-- Jinzexun Professor of East Asia University of Korea
Since the 1990s, the design field has been in the process of evolving the information society and cyber society. The value of design should change with the value of society. This article attempts from the above viewpoint, looks forward to the 21st century design environment, the content, the direction change, and based on the literature data, can dynamically explain the content and the direction of the design education corresponding to these changes.
I. 21st Century Design and Environment
As many sociologists have suggested, the knowledge society has come and the current society is moving from industrial society to information society and knowledge society. If the industrial society is based on oil and other energy and hardware materials as the main resources, the information society and the knowledge society are based on network information and knowledge innovation as the resources and their circulation as the center of the society.
With respect to the characteristics of social ideals, in the former industrial society, the importance of analytical thinking and mechanically based universal values, as well as the material values ​​based on opposing thinking, formed production and consumption, innovation and change, desire and property. The main value for the foundation of life. The importance attached to the material industrial society has finally triggered the exhaustion of resources and energy, and has created a problem of environmental pollution that threatens the entire world. For the so-called future society of information and knowledge society, the theorists' common view is that it is different from the industrial society. It pays more attention to the "spirituality" of balanced thinking, and pays more attention to the "diversity of values" based on the inherent culture of the region. "Sexuality" places greater emphasis on the "regional organic integration" of connecting these spirits and values ​​through a computer communication network, and places more emphasis on the "holistic" thinking of treating each other's different systems and environmental factors from a macro perspective. In addition, in human life, it is expected that the emphasis on the spirit and the development of computers and communication networks will bring "economic computer software". The use and sustainability, tradition and stability, character and meaning will become the model of life. . The concept of people’s life will gradually shift from the “socialist view of materialism†in the mature period of industrial society to economic prosperity, to the “concept of life out of materialismâ€, that is, interest in knowledge, the pursuit of interesting activities such as culture and creation, nature protection, and community Services and other kinds of intentions, and personal values ​​are met. The forms of mass production, circulation, and consumption have induced the depletion of energy and resources and environmental pollution. These social issues and people’s lifestyles caused by these serious global problems are moving in the direction of thrifty development and harmony with nature. change. In the fields of art and society, the “factor diversification†that constitutes society is being recognized and it is hoped that efforts will be made to break the fixed forms and standards, eliminate subjectivity and emphasize human nature, and so on. At the same time, people’s concern for diversity-based “enhanced emotional exchanges†is growing.
Second, the design content and direction of the 21st century
The traditional industrial design so far, mainly involving industrial manufacturing and service industries, simply gives design objects the styling properties and plays a professional role in enhancing the competitiveness of enterprises; the design objects are limited to hardware and material visual products; the design content Usually stays in shape and surface. However, the non-material, software, and non-visible values ​​that go beyond the field of physical hardware will become the mainstream of society, and the design department needs to have a positive attitude of including these values ​​into the design field.
First, we need to broaden our horizons in terms of design, content, and direction.
The design centered on three-dimensional hardware so far can expand its domain to software. In the past, the content of the design was one-sided, and the shape was usually formed in the final stages of development through the form, color, and texture. This kind of design content needs to expand to the sense of hearing, smell, etc. Needless to say, but also need to go beyond modeling, including the design purpose and meaning into the design content.
Based on the above-mentioned changes in design awareness, shaping a lot of information, multimedia, and electronic entertainment devices in the new era will have the dominant creative value of design. For example, designers should of course design the shape of the game console and the internal relationship of the game and the characteristics of the game. It should also design the purpose, meaning, and even the idea of ​​the game.
Especially in the design of electronic space, it cannot be defined by the feeling of media attributes as it was in previous designs. For example, the graphic design is understood as a two-dimensional plane attribute, and product design and architecture are understood as a three-dimensional space. This way of understanding is no longer meaningful. Because of the difference between electronic space, spatial media, or the differences between materials, no longer exist. All media melted into liquids in this huge "digital blast furnace" in electronic space. The text is no longer a separate text itself. The image is not limited to the image itself. Language, text, images, and music all converge with each other for intelligent thinking. The distinction between “content and form†will no longer be allowed. In a sense, the previous design was always considered to convey the material form and image of the package content more important than the medium that conveyed the content. On the contrary, in the electronic space, since the information content, that is, the non-material knowledge itself has been structured, more intelligent design talents are needed.
