I have a simple design philosophy: make life better. But like Martin Scorsese says: Simple is hard. It takes time, effort and most importantly, caring, to create a good design that improves people’s lives. Design is a careful balance of technology and form, or art. I’m often reminded of a line from the Manuel of the Mustard Seed Garden (芥子園畫傳) from the 17th century Qing Dynasty; To paint with soul and no technique is deplorable, but to paint with technique and no soul is worse. I take this to heart and understand that to solve a problem, you must have knowledge, skills and love.
When I design something, the first step I take isto research the audience or end user.This step addresses many things like culture and demographics. Different cultures have different expectations and legal requirements. For instance, cars in Europe are designed to prevent injury to pedestrians at the expense of the car. While a car made in America is designed to withstand an impact with another vehicle making it that much more dangerous for pedestrians. But the USA isn’t a pedestrian culture and automobile design codes reflect this. This is why it’s important for me to have a full understanding of the audience I’m designing for.
The second step to my design process is to find a story that engages the user. Architecture, art, music, literature all tells our story, and designing a toilet is no different. Toilet design speaks to values, beliefs, and taboos. Toilets and relieving ourselves has symbolic meaning that is deeply woven into our language and behavior. In the case of my Stoolbus design, I chose the name, color, and form of the toilet as one that educates as well as fills a physical need. Like the rest of the world, the United States is coming to terms with climate change and the problems that industrialized farming has caused, from dead zones and algae blooms in the oceans andscorched soils casting particulates into the air.The Stoolbus is designed to compost human waste and return it to the earth as a natural fertilizer. And while it is important to impress upon people the need to be resilient in every, it is also important to educate them in an entertaining way. This is exactly what Brecht said of musical theater back in the 1930’s, The purpose of theater is to educate, but first you must entertain. Turning an educational experience into an entertaining one will produce a more positive response. And that is why I used a school bus theme, to encourage learning.
Finally, I ask if the design is good. By this I mean does it fit the needs of the people and make life better? This is a multifaceted question. Making life better might not be obvious. Some things may appear to be helpful to people in a direct way, but that may not be the case when you look at the impact of manufacturing. The true cost of production is often hidden or passed on to future generations. Asking these kinds of questions will help guide uscreating a better future.