Reading

Prometheus of the everyday: The Ecology of The Artificial and the Designers Responsibility.
Ezio Manzini
This paper talks about the environmental problems that we are facing today, some of the reasons why they are a problem and how solutions could possibly have a good effect on design and production. One of Manzini’s main points is that because culture and the world has been changing so much because of the rapid development of new technology, the cultural systems of the past can no longer be applied in the same way. Because of this, products are being created which have no cultural or sentimental values, which generates a new “throw-away” culture.
He also talks about the limits that we have now discovered in this advance technological age. In particular, the limits of the environment and the limits of “our capacity to deal with the increasing mass of information”. Because of these limits, as designers, we have to consider how to design for the whole product life cycle, including production and disposal. We also have to design the brand and information in a recognizable and long lasting way, so that a product brand will stand out amongst the “noise” of excessive information.
He also talks about the relationship between the human race and the environment and how this needs to be considered and changed.