Making and People Watching

As a designer I enjoy figuring out how things work. You can learn a lot from wear marks, grime, squeaks. grease stains, and vibrations. An object without these things are not used, have no story and are therefore dead. A broken, well worn object has infinite more value than a brand new object.

People are not interesting for what makes them the same. Being the same includes what we are told is beauty. A person shows wear marks. A hint of who they were, what they have done, how people view them and how they have been treated, what they think of themselves, who they think they are, who they want to be, what their parents and great  grand parents looked like, even what they plan on doing that day. All people are body builders.

What we notice about them tells us a little about ourselves (especially our own prejudices and capacity for creativity).

We have been tricked into believing that a simple story with no rough edges repeated into infinity like a manikin factory in the middle of a hall of mirrors is perfection.

When we try to read people’s story in their posture, wrinkles, asymmetries, hairs, voice, clothes, expressions, scars, accents, gait, reactions and movements everyone becomes beautiful and unique.

Be careful with this new point of view. If you start to pay too much obvious attention to those who are not used to it, they will think you are a creeper.

Post navigation