Design connects
We at bayern design believe that good design forges connections. It creates interfaces between people and machines, needs and solutions, science and technology, and between disciplines and everyday life. Design today operates in a dynamic space between creativity and science, emotion and function, the laws of market economy and the principles of ethics. Design is both a method (e.g., design thinking) and a creative discipline that involves many other disciplines. Good design opens up spaces for participation and potential action.
In the past, you went to the carpenter if you needed a new table and to the shoemaker for new shoes. Everyday needs were met by local crafts. In contrast, fine porcelain or delicate textiles came from the decorative arts. This was the norm for centuries until industrialization changed everything around 170 years ago. Suddenly, industry was producing for everyday needs, and design became separated from production. Since then, goods have been mass-produced for mass consumption. By the turn of the century, corporate design was added, logos were created, products and services were advertised on posters. During the Weimar Republic, the image of good and modern design mainly was shaped by the Bauhaus. New professions emerged gradually, and creators and designers entered the stage.
It’s hard to imagine everyday life without design
It was not until after World War II that the German language adopted the term design. While initially it applied to consumer goods such as household appliances, consumer electronics, or graphics, today it also refers to immaterial things such as user interfaces of digital applications and the design of social spaces and even medical technology. Hardly any area of life operates without design. More often than not, designers are involved without us even noticing. A lot of good design is understated. For this reason, we give design a platform to make it visible. For us, design is not a closed concept but rather an open invitation to expand on in our minds and use wisely.
bayern design focuses on a broad understanding of design
We use an amplified definition of design today: For us, the term encompasses the development of actions and applications as well as the creation of systems, products, identities, and cultural patterns.
In short, design no longer is limited to creating individual objects, for example, furniture. It extends into an ever-increasing number of areas. To describe specific applications of design, we differentiate between artefacts, sociofacts, and mentefacts. Artefacts are objects, surfaces, and spaces such as products, print media, exhibitions, and interiors. Sociofact design refers to behaviors, actions, and relationships. In concrete terms, design can have a positive impact on social routines and interactions. For example, user-friendly apps for public transportation can help facilitate access to buses and trains, which in turn motivates users to leave their cars at home more frequently. Mentefacts relate to sustainability and other values expressed in circular design concepts, for example. They also include the idea of participation, that is, design aimed at actively involving diverse user groups and taking their needs into account.
The Danish Design Ladder and its extension (design as a system) illustrate that design reaches far beyond the aesthetic exterior of products and services. In this context, the positive correlation between companies’ design and innovation activities is particularly relevant. bayern design intends to communicate, in a targeted manner, the diverse levels at which design and design methods are used to help establish an extended understanding of design in all parts of administration, the economy, and society.
Around 195,000 people in Germany work in design, either in agencies or as freelancers. And the trend is rising. What unites them? They rethink the existing. Design is a mindset.
Design as a mindset Designers shape society. In doing so, they excel with a very unique approach: comprehensive and user-focused thinking, tangible and visionary workstyles, and an open and solution-oriented spirit.
Designers’ work is visionary Designers work and think not only theoretically in words, but also practically in shapes, atmospheres, spaces, and emotions. They tie artistic freedoms in with functional, needs-based actions. In this way, they help make ideas, concepts, and technical innovations become understandable and tangible.
Designers’ work is solution-oriented Designers use solution-oriented approaches to respond to the crises and challenges of our time. They devise tangible, functional, and viable processes and artefacts. An applied discipline, design always is in search of improvement and transformation.
Designers’ work is agile and open Designers have the potential to discover and explore new paths and solutions in uncharted territories through their creative processes. Designers work and think in an agile and flexible manner and are open minded with regard to the outcome. With this stance, they adapt to new situations and contexts and in doing so act both in a conserving and a disrupting manner.
Designers’ work is holistic Through their expansive way of thinking, designers support new connections among areas of expertise, industries, and stakeholders. Cooperative and interdisciplinary workstyles foster alliances among topics and players. When working, designers play off a variety of economic, social, cultural, and ecological factors and contexts in their minds.
Designers’ work is human-minded Designers contribute a novel way of thinking that keeps an eye on people’s social, cultural, and economic needs. Through research and observation, designers evaluate the shifting of individuals’ priorities and needs. Designers have an inclusive and empathic spirit. They design communication, interaction, and participation and thus, ideally, create user-centered design and even society-oriented design.
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