effervescent refractions

As I mentioned in passing, I’m in the process of redirecting my future career towards industrial design. One of the reasons encouraging this shift is that so much of what we interact with is dreadfully designed. Tools and objects of our daily life are often inefficient or cumbersome, and when they aren’t, they’re usually ugly or expensive.

Stumbling upon good design sometimes feels serendipitous, like discovering a hidden solution to life’s simple problems. But why should it be so difficult? I had such an experience today, browsing one of my favorite stores, Decathlon, here in Paris. Decathlon has developed several house brands for all different sports, aiming to rival the big names – a cheaper alternative that doesn’t compromise design. Preparing my trip to Iceland, I was taking a look at the hiking section when I came across an alluring backpack. Under the Quechua label, Decathlon had created a very attractive and acutely designed bag. Compact but well padded, with plenty of storage options and easy access to them, I was soon marching around the store with it on my back. What clinched the deal was the 10 euro price; any known brand would have charged at least four times as much.

You get what you pay for, so they say. But in the wise words of the Flight of the Conchords, “Why are we paying so much for sneakers when we’ve got them made by little kid slaves? What are your overheads?” The answer usually has to do with marketing and paying those good designers, but we’ve still got a problem at hand. Once upon a time, that problem was “how come I’ve got to lug around a phone, a camera and a music player?” Maybe that one’s solved, but I suppose I have the naïve and romantic idea that everything could be beautiful and streamlined to the point of no frustration. That’s why I want to be an industrial designer.