Pure and Simple Design

I was not going to post today, but instead spend time reading all of the website articles that tell one how to design the most legible and alluring blog site. P. S. It is all above my head----way above my head. Therefore, I feel inclined to mention a discussion I had with my mother the other day.

I mentioned how tragic it was that people go through
life without noticing the details. "Like what?", she asked. I responded, "Like if you are standing in line waiting to check out, why aren't you looking at the hem of someones skirt or pants or the color of their handbag? Why aren't you noticing the texture of their hair. I name it "Pure Oblivion" and some people live in this state. I think it is s a shame, others would say, who gives a damn? I give a damn and I will tell you why.

There is so much to take in from the moment you open your eyes in the morning until they fall shut at night---there are a billion things to see, notice, observe, on which to form an opinion, and I think it all matters. Not that one needs to express that opinion to anyone, but at least take the time and exercise the skills that are necessary in forming a solid opinion or thought on a matter whether it be as important as life and death or as trivial as "is this the right blue for my front door?"

Everyday design surrounds everyone in the form of coffee cups, newspaper baggies, etc. and people go through their day not noticing that someone took the time to develop the right shape, proportion, length, material, to form this functional mundane, and sometimes purely utilitarian product. It may have been an ergonomic engineer or it may have been a graphic designer, but someone took the time to design every shape, color, shadow, incline, decline, landscape, hardscape that one witnesses everyday. We are literally surrounded by design, whether designed using CAD/CAM or designed by mother nature herself. Life is a design, there is a design and whether you choose to acknowledge it or not is one's personal decision.

Back to my main point. Isn't it absolutely tragic that most people go through their everyday life not noticing the role of design in their lives? I re-arrange the furniture and accessories in our home at least once a week. How many times does someone comment or observe? NEVER. They just live in it. To me that is successful. If things flow easy enough that there is no need to make an immediate observation, that is successful design. If things are so jarring that one cannot help but to make a comment---there is a big problem.