In the reading titled “What Is Design?” by Kenya Hara, Hara’s use of language  and history as he discussed the concept of deign greatly affected my viewpoint on purposeful inner-mechanisms of humans’ abilities to solve problems and communicate with one another.

One line that really struck me as intriguing was when Hara states that, “the beginning of human wisdom may have been the beginning of design”. As I read on, I began to understand design as more as a process of translating and planning a solution worked around a “problem”. The “problem” may be a defensive issue (in that case, designing a weapon would be a choice); or providing a house for a family (architectural design would work here). This understanding of my personal definition seemed to be consistent throughout the article. However, it did not seem as concrete when Hara began discussing the decorative side of design.

Although I would always hear, “fashion designers” and “interior designers” when I was little, I never understood the meaning beneath their work; I would always simply assume that they magically created things that looked nice or elaborately decorative for the consumers to purchase and enjoy. Even if this may be one main motivation for some/many designers, I never did track the origins of thought, motivations, and connections that actually went into creating the pieces and designs. What was the purpose of swirls on ancient vases, or the need to make objects or solutions interesting and aesthetically unique? I then began to think back to the need for communication and understanding among cultures. The intricate art within the process of design—across cultures—makes all of the difference in communicating styles and evoking emotions. Kara discusses this when he emphasizes the impact of industrially made products on the craftsmanship of designers. Although I may agree that producing monotonous products poses a challenge, I believe that there still are designers at work.

Overall Hara’s point of view made me realize that there will always be more for me to learn and experience with design because of its history, inspiration, and importance within our daily lives.