What is “object design”?

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The word “design” appeared when people began making objects in factor­ies, more than 200 years ago. At that time, it referred to the exter­ior shape and colors of an object. From that moment on, objects and furniture could be produced in thou­sands and thou­sands of copies. Before that, they were made by artis­ans, and each one was unique.

“Design” is an English word that has many differ­ent mean­ings: concep­tion, draw­ing, model, form. Origin­ally, it comes from the Latin word desig­nare, which means “to mark with a sign, to draw, to indic­ate, or to plan.” Indeed, that is exactly what a designer does: this person creates an object or a system that will be used by as many people as possible. They can work on a huge vari­ety of things! Design­ers create everything we use in our daily lives to live, work, eat, and enjoy ourselves. Design includes both the appear­ance of an object—its color, mater­ial, and shape—and the way it is used—its func­tion and size. Design must be access­ible to every­one. It is not limited to every­day objects but can also involve the way projects are organ­ized or the systems that allow us to collab­or­ate in soci­ety. To meet these needs, design­ers pay atten­tion to new tech­no­lo­gies. Their goal is to research prob­lems people face and find solu­tions to make life simpler and better.

But how does one go from the idea of a designer to an object that can be bought or admired in a museum? Initially, the designer stud­ies the situ­ation and thinks about possible solu­tions. For example, in the case of a pair of sneak­ers, they need to consider a comfort­able shape that allows running, as well as an appear­ance that appeals to people. The designer creates sketches, plans, and proto­types, which are models used to try to produce the object before manu­fac­tur­ing it. From that point, they work with others to assist in the creation: compan­ies, artis­ans, engin­eers, etc. They also decide on the mater­i­als to use to ensure the shoe cush­ions the foot while running, as well as the colors and style of the sneaker. Design objects can be produced many times, like the sneak­ers found in stores, or only in a few copies, such as a limited edition—or even just once. In that case, the object is called unique.

Let’s look at an example of a famous design object: the “plastic chair.” It was created by an Amer­ican designer couple, Ray and Charles Eames, almost 80 years ago. Ray and Charles wanted to design a chair that was afford­able so many people could have it at home. They also wanted their chair to be modern and comfort­able. They then had the idea of using a mater­ial that was completely new for furniture: fiber­glass. This is plastic made stronger by compress­ing tiny glass fibers together. At that time, most chairs were still made of wood or metal. Thanks to this new mater­ial, their chair was durable and easy to produce. It could also be made in all sorts of colors and have a fresh appear­ance that intrigued people. It is still widely sold today, though now made with other types of plastic blends.

On your next train jour­ney, take the time to observe an iconic example of Swiss design: the SBB clock, found in all the coun­try’s stations. Designed to be read at a glance, it is distin­guished by a detail that has become iconic: its red second hand, inspired by the sticks once used by station­mas­ters. This design, simple yet highly effect­ive, was so success­ful that it even inspired Apple for the inter­face of its phones.

This example illus­trates how object design is every­where and influ­ences our daily lives. Every object we use—whether furniture, elec­tronic devices, or accessor­ies—is the result of aesthetic and func­tional choices. Design shapes our exper­i­ence by making objects more prac­tical, enjoy­able to use, or simply attract­ive. Observing and ques­tion­ing the shape, color, or ergo­nom­ics of what surrounds us helps us under­stand the impact design­ers have on our every­day life.

This article was writ­ten in collab­or­a­tion with Carré Pointu, the little seri­ously funny news­pa­per.