Design for Life - Episode 2

Some designers design things that are known by very few people, put in rare shops and are high in value and price meaning bought by few. He doesn’t like this idea. He wants demographic design, design for everyone. It is about creating objects that benefit everyone through value, are sustainable and function.


Now there are ten participants left. They move into a Muse house which is structured in a way that everyone has to bond with everyone. We learn that drawing, being an artist isn’t all about design by one of the contestants. Philippe Starck articulates that when we design something good or bad it is always bad which causes designers to challenge the design. New and more contemporary things are being brought into society and the art is in the experience of it. This reflects some of Starcks work which has been subjectively critique due to the originality and confusion of what is good and bad. He directs his participants to also take this view to extend their creativeness.

The most important thing Starck wants in design is sustainability. It is his duty to share a good design with the maximum of people. So the next project is about the evolution of products. He wants them to design to help Humanity to achieve its purpose and full potential. He wants them to get deep into the history of human mutation, to design an object that fits in the big world but most importantly to benefit humanity. E.g. jumbo jet, wind up radio, microwave, zippers, paper clips, and the purify straw. The brief is broad as he wants them to explore their creativity, to see their ambition. It will separate the good designer from the bad.

In approaching this project they have to learn about people. They have observed and seen problems with people around them before they start. They need to immerse themselves into the environments of other people to understand their behaviours. They go to a science museum for ideas but it is easier to look at smaller specific groups of people and design to benefit their lives and then make it generic. It ends with two contestants leaving due to their lack of effect and no innovation.