The season is here and quickly gone are the days we spent with family and sharing stories about our lives and experiences. Spending time with our loved ones, we talk about everything, travels we have had and people we met and the new experiences we all had. Of course, history of our past is discussed as well as money and business problems. Our family loved to talk at meals, on trips, sitting around the pool on weekends, in the living room after dinner, we were never silent. We talked about everything, friends, traveling, money, food, politics, gardening, personal problems, school, children and we talked about theater and art gallery events. “Design” could creep into our conversations and most usually did. Discussions about design turned to people, corporations, stores, media, television, clothes, cars and almost everything. It came down to what could design do for us or people? Did the holidays feature design in ornaments, shopping and vacationing? Yes, design is involved in what we ride in, look at in stores, in general things used by people individually or in large masse. Of course industrial design covers a large part of our world which includes illustration, graphics, film, fine arts, packaging, advertising, photography and other subjects. Then slowly, people became the focus of our conversations and more time is spent talking about “design” and how design affects our lives every day. In conclusion, we pondered how the holidays and celebrations contributed to our involvement in design. We wondered how many people ever think about how “design” is part of their daily decisions in what they buy, use, eat and enjoy. A good question and in the end design is part of our daily lives and how we live. In the coming New Year give some time to thinking about the way design is part of your life. You may be surprised.
For more information contact Jaylene Armstrong, retired art educator from Madison Wisconsin, at 661-255-3050.