I read this article yesterday morning and I was initially going to get all bothered by it. The article talks about the proliferation of design tools that allow the average person to produce anything from a custom shoe to a 3-d plastic toy and everything in between.
Open Design empowers individuals as “part of a growing possibilitarian movement,” giving us “all the instruments to become the one-man factory,”- Marleen Stikker
As a designer who is constantly trying to create better work with every project and making sure I am doing the best work possible, and thus a little paranoid about what other designers are up to, this idea of open design freaked me out just a bit.
But then I finished reading the article and realized that just because more and more people have access to these tools that it does not necessarily mean that they will know how to use them properly or efficiently and if they know how to use them if what they design will be any good (design and design thinking are a skill that must be practiced and perfected). Design is not a process; it is a skill just like any other skilled profession. I also realized that as a designer I have come to depend on these open tools a lot laser die cutting for business cards, water jet C&C machines for metal projects etc.. Open design is a great thing and allows the lone designer or small ad agency a lot more flexibility than was available to us in the past.
I think; now, that the article is right. The time has come for open design, for the masses to try their hand at design, and the designer to try their hand at fabrication and fabrication to try their hand at design and along down the line. Through Open Design, we see how difficult and some-times frustrating it can be to tackle design and then hand the job over to a designer/design thinker to finish the job up for them or a similarly skilled professional who has dedicated themselves to the craft and can effectively make the design/idea a reality.
