Design and Generosity

By Rick Landesberg
Delivered at TEDx LeadershipPittsburgh, 14 November 2009

Look at this wonderful door latch (#1) from the Shaker community of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. It was made around 1850. It’s functional and it’s expressive, a perfect marriage of beauty and utility. I love the way such a modest object so powerfully expresses the Shaker ideals of economy and simplicity. All it has to do is keep a door shut, but it gives us much more than it has to. It’s a gift to the people who use it.*

When something—whether it’s an axe or an iPod—does more than it has to do, more than what we ask of it, something very special happens.

For example, I have a Japanese kitchen knife (#2) that has intrinsic expressive qualities. The meaning is in it. Of course it cuts beautifully. But it also has heft and balance, and is comfortable in the hand. It operates as an extension of my arm, the wooden handle imparting a rich, tactile experience. It’s enormously satisfying to use. When I use it correctly, cutting becomes a ritual.

In 1939, a cartographer named Ezra Stiles drew this map of Pittsburgh’s Frick Park (#3). It conveys data on at least seven levels: it shows the plan of the park, it visually describes the landscape, it names and illustrates the park’s resident and migratory bird life (#4), it shows resident animals, it provides two topographic cross-sections of the park (#5), it orients the park in relation to the city and county (#6), and it illustrates major structures. It’s not just a thing that tells you where the bathroom is. It’s a civic celebration.

It gives us more than we could have asked for. Like the door latch and the knife, it’s generous.

When we create something—whether it’s a product, a public space, or a new curriculum—we can invest it with qualities that will enrich and enliven the experience of the user. When the functional rises above itself, when the everyday becomes celebratory, we become more human.

Let’s learn from the door latch, the knife, and the map to invest our work with a bountifulness and kindness that makes that work truly generous.

 

*Paul Rand, in his book A Designer’s Art, cites this photo to connect function, beauty, and culture. There are plenty of good examples of this in the world, but this one is hard to beat. The photo is by German design editor Wend Fischer.