I was a bit disheartened today. As I was designing a function model for my solar cooker, I kept asking myself: how can I make something like a solar cooker beautiful without sacrificing low cost and easy manufacturability?
My favorite part of the design process after finding creative solutions to real-world problems has always been form generation. I think (once you know your constraints) deigning a product’s form is so enjoyable! Now, I am at a project where beauty is unimportant next to function, cost, and manufacturability. Should I bother to address aesthetics? If yes, how do I even begin to do that in something so elementary? You don’t put a plastic casing around a solar cooker like you would a kitchen apliance!
Phil told me that simplicity is beauty, and that maybe aesthetics can be addressed in simple forms and true materials. What is beauty? I know it is the opposite of unsightly. So maybe I should think about it like this: Make the solar cooker NOT unsightly. Haha! Take it in the context of its environment; do NOT make it an eyesore to the villagers in rural areas. Maybe in the process of using indigenous materials, the solar cooker will interact more harmoniously (hence beautifully) with the environment in which it is placed.
Adam, I don’t want to be the pregnant Miley Cyrus!
[...] Getting a face-lift! « Dealing with Design School As I was designing a function model for my solar cooker, I kept asking myself: how can I make something like a solar cooker beautiful without sacrificing low cost and easy manufacturability? [...]
you make such beautiful forms! simple is beautiful. tastefull use of curves are beautiful. indigenous materials are beautiful (sometimes). you can do it!