Take Back “Intelligent Design”

I think we should take back the term “intelligent design,” even though we didn’t really use it, unless you’re occasionally describing a piece of really good and clever and functional design. Nonetheless, I think this really confuses young designers and non-designers looking up things related to design.

I’m not necessarily pushing for this from a religious platform, but from more of a language/verbal stand point. I know that this term has already been used enough to describe creationism and related subjects, but I think that there’s still time to take this word back (or just take it for the first time) and use it to our advantage. If we use it right, we just might skip over the middle transition point where people get confused as to what “intelligent design” means and why it means what it means, and just claim it as ours (designers) as something that we always strive to reach in our work.

P.S. This suggestion of taking the term back was not originally from me; it was from a guest speaker (whom I’ve mentioned in this blog) when I was still at Davis.

Flush.

100 Pieces and a Star

Last night was probably the first time where I went to an AIGA event without any of my design friends. I went to the 50 Books/50 Covers Opening Reception at Chronicle Books in SF. I went with my friends from home because I don’t think I’m confident enough yet to go by myself to an event which I don’t know anyone. And besides, it’s always nice to just go to an event with someone you know.

The reception was nice; there weren’t any exceptionally great pieces on display. But there was this one children’s book called Art by Patrick McDonnell (who does the comic Mutts) that I really like. It was about a boy named Art and he does many different kinds of art. It was sweet and rhyme-y and I think it’s a good introduction into the arts for kids. And that made me realize that it’s really simple ideas like this that just gets the message across and touches people’s hearts. It’s nice sometimes, I think, to bring out the inner child of the designer and the audience when appropriate.

The reception last night made me realize that 1) there’s so much out there in the design community that I don’t know about and 2) I need to get out there and start learning about it and find out what being a designer means, socially. And the event gave me that chance to get a feel of what it’s like to be in the “design community.”

And I definitely felt that when I saw Eric Heiman from Volume Inc. at the reception. I learned/heard about Eric a year ago in Davis when he came to talk about his work and design in general. His suggestion for design students to work on non-class projects together sparked the formation of The Collab, started by my friend Milan, and a bunch of us Davis kids put together a week-long design/art show last May. So Eric’s probably the first “design stars” whom I’ve seen in person. (More about my wish to see/meet “design stars” in a later entry.) And while he may not be as well known as Michael Bierut or Paula Scher, he is special on my list as one of the people that was there as an influence from the beginning of my design career.

Flush.