The Consumption of Design

Assignment 1-What did i learn and how is it relevant to Textile Design?

I found my first assignment at university this semester quite challenging. (See blog posts- Assignment 1: The Consumption of Design 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D) We were asked to do a number of tasks our first to read chapter 4 of ‘The culture of design’, a book by Guy Julier. Similar to many of my colleagues I struggled to make much sense of the text and what in fact the purpose of reading chapter 4 entitled ‘The consumption of design’ was. However after a recent seminar I am pleased to say I feel somewhat enlightened!

So what have I learnt?

Firstly this chapter tells us we consume because we need, want or desire things. Secondly consumption can be directly linked to culture. For example our culture affects whether we need or simply want things. In third world countries, people have to consume, as they need clothes, food and other such basic necessities. Many people in the UK are fortunate enough to fall somewhere between the ‘want’ and ‘desire’ to consume. This is due in particular to wealth and design. Due to the amount of wealth we have we are unlikely to need to consume. We simply want and desire things partially due to design. A whole range of things such as advertisements, celebrities and peers influences us. We buy to fit in, to fit in to our culture and also to form an identity. What we choose to own to some extent defines who we are.

This ties in directly to the next part of the assignment where we were asked to analyse photographs of a person’s home, belongings, friends, family etc who we did not know. From what they chose to own we could make assumptions about the person, their tastes, culture and their identity for example. But we could only access what the person wanted us to, we can only find out about them through their appearance belongings etc what they chose to own. This is where part D of the assignment came in and we were asked to look at ‘The Johari Window’.

How does this relate to Textile Design?

In the UK the majority of people are driven to consume due to the desire to have something. They often want it but don’t actually need it. For example many people want to have the latest clothes, designer shoes, accessories etc to fit in. People are continuously buying to fit in and have the appearance they desire. According to Julier in the book entitled 'The culture of design' Haug 'argues that artefacts in the market have to promise a use-value once they are sold: they have to appear to be useful before they actually are'. Many people have a need or desire to keep up with the latest trends and so see a use of new clothes even if they may only wear them one or two times. As designers should we be happy that we are constantly giving people an excuse to buy new clothes? Designers have the power to make people keep buying in order to be fashionable. This keeps designers in a job and also affects the economy. For example a recession can be caused or the affects increased due to decreased consumption. Or should we think about the environment, all the resources that are being used up and all the waste. How many items of clothing are thrown out every day in the UK? Is it really necessary? What about the people in third world countries who need clothes?