The Marriage of Function and Form: Fulfillment of Subconscious Desires - Essay Example

24 June The Marriage of Function and Form: Fulfillment of Subconscious Desires Today, art affects culture more than ever,as it has influenced product design of both sophisticated and everyday products. Nowadays, numerous daily objects are made with art in mind. The aesthetics of mundane objects has become central to product planning, because product design can impact consumer purchasing decisions (Vogel, Cagan, and Boatwright 87). On the one hand, some say that design is used to encourage intense consumerist attitudes that feed materialistic lifestyles and to allow companies to charge ridiculously high prices for their products (Kahney 14). On the other hand, others believe that art responds to innermost human desires. Art allows the marriage of function and form in daily objects, which ultimately fulfill subconscious and sometimes unmet desires and the need to assert and reinforce one’s identity. Art in daily products aims to fulfill deepest human fantasies. In Chapter Five of the book The Design of Things to Come: How Ordinary People Create Extraordinary Products, Vogel, Cagan, and Boatwright assert that a typical consumer has a wide array of “unmet and unconscious desires” for different experiences and products (87). Product designers, who are aware of these desires in their target market segments, know that the latter need certain product features that will interconnect to these emotions and basic needs (Vogel, Cagan, and Boatwright 87). They argue that product design responds to consumer fantasies, where a fantasy is defined as fulfilling psychological needs (Vogel, Cagan, and Boatwright 93). Fantasies allow them to experience something that is not part of their existing realities. In other words, people are not only looking for experiences but also want to project their emotions on their experiences in order to derive greater satisfaction from them (Vogel, Cagan, and Boatwright 93). Disneyland, for instance, feeds the psychological need for fantastic experiences and identities that many children and adults alike crave for. It provides a breathing space where people can leave behind, although temporarily, the troubles and complexities of the real life. Kahney discusses the “magic” of the white box called the iPod in the book The Cult of iPod. He stresses that for people obsessed with music, the iPod reinforces the underlying fantasy of music junkies like him (3). The delight comes from packing up numerous music titles from different genres in one neat white box (Kahney 3). He describes it as “nirvana” to have a favorite playlist that changes how music is played and recorded (Kahney 5). Music answers to intimate needs of people, who use their hearing to fill up their feelings. Another example of a product that responds to fantasies is the set of colorful and durable cutlery from Hampton. See Figure 1. Hampton produced and designed DuraCeramica that used high quality ceramic to create strong and sharp blades that should never require sharpening (“Hampton Launches”). Hampton DuraCeramica has four colors and “durable soft grip ergonomic ABS handles” (“Hampton Launches”). This is another example of design that appeals to the need for color and durability in one’s life. They are simple and creative designs that appeal to people who want simple products that stand for their simple tastes. They prefer products that are cutting-edge, because they also want to be leaders in their fields, communities, and families. Figure 1: Hampton’s DuraCeramic Cutlery Collection Source: “Hampton Launches” Product design generally aims to marry form and function, and so art is also useful in this sense, as it aims to make beautiful and creative-looking products. Morris explains the role of user-centered design in The Fundamentals of Product Design. This design focuses on what customers actually need and desire. An example is OXO’s peeler. See Figure 2. This has a wide grip that is good for people with arthritis who do not have enough hand pressure to grip peelers with thinner handles. Sam Farber designed this peeler for his wife, who has arthritis but loves cooking (Vogel, Cagan, and Boatwright 94). The fin pattern is also patented, and this innovative design revolutionized kitchenware design (Vogel, Cagan, and Boatwright 94). It also has an improved blade that enhanced the overall design of the peeler (Vogel, Cagan, and Boatwright 94). Though the peeler is initially made for people with arthritis, it also appealed to aesthetically-conscious consumers who want a different kind of kitchen equipment (Vogel, Cagan, and Boatwright 94). From OXO’s designs, other kitchen product companies also developed new products that emphasized comfort, design, and usability (Vogel, Cagan, and Boatwright 95). In the Businessweek article, “The Designer Who Inspired Intel and Apple,” Jana describes the design framework of Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa. The concept relies on designing products without the designer’s ego on it. He believes in the importance of “haptic branding” where the “distinctive feel” of the product is part of its functionality (Jana 2). He believes that when people use the same object repeatedly, “…tactile memories [made] with hands, fingers, or with the other part of our bodies can serve as brand recognition” (Jana 2). Fukasawa focuses on products that “delight and surprise” people, without forcing his identity on the products (Jana 2). He emphasizes on what people need and want and not what designers think that people need. Figure 2: OXO’s Peeler Design Source: BayTree Cookware Other examples of beautifully design objects are “products without thought” (Jana 1). Alesina and Lupton (50) explain the function of different materials in Exploring Materials: Creative Design for Everyday Objects. For them, product designers can and should start from existing product problems that can be solved through new designs. An example of Fukasawa’s simple and sleek designs is his wall-mounted CD