It can be said that successful electronic space design depends on the ability to retrieve information that induces spontaneous interest, understands the diversity of cultural perceptions of users, and makes it into a meaningful structure. therefore. We will call people who make such structures "electronic space designers." They will form “vagrants designers†in many sectors such as cognitive science, psychology, programs, music, dance, graphic arts, computer graphics, advertising, apparel, hardware product design, and architecture.
In the above new environment, the designers need to have such professionalism as freelance writers to synthesize various categories. That is, if you say that the beauty of modeling and the beauty of the visual arts are the professionalism of previous designers, the designers of the future should become “freelance writers†who have comprehensive training like the conductors of orchestras, and they can do what they want. Solve the subject of the problem, synthesize the other professional fields, and sublimate the works into wonderful arts and cultures that they are looking for. In order for the designer to play such an integrated role, it is necessary to have a strategist accomplishment that can propose future blueprints and implement them.
Second, with the development of microelectronics engineering and new materials, the importance of design awareness will emerge.
In some areas, the differences between product design and graphic design or design and painting and sculpture may become increasingly blurred. Microelectronics engineering will further shake the traditional concept of product volume. In other words, due to the use of a microfabrication technique, the “Z†axis of the three elements (with the X, Y, and Z axes) in which the electronic product is more compact and the volume is defined becomes gradually thinner, which means that the plane is eventually flattened to X, Y. Electronic computers that are as thin as a credit card are already available, and flat products will highlight the graphical interface. The newly developed "wall-mounted television and stereo" indicates that the same quality as the picture in the frame can be obtained. The continuous emergence of new materials will allow increased degrees of freedom for design forms suitable for past production methods. As a result, industrial products will break the boundaries of craftsmanship and tend to appreciate supplies and eventually obtain the quality of engraving. The boundaries between stereo and plane, graphic and painting, and product and sculpture will tend to be blurred, and the concepts of past art and design will need to be redefined.
Third, the design of people's lives will be transformed into a form that expresses the diversity and subtle meaning of daily life.
This means that the design in the future will reflect the diversity value caused by the innumerable subtle intentions of people. The daily value in our lives does not exist independently of the crystalline structures that resemble billiards, but rather it is the flow of air that continues to spread. As a result, the design of people's lives cannot be easily typed from a conclusive point of view or analyzed for no reason.
With regard to future design directions, attention should also be paid to conversations that include users and emotional exchanges through dialogue. It is only possible to have meaningful collaboration with user groups that may be affected by the design to achieve truly democratic design. Through the emotional communication with users on the social, cultural, and spiritual levels, practical and meaningful design works can be created. Dialogue and emotional communication with users need to go through the entire process of the life cycle of the design and use phases. In order to make the design close to the user's wishes, the designer should take the attitude that listening and implementing user requirements are more important than the designer's own ideas. Through dialogue with the user and emotional communication process, the designer can obtain the answer to the design work, how to connect the user's intentions and meanings, and gain inspiration. For example, the "Vision of Future" led by Philip's Design Center, its various future designs are still displayed in the Philippe Pavilion and are subject to user review. Emotional communication with them through dialogue. The success of Japan’s game console “The Elves†(Tamamakog) also fully demonstrates how strong the requirements for communicating emotions through dialogue are.
Fourth, environmental issues will require that when designing people’s diverse values ​​be emphasized, efforts should be made to ensure that these values ​​are always in harmony with each other in the context of humans, society, and the environment, and strive to find common areas for them.
The designed object should be in harmony with its surrounding system and the entire society and the environment; the rich and varied aesthetic sense that the design seeks should have the world's universality based on the overall perspective of society, the environment, or ethics. Based on the above considerations, designers should have a broad vision of social and environmental perspectives and a sense of social responsibility, and then have a long-term sense of responsibility for the results (use, maintenance, upgrade, and retirement) of design works as they age and change.
Three, 21st Century Design Education
The social value trend is moving away from the industrial society dominated by energy and material, separation and analysis, and standardization in the past, and turning to information and knowledge, culture and environmental society. Starting from this context, regarding the direction of designing educational goals, we should go beyond the former education based on the material economy and competition logic based on industry and enterprises, and pay attention to the value of knowledge as