Stefano Marzano - History of Industrial Design

Stefano Marzano once said that design was built on core humanist values that have ‘always helped people to progress along the path of civilisation’ . From his claim, design is not only borne out of foundational humanist principles but is also a highly integral part of society’s road to progress. There is thus no questioning the intention of design as creating for the benefit of society, but rather the extent of how much benefit design aims to create.

As pointed out by Marzano, while most designers claim to design with the intention of value-adding to society’s quality of life, few actually do so. In most cases, the benefit their designs actually bring about exist as mere claims, especially when no concrete research evidences exists. Before this essay further introduces 2 designers who have denounced this undesirable trend,it would first be prudent to define the key phrases in the statement.

In view that design aims to benefit society, design can be said to be built on the core humanist values of consideration for others towards the progression of an ethical human race and essentially the betterment of society.

Marzano’s definition can be seen to encircle an emotional compass which human ideals and intentions revolve around. The emotions must be accorded significance in the intention to design, the design process itself and even in the appreciation of the final product. To elaborate, a designer’s emotions evoked when designing a product and the consideration of the consumer’s feelings in the usage of the product holds considerable weightage. To design then would be to undergo an experience, and in turn, conceptualise a pleasurable experience for another, pushing the definition of design from creating for aesthetic purposes to one which creates positive change to our mindset and lifestyle.

Two such designers whom have embodied this definition of design into their works are Estrella Archs, a Spanish fashion designer and Shigeru Ban, accomplished Japanese and international architect and industrial designer. Estella’s notable works include her creation of costumes in the summer of for London’s Royal Ballet in the work called Aimanter (Fashion from Spain, 2010). She was consequently chosen by The Ballet as their designer for the costumes of their leading roles, because of her originality and flair. Her most recent Spring 2011 Collection was inspired by the body in motion of a Ballerina. Memorably, she pushed the envelope by using ballerinas to dance down the runway instead of models.

Shigeru Ban on the other hand is most famous for his innovative work with paper, particularly recycled cardboard paper tubes used to efficiently house disaster victims.

Comparatively, both designers reflect underlying similarities in their design presentation, concept