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Why designers wear black
‘Pure, that is, until it is unavoidably contaminated by external factors.
'These can begin quite innocently, such as what is physically possible to achieve, and the necessity for a design to be functional.
‘It’s when we start to deal with factors like cultural aspects (what will and will not be accepted, or what is or is not required) economic aspects (including financial viability and time constraints) that we find that the development and eventual outcome of the design may have little, if any, resemblance to the original idea.
Struggling for integrity
‘Buried within this downward spiralling process is the designer’s strong and commendable desire to maintain the integrity of both the design and themselves.
‘So manifests an ugly struggle, which, most of the time, we lose. Maybe that’s why most designers wear black: they’re mourning the loss of their brilliant ideas to society.
Big wheels, little cogs
‘Hundreds of years ago, the designer was worshipped and held in high regard for their incredible creativity.
'Now, most of us exist as part of an economic wheel churning out one design after the next – destined not to be worshipped, but used, then tastelessly discarded.
‘Designs are manipulated and contaminated to suit a function or price structure we had not originally intended. We become part of the commercial and economic machine.
Crushing conformity
‘A free thought or original design is now hard to come by – not because we are unable to have them, but because we are not used to having them anymore.
‘Alternatively, maybe we have become so jaded that we just give up.
'Like so many others before us, we have been conditioned to fit into the norm of what is acceptable, and most importantly, what is financially viable.
‘I’m not judging or condemning anyone.
'Let’s face it, we all have to eat, and we all have lifestyles to maintain – those black designer outfits cost big bucks!
Ignorance is bliss
‘But if we fight for our creativity, we face the risk of ending up like the thousands of outdated computers or mobile phones sent off for recycling: no longer required, and commercially outdated.
‘Like so many before us and so many after us, we have sold our souls.
'It would be sadder still if we didn’t know it.’
This article originally appeared in ‘Spark’, the DIA national newsletter.
Eminé Mehmet FDIA is an Interior Designer based in Five Dock, Sydney, and a past President of the NSW DIA. She runs her own business, Design Frontier Interior Design, and has many years commercial and residential interior design experience.
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Eminé Mehmet FDIA_30-Jul-07
‘Design is an evolution. It is the physical manifestation of a thought or an idea: an inspired revelation, pure in its conception.‘Pure, that is, until it is unavoidably contaminated by external factors.
'These can begin quite innocently, such as what is physically possible to achieve, and the necessity for a design to be functional.
‘It’s when we start to deal with factors like cultural aspects (what will and will not be accepted, or what is or is not required) economic aspects (including financial viability and time constraints) that we find that the development and eventual outcome of the design may have little, if any, resemblance to the original idea.
Struggling for integrity
‘Buried within this downward spiralling process is the designer’s strong and commendable desire to maintain the integrity of both the design and themselves.
‘So manifests an ugly struggle, which, most of the time, we lose. Maybe that’s why most designers wear black: they’re mourning the loss of their brilliant ideas to society.
Big wheels, little cogs
‘Hundreds of years ago, the designer was worshipped and held in high regard for their incredible creativity.
'Now, most of us exist as part of an economic wheel churning out one design after the next – destined not to be worshipped, but used, then tastelessly discarded.
‘Designs are manipulated and contaminated to suit a function or price structure we had not originally intended. We become part of the commercial and economic machine.
Crushing conformity
‘A free thought or original design is now hard to come by – not because we are unable to have them, but because we are not used to having them anymore.
‘Alternatively, maybe we have become so jaded that we just give up.
'Like so many others before us, we have been conditioned to fit into the norm of what is acceptable, and most importantly, what is financially viable.
‘I’m not judging or condemning anyone.
'Let’s face it, we all have to eat, and we all have lifestyles to maintain – those black designer outfits cost big bucks!
Ignorance is bliss
‘But if we fight for our creativity, we face the risk of ending up like the thousands of outdated computers or mobile phones sent off for recycling: no longer required, and commercially outdated.
‘Like so many before us and so many after us, we have sold our souls.
'It would be sadder still if we didn’t know it.’
This article originally appeared in ‘Spark’, the DIA national newsletter.
Eminé Mehmet FDIA is an Interior Designer based in Five Dock, Sydney, and a past President of the NSW DIA. She runs her own business, Design Frontier Interior Design, and has many years commercial and residential interior design experience.
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