Notes on design

摘要

It might be assumed that design is a completely rational process of analysing a problem, a function or a need and responding with creative logic, trial and error, and incremental steps towards a solution. Certainly that's the case with design projects where functional aspects are at their most critical, in the design of medical equipment for example. But even within such serious projects there are often other contributing factors, one of which I would describe as opportunistic. This helpful element of the design process occurs when circumstances of time, place and human interaction align to provide the designer with the necessary inspiration, or more simply when seeing something provokes an unexpected and fresh approach to a project, usually by prompting random associations of form, material, function and expression.