player. See Figure 3. Amazingly, these innovating designs are based on understanding the traditional relationships between people and the objects they use (Jana 1). Fukasawa’s 1999 wall-mounted CD player looks like a fan where the CD spins like a fan blade (Jana 2). The power cord hangs out like in a real wall-mounted fan and serves as the power switch (Jana 2). This design depicts Fukasawa's notion of “without thought” (Jana 2). Fukasawa clarifies that this phrase refers to “products that are intuitive and instinctive to use” (Jana 2). Fukasawa employs a graceful and general metaphor to explain what “without thought” indicates (Jana 2). He says in an e-mail: “When we walk and take steps on the ground, we sense and choose the surface for each step. But this is more about our subconscious response” (Jana 2). He adds: “However, being subconscious does not mean to be without thinking. It means that our brain may not be conscious about something, but parts of our body such as hands and legs recognize the environments and react to the situations or to things” (Jana 2). The idea is for people to use these objects intuitively, as if they are part of their bodies. Figure 3: Fukasawa’s Wall-Mounted CD player Source: Jana Art allows premium pricing and people pay extra, even for the design that has no function. In his book, Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things, Norman stresses that people choose designs that may not be useful but serve emotional purposes. An example is the most expensive bra from Victoria’s Secret, “Black Diamond Fantasy Miracle Bra.” See Figure 4. This bra is donned with “3,575 black diamonds, 117 certified one-carat round white diamonds, 34 rubies, and 2 black diamonds that swing down from the bra, for a total of almost 3,900 stunning gems” (“The World's Most Expensive Bra @ $5 Million”). The bra costs $5 million. And though not many will find this bra even functional, because it is evidently made for display, it can respond to people’s need for social class markers. A very expensive bra can be a woman’s way of differentiating herself as part of the upper class. At the same time, if she makes her own money, this bra can be a sign of her gender empowerment. She can buy a pricey bra and not even wear it, because she wants to. No man can tell her to not buy it, because she is the man in her life. She controls her purse strings and that means social and political power. Figure 4: Victoria’s Secret “Black Diamond Fantasy Miracle Bra” Source: “The World's Most Expensive Bra @ $5 Million” Art helps people find and strengthen their identities. Parsons, in Thinking: Objects: Contemporary Approaches to Product Design, believes that many people are concerned with “visual good manners” that are part of their identities (53). People, for instance, who see themselves as intellectually sophisticated and yet simplistic will find delight in the minimalist designs of Fukusawa. An example is Fukusawa’s rubber stamps. See Figure 5. The stamps are designed for Japan's Shachihata, which has an indentation in its auxiliary, cylindrical shadow (Jana 2). The indentation allows users to grip automatically toward the correct direction of the stamp, so characters would be stamped right-side-up on the page (Jana 2). The indentation also serves “haptic branding” purposes (Jana 2). Wallack argues that many designers are trapped in the “big I” innovation, but oftentimes “small I” works better (Jana 2). “Quiet innovation” ensures that the focus of designers is consumer needs and desires (Jana 2). They think about delighting and surprising customers (Jana 2). These consumers see products and feel emotionally connected to them. They touch them, feel them, and even smell them, and feel a connection (Jana 2). They know that this product is made for them. It is an extension of their personality. Sometimes, it even helps them find their identity and assert it in public. These products can be about the ‘I” or the “We” or both in people. They are beautiful not only to the sight but also to the emotions of their owners. Figure 5: Fukusawa’s Rubber Stamps Source: Fichtner Design can be used to influence and direct the emotional response to products. Design that connects to fantasies and emotions can easily elicit positive attitudes and purchase intentions. Art can integrate form and function and satisfy underlying fantasies and basic needs. What used to be an ordinary CD player has become an icon for success and beauty, for instance. Art also becomes a way of signifying individual identity. It can also be a collective marker, a sign of group or social status. Hence, art helps people find their identities and strengthen it. Art in everyday products enables people to be and feel who they are or who they want to be. Works Cited Alesina, Inna, and Ellen Lupton. Exploring Materials: Creative Design for Everyday Objects. New York: Princeton U P, 2010. Print. BayTree Cookware. “OXO Good Grips Y Peeler”. 2012. Web. 22 June 2012. . “The World's Most Expensive Bra @ $5 Million”. ExperienceDeluxe. N.d. Web. 22 June 2012. . Fichtner. “Naoto Fukasawa for Shachihata”. Flickr. 2008. Web. 22 June 2012. . Jana, Reena. “The Designer Who Inspired Intel and Apple.” Businessweek. 29 June 2007. Web. 22 June 2012. . Kahney, Leander. The Cult of iPod. California: No Starch P, 2005. Print. Morris, Richard. The Fundamentals of Product Design. London: AVA, 2009. Print. Norman, Donald A. Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things. New York: Basic Books, 2004. Print. Parsons, Tim. Thinking: Objects: Contemporary Approaches to Product Design. London: AVA, 2009. Print. “Hampton Launches The Innovatively Colorful New Duraceramic Cutlery Collection”. PRLOG. 2011. Web. 22 June 2012. < http://www.prlog.org/11368140-hampton-launches-the-innovatively-colorful-new-duraceramic-cutlery-collection.html>. Vogel, Craig M., Jonathan Cagan, and Peter Boatwright. The Design Of Things To Come: How Ordinary People Create Extraordinary Products. New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2005. Print. Read More