What is Design?

The real question is, what is not design? Anywhere one looks, one can find design; from the mug that holds your morning coffee, to the ruffled white shirt you wear to work.

Both the Greek and Latin etymology of design directly proves the speculation that design is everything and everywhere. In Kostas Terzidis’s The Etymology of Design, Terzides picks apart the history of design’s linguistic form to explain that “design signifies not only the vague, intangible, or ambiguous, but also the strive to capture the elusive.” (page 69) Ironically, design is often overlooked because of the fact that it is present everywhere. Most people do not notice the design of everyday objects. In reality, every shape, color, and texture of one’s surrounding environment has been specifically designed to serve a purpose; whether that purpose is for aesthetics and/or convenience is up the designer.

Design is not only functional, but a way to express one’s inner self. Both the designer and the consumer are able to communicate a part of their personality and taste through designs. Take a glass vase for instance. The designer gets to personally choose what the vase looks like, while the consumer gets to choose, from various designed vases, the one that best fits their personal taste. By designing or buying a certain type of vase, one’s personal preference, and therefore personality, can be revealed.