Magic in the Design and Engineering in the Art – Part 2
We are so commonly taught that so many fields don’t cross with others. Especially when it concerns a creative fields, why on earth would creative types and artists have anything to offer other fields. And for that matter what do other fields have to offer creative and art fields. The truth, as I see it, is that we all have something to offer regardless of field and profession. We think in different ways and our brain see and process in different patterns. And that is the heart of this particular post…
So often we get caught up in what something looks like and forget that what we create or design also must be produced in full to life scale and more often than not interacted with by humans. There are so many design specializations these days and just as many structure, engineering and other areas. The thing is that most of these area have limited interaction with one another. Often forget that these more “technical” fields also often are manned by those who have a creative thought process. These individuals are invaluable contributors to the creative process and especially the execution of the product.
Technical Directors, Automation Engineers, Structural Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Computer Programmers, Coders, and many other more specialized that I have not listed; are typically classified as “non-creative”. What I have found through experience and observation is that these areas are in fact quite creative but just not in the sense of the typical aesthetic that we think of as art. By and large these people are just as creative as the typical creative as they must problem solve and “create” or reverse engineer what we, the typical “creative”, dream up. And truly that is just as strenuous and an outside of the box development process as the design process.
Looking at the term “reverse engineering” I find it fascinating as it implies that what they are undertaking requires a base knowledge and theory, like ours, that is specialized but that it requires creation of new solutions that have not been used before to achieve creative works. They have great skill to understand and work through this based on what they and others have done to create custom solutions. The key here is that they create, and that is why I call engineering an art form. The knowledge base is vast, but they are visionaries and problems solvers just as we, as designers are.
Without these partners on our creative teams we cannot dream of achieving the best versions of the visions that we dream up. We cannot claim to hold all the knowledge that we need to create it all on our own and we are not experts in everything. Most designers I know do not wish to be experts in it “all” and want to stick to the artistic side of the vision. Though sometimes we do get wrapped up in “our” vision and can take for granted others who are our partners, we can be a bit single minded at times. These partners and counter parts are valuable and worthy of much respect, as many this makes the seemingly impossible ideas achievable.
On the flip side it is equally valuable to understand that all creatives approach to design and industry are different; there are those who hold more technical and engineering knowledge that others. There are still factions in our industries that believe that designers in general should have little to no technical knowledge as though it might hamper the creative process. That is one school of thought, but I believe that if it works for your process and practice as a designer then there is nothing wrong with it. Also, that is should not hold you back from being a creative powerhouse but that is should only make you stronger.
Art and creativity come in many guises and many of the scientific and engineering breakthroughs would not have occurred if creative people had not thought in non-traditional ways to come up with new methods and solutions.
Do not think inside a box, or even outside of the box. Create the box, create many new boxes.