CCDN 271 Assignment One
In a changing society, the design of interactive products are typically evolutionary. In particular, the ways of how the products interact with people require more innovative ideas. That is what critical design attempts to achieve. Critical design is more like an attitude. The goal is not to solve the problems, none to design new products. Indeed, critical design is in order to point out problems, phenomena, and views. Specially, critical design encourages people to create more thoughts of reflections from the products in their daily use. Moreover, the method of critical design is quite close to art which serves only for a few particular groups of customers. Therefore, critical design can not meet the requirement of mass production and it can not satisfy the needs of massive users.
However, critical design It is definitely not art. It needs to be closer to the everyday, that's where its power to disturb comes from. In order to better understand the critical design. There is a critical design project make by Alice Wang called Double-sided Headphone (2007). This project is for when you want to listen to embarrassing music but worried people near you can hear it too. it plays one track inwards and another track outwards simultaneously.
This project explains how people unconsciously compare one's own attitudes, values, interests and personality with others. Those with a high similarity are likely to develop into interpersonal attractions, leading onto friendships or romantic relationships. However, not everyone has the potential or enthusiasm to act through their life just to impress others.
The first reaction of this design is absurd, then start feel that is really we need, and the last our thoughts into a deep self-reflection. It is something we live with since the moment we are born. It is something that encourages us to fit in and be like everyone else. As we grow older, we gradually develop a secondary personality for the public self, leaving the private, the real personality only for our loved ones.
There is a lots of commercial advertising and knowledge in today's society. Modern people have become accustomed to massive information to control our thoughts. Therefore our mind are getting more lazy. Whenever to face the problem always believe there will be other people, never trying to solve by self at first. Critical design is a critical and reflective of this issue, allow our minds active again before losing self.
Wang, A. ( Designer ). (2007). Double - sided Headphone. Britain ( Alice Wang Design )
Peer Pressure. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.alice-wang.com/project.php?pj_id=6
