Focusing on the “modern” forms of communication that are still around today, it is possible to understand exactly how ideas were spread in the past and how they are spread today, as spreading ideas in general and receiving feedback leads to possibilities – not only for design.
It used to be that people that met by chance and discovered that they shared common interests would stay in dialog via written letters sent via a postal service. Most of the aspects that define our - in this case western - modern way of thinking are based on ideas of thinkers and philosophers that stayed in a continuous discourse with others. As long as there was a common understanding between them, a sufficient perception or level of academic thinking, they would often use each other as sounding boards for their ideas in order to get to the core of a problem or thought – much in the same way that design profits from dialogue today.
The key to these discourses was that while the evaluation and coinciding response were formulated and sent by mail, the most time (in relationship to the topic) was spent waiting for a reply. This time spent waiting surely impacted the development of a thought structure, as without input the thinker had two possibilities:
1. He could refine his argument more and more by himself in order to have a adequate response for his counter-part, raising the quality of the discussion exponentially with every “turn”.
2. There was a constant state of over-thinking an aspect which easily result in stilted speech as well as misunderstandings, as over-thinking something often leads to trouble while recreating the thought process, resulting in taking shortcuts.
With technological advancement came newer forms of long-distance communication. In turn, first the telegraph and then the telephone were invented, broadening the possibilities of swift communication. The telegraph was the first modern way of communication that could cover long distances nearly instantaneous. However, it was basically just a glorified letter, as communication was only possible one way at a time, making it turn based, as well as sharing a number of other similarities to the concept of postal services.
The telephone was the first real method of effective two-way communication, where participants communicated between a greater distance from each other, making sharing information, as well as reacting to it, instantaneous.
The invention of the radio as well as television were two other significant advancements which brought the possibility of relaying information to a broad range of people simultaneously, being especially effective, for example, in propaganda, etc.
This development, seen from the perspective of communication, can be marked as one of the greatest technological achievements of modern times, as it was now possible to inform anyone, regardless of literacy or not. Although it is limited in its capacity for exchange (it’s a sender/receiver-only structure) and there is no real dialogue, radio and television filled the airwaves with contemporary relevant issues. As it is a form of one way communication, the shared information could easily be controlled and distributed to the likings of the powers in question, strongly influencing if not even forming opinion for the masses.
In addition, both changed the way that we handle the topic of information fundamentally. Disregarding the quality of what is being shared, information became a sort of national pastime all over the world. We learn more through osmosis of information inactively - as it is now presented to us - than any earlier generation.
The most recent fundamental step in modern communication has been the commercialization of the internet. Connecting almost all cultures on the globe, the Net forms a cultural vector, streamlining the process in which we draw nearer to another culture by being able to learn about it in any way possible. Be it with pictures, movies, or even diving in the deep end and establishing contact with a stranger, the internet provides the possibility.
It converges all the conventional forms of communication. It involves being able to send letters, which are just received faster, as well as giving the ability for true two way communication in various forms via instant messaging and voice chat. It is possible to place an idea or a problem in an environment where it will be accepted and worked upon by people with the necessary know-how to help - even though they will be complete strangers and might not entirely understand the motivation behind the issue.
Unlike the radio or television, it is able to reach the masses which, on the internet, consist of individuals who all share equal opportunities to respond directly to the sender and take immediate action.
For example, Skype lets us talk to the world for free, and Facebook lets us tap into networks and resources that earlier generations for example did not have access to. It used to be about who you know that could help you along your way in the most effective manner, but now there is a tendency revolving around what you know and how you advertise yourself. The most important aspect of the internet is that there are no borders to hold you back when searching for information or inspiration.
This signifies a major leap for cultural exchange. Going on a long trip to a significantly different culture was a major investment, financially as well as personally, until only less than a century ago. The journey had a purpose, as going on trips for recreation were rather seldom. There was no jet-set mentality; these voyages took time, giving the traveller the chance to immerse himself into a culture while staying at his destination for an extended amount of time and not just hopping back and forth on planes. Moreover, the voyage itself was so lengthy that there was a lot of time to process new influences. In the end, travel was a life-altering experience that, in comparison to today, only few were fortunate enough to have. Today, if we are equally invested as the traveller of the 19th century was, we only have to go online to find initial answers; the process has changed.
There are no borders anymore to hold back creative thought, if it was ever even possible. The difference is that it is now fully acceptable to contact and respond to complete strangers, as the internet acts as a sort of filtering shroud as much as it connects.
Many people are concerned when thinking about the internet, globalization and how all this new technology is shrinking the world. Scott Schuman (The Sartorialist, Blogger) sums up an adequate and beautiful response when questioning this fear:
“People say the world is shrinking and becoming more and more homogenized... Milan hasn´t changed, Paris hasn´t changed, New York hasn´t changed, so I don´t think it´s really homogenized anything but I do believe it´s given us a digital park bench.” Scott Schuman
What Schuman is suggesting is that it is becoming a lot easier and more convenient to look to others for inspiration or out of personal interest. The picture of someone sitting in a park and taking in the entire scene while people-watching and contemplating what they see all applies for the internet as well, only this time, it isn´t confined to the park; it can be multiple cities within seconds, thousands of different social backgrounds within a minute, or a beginning to cultural fascination within an hour. The whole world is open and at our fingertips.
