The Many Forms Of Products

Victor Papanek, one of the most eminent designers and author of the revolutionary book, “Design for the real world”, describes the many forms of products that we get, based on what product designers are told to design (in “The Green Imperative”).

• When we become the hired guns of greed-driven corporations, we are driven to CONFORM.

• If we generate status kitsch for a jaded elite, and allow ourselves to become media celebrities, we PERFORM.

• When we twist products to reflect the navel-gazing of market research, we DEFORM.

• If our products divorce appearance and the other functions — a telephone that looks like a duck and quacks instead of ringing, a clock-radio that looks like a female leg — we MISINFORM.

• When our designs are succinct statements of purpose, easy to understand, use, maintain and repair, long-lasting, recyclable and benign to the environment, we INFORM.

• If we design with harmony and balance in mind, working for the good of the weaker members of our society, we REFORM.

• Being willing to face the consequences of our design interventions, and accepting our social and moral responsibilities, we give FORM.