question o direct communication: to operate a machine, you need to intuitively understand what it is, and how to make it do what you want...This is the language that evolves and changes its meanings as rapidly as any other. It can be manipulated with subtlety and wit, or heavy handed obviousness. But it is the key to understanding the man-made world.” (51)

This is a very solid conclusion about design language, and I think it also must be understood with the previous quote from page 50, where “design is the language that helps us define value.” 

page 50, where “design is the language that helps us define value.” 


Bibliography

Sudjic, Deyan. "Chapter 1: Language." The Language of Things. London: Allen Lane, 2008. N. pag. Print.


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