This weeks readings were actually quite interesting, and I appreciated the use of multimedia to keep us engaged as well. I never really thought that there was a fictional element to design… apparently I was wrong. To create we have to use our imaginations, and what we produce, at the present time doesn’t exist until we make it.
My idea from this stemmed from movies I’ve seen.
When I try and imagine what the world will be like in the future, I always picture such dramatic technology changes. This makes me think back to when I was little and watched Back to the Future, and the main guy (Michael J Fox) was standing in front of multiple T.V’s, watching them all. I might just google that now so you can see what I’m visualizing.
Six Channels at once? Oh wait, we do that now.
Isn’t it funny how back in the 80’s our vision for the future was so hopeful, colorful and inspiring. It seems like now when we make movies set in the future, they are depressing commentaries of what society thinks we will become, and generally are of an apocalyptic nature. It’s as if technology will take over, or there will be world wars resulting in the extinction of the human race.
Contagion – a virus threatens the human race
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KoyvHCPKlW4/ToY0C_FpbxI/AAAAAAAAAyo/5aAG25-SLlU/s1600/Contagion-movies-wallpaper.jpg
World War Z – the war to end all wars
http://msmagazine.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/WWZ.jpg
Terminator Salvation – technology vs man
http://www.aceshowbiz.com/images/still/terminator_salvation87.jpg
They don’t really paint a positive picture.
This isn’t saying that technology which will make our lives more efficient and easier (such as those developed by design students) will ruin us, but they are essentially predictions of what we will need in the future. In a way, predicted human behavior will influence what we design.
“We always design for a world that sits, sometimes just slightly, out of sight.”
So making reflective mirrors with the time built into them along with access to internet and emails … is that saying that we will eventually become workaholics, with a thirst to constantly be connected to the rest of the world? That could be good, that could be bad. The technology will only do as it is wired to do. We have the control to use it how we wish. It’s like having guns. Leave it in a cabinet and it won’t kill anyone. I could be getting into some political territory there, I might stop.
But basically, whatever we design now is thinking towards the future. And something I find really interesting, is this article on Back to the Future:
http://www.11points.com/Movies/11_Predictions_That_Back_to_the_Future_Part_II_Got_Right.
The film wasn’t designing for the future, however it was fictional – but the writers were highly accurate with a lot of what they predicted.