RR08

Chapter 10 of Heskett was one of the more interesting chapters in the book since it dealt with issues related to the future of design. One questions posed in chapter 10 I particularly enjoyed was regarding to the future of design/designers with regard to the commercial world. The book raised the question, "Will the future pattern of what is produced, and why, continue to be primarily determined by commercial companies, with designers identifying with their values; or by users, with designers and corporations serving their needs? There is much free-market ideology claiming the latter to be the case, but the realities of economic practice make it plain that in many respects the former still dominates." (131) While I believe I understand what this quote was trying to get at, questioning whether the decisions behind what type of goods are produced will continue to be developed primarily by companies rather than designers, I think this quote/question is mistaken in its assumption that the things produced by corporation aren't already determined by the needs of consumers/users. To this end, I also have questions about the excerpt in chapter 10 that says, "Idealistic claims by designers, however, that in some innate manner they represent the standpoint of users is clearly unsustainable, especially given the number of designers servicing the needs of conspicuous consumption in wealthy societies, while basic needs around the globe remain unsatisfied or not even addressed." While I can understand the author's frustration with this reality, I don't feel that it is fair of him to say that designers cannot say they represent the standpoint of users simply because they are simply they are choosing to represent the standpoint of the minority of users that best patronize them.