Looking Deeper: Design Is About More Than Just Beauty

Photo by eniko kis on Unsplash

Have you ever noticed something “off” when looking at an advertisement for a product? A smartphone with super-thin bezels that almost disappear, showcasing a screen that seems larger than it actually is. Or perhaps, a food product with packaging so appetizing, yet the contents fall far short of expectations. These small experiences might seem trivial, but upon closer examination, they touch upon a larger issue of ethics and responsibility in the world of design.

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My own experience working behind the scenes in the electronic home appliances industry provided a direct look at how the visual power of design is sometimes used not just to attract attention, but to create illusions. Recall the audio compo with speakers designed to appear powerful, with an exaggerated physical size and ornaments implying high performance. In reality, the sound quality produced might not have matched its outward appearance. This reminds me of the concept of signifiers, popularized by Don Norman in “The Design of Everyday Things”: visual cues that should guide interaction, but here, instead create exaggerated, even misleading promises.

This experience sparked a fundamental question: shouldn’t design be about more than just captivating aesthetics? Isn’t its essence…