What is Product Design?

 The question of what Product Design is regularly recurs throughout our classes and discussions. Is it art, or is it engineering? Who can be a designer? How do we classify, separate, and label design?

 This question often bothered me when it was brought up. For others, it seems to be quite an important classification to make. But I fear that creating these distinctions and attempting to label different types of design limits creativity and discovery. These separations remind me of arbitrary expectations set by labels in general.

 Labels like gender or sexuality often serve the purpose of separation and control. Creating different categories for people to fall into creates an opportunity for differing rules and expectations to be applied. In the examples of gender and sexuality, it has been used to discriminate and disempower. People may still identify with these labels, but I believe it is imperative to question the reasons for their formation.

 Although the comparison may seem harsh, this is how I feel about labelling in the world of design. The never-ending debate over whether product design is art or engineering may be an interesting conversation to have, but I dislike the idea of distinctions being reinforced.

 From a broader perspective, I see product design as distinct from other forms of design, such as prop, set, UX/UI, graphic, fashion, and systems design. These labels can certainly be helpful in explaining work to others, as they convey a preconception and understanding, eliminating the need to explain it every time.

 I start to see the lines blurring between these varying types of design, because all the skills we learn are so transferable. Model-making can easily become prop design, sketching becomes fashion design, product posters blend into graphic design, and it goes on.

 In our class with Peter Sheehan, he said something which stuck with me. He said, “Studying design can be like being a jack-of-all-trades.” I appreciated the simple label of ‘design’, because, to my eye, it is all one and the same. It just so happens that people develop a wide variety of skills in different directions.

 Labelling down to the smallest parts of design is more limiting than it is helpful. I believe we should keep our viewpoint as wide and open as possible. Spending time trying to figure out whether your design is this or that only stops the creation of something entirely new.

 Peter Sheehan mentioned that “Art is for yourself, and Design is for others.” This is another interesting perspective, but I think all of these labels will never find a ‘correct’ answer.

 For example, the 'Juicy Salif' by Philippe Starck is one of those products that raises the question of whether it's a product or art, given its lack of functionality. I think it's one of those debates you could have for hours, without reaching any conclusion, because these labels are so subjective. Overall, the question 'What is Product Design?' is not something I like to get stuck on. Rather than agonising over theory, it's much more gratifying to create in the physical world.