EPISODE 18
The Aim of Design
In Service of Other's Ideas
Sometimes it is worth pausing to reflect on the purpose of our work. I believe that doing design means, first and foremost, putting our work at the service of other people’s work.
We are used to thinking of design as a creative activity, something that adds. An idea, a sign, a vision. But to be truly useful, design must first bring a point of view. And a point of view is never built by imposing a vision. It is built together. It always begins with observation. It requires curiosity. A genuine desire to understand the reasons, intuitions, capabilities and ambitions that lie behind other people’s work within a company.
This is why design can become a kind of simultaneous interpreter between industry and people.
When it works, it adds a poetic dimension to a business idea that, in most cases, is already there. Not a decorative dimension. Not one that is merely aesthetic.
Rather, an interpretation capable of making visible to the outside what drives the inside. Of turning expertise, intuition and ambition into something people can see, understand and, above all, feel. This is, ultimately, the principle behind Design Thinking: starting with empathy.
Entering into different fields of expertise. Bringing different forms of knowledge into dialogue. Understanding people and context. Then making all of this tangible, visible and meaningful.
That is why, when it becomes too authorial, design risks ceasing to be useful. Good design works to let the company emerge. Its language. Its personality. Its idea of the future. It is an informed and considered perspective, able to interpret without overwriting. To amplify without replacing. An invisible pencil, capable of writing unforgettable business stories.
Design is made of small, intelligent ideas that help other people’s ideas become great.
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18
EPISODE
The Aim of Design
In Service of Other's Ideas
Sometimes it is worth pausing to reflect on the purpose of our work. I believe that doing design means, first and foremost, putting our work at the service of other people’s work.
We are used to thinking of design as a creative activity, something that adds. An idea, a sign, a vision. But to be truly useful, design must first bring a point of view. And a point of view is never built by imposing a vision. It is built together. It always begins with observation. It requires curiosity. A genuine desire to understand the reasons, intuitions, capabilities and ambitions that lie behind other people’s work within a company.
This is why design can become a kind of simultaneous interpreter between industry and people.
When it works, it adds a poetic dimension to a business idea that, in most cases, is already there. Not a decorative dimension. Not one that is merely aesthetic.
Rather, an interpretation capable of making visible to the outside what drives the inside. Of turning expertise, intuition and ambition into something people can see, understand and, above all, feel. This is, ultimately, the principle behind Design Thinking: starting with empathy.
Entering into different fields of expertise. Bringing different forms of knowledge into dialogue. Understanding people and context. Then making all of this tangible, visible and meaningful.
That is why, when it becomes too authorial, design risks ceasing to be useful. Good design works to let the company emerge. Its language. Its personality. Its idea of the future. It is an informed and considered perspective, able to interpret without overwriting. To amplify without replacing. An invisible pencil, capable of writing unforgettable business stories.
Design is made of small, intelligent ideas that help other people’s ideas become great.