Also, the image of a digital park bench fits along the lines of communicating with strangers, as people sitting on benches usually share the same motivation to be there - also fully applicable to the digital realm.
For designers this means that there is a major shift in the way we are able to perceive design. The concept of design nationalism, for example Dutch, German or Italian design, is disappearing slowly as these categories of visual communication have more or less come to a constant standstill. The internet provides the means for immediate, border-less feedback on blogs for conceptual propositions in their early stages, and the availability of an audience has grown tenfold when the platform is chosen carefully, making momentary quasi-stardom based on ideas alone completely within reach.
As we are bombarded by an increase of visual information on a daily basis, we are starting to learn to filter it automatically based on factors such as presentation. In turn, we, the designers, can learn a multitude of lessons by osmosis, the most obvious being the importance of a good presentation.
Also, this competitive mentality raises the bar for acceptable design immensely, for a concept can be virtually torn apart before it even reaches maturity.
This new freedom changes the way we tackle our workload. The first stop when researching anything has become the internet. There are databases filled with descriptions of materials, from technical nature to tactile experience. Wikipedia, the fastest growing encyclopedia in the world has become the first go-to knowledge base ever since the internet started taking precedence over other conventional communication. The opportunities to learn from have come to a point where not only do we have to decide how far and deep to look (i.e. quantity of information) but also spend a lot of time researching where to look in order to get as close as possible to the truth of the desired information (i.e. quality of information).
This fact, for many, poses a problem, as it creates difficulties in the way we process the difference between right and wrong information in recent times. We feel informed about everything, but the truth is that in most cases we only know, if at all, the very superficial aspects to a matter. The increased access to knowledge becomes an illusion if used scarcely or incorrectly:
“Against the backdrop of the evolution of media and its powerful gathering of news
material and data, all of the world’s happenings are trimmed like a lawn by a mower,
with fragments of information flying about from place to place through the media
as grass flies through the air. These broken pieces of information adhere to our tofu-
like brain like spices sprinkled so thickly that they obscure the entire surface. For a
moment, this makes us think we’re quite knowledgeable, but information tacked on
the surface of the brain doesn’t amount to much when you add it all together.”
Kenya Hara
material and data, all of the world’s happenings are trimmed like a lawn by a mower,
with fragments of information flying about from place to place through the media
as grass flies through the air. These broken pieces of information adhere to our tofu-
like brain like spices sprinkled so thickly that they obscure the entire surface. For a
moment, this makes us think we’re quite knowledgeable, but information tacked on
the surface of the brain doesn’t amount to much when you add it all together.”
Kenya Hara
Obtaining information still requires quality research as the connections as well as backgrounds are only seldom subject to learning by “osmosis”. Digging skills, especially in the case of internet research, become a premium. The researcher must invest himself and dedicate not only time to the subject itself, but also to the quality of the information on hand, as he in most cases will be subjected to an overflow of information sources.
As designers we tend to reinvent the wheel far too often in our processes, as we will usually believe in an outcome and then, in turn, be shocked or surprised when something entirely different happens. I believe what Hara says is absolutely true, and we as designers need to try to free ourselves of the illusion that we know anything in detail, because at best we will have only learned how to use our curiosity as a driving force at the beginning of the creation process and only this state of mind can set in with experience.
The internet as a medium will, when used correctly, give a toe-hold answer to any question; however, as designers, the only thing we really need to know is how to embrace our curiosity which comes with inspiration. If we only always follow what we seem to know, we will not find nor push our own boundaries, thus never unfolding true originality.
This is also true when concerning the information on cultures and ideologies. We may have streamlined how to get access to different trains of thought on paper, but in the end there is no substitute for cultural immersion or even meaningful face-to-face conversation. As the latter may be bridged by video chat which at least enables the users to interpret facial expression as well as partial body language, deep understanding of a different culture can only happen when immersed in it for an extended amount of time.
If fully immersed, it becomes easier to decode the stereotypes piece by piece, as well as to understand the fact that the own culture has just as many stereotypes that it lives up to.
Even though projects like the new Google Art Project, which lets you wander museums the same way you can wander streets with StreetView online, create the feeling that at some point in the future we will not have to leave our home anymore to experience anything new, they will never be able to recreate the true and sincere feeling accompanied by a visit to the museum. Of course, they open the way for a number of great opportunities, such as being able to examine a piece of art without disturbance or zooming in to a level that even the normal eye could not accomplish without a lens; however, the feeling will always remain superficial.
In the end the internet only provides vectors: vantage points to opportunities that cross boundaries of cultural as well as geographical nature. If they are used responsibly and respectfully, it can result in a major advantage to the implied.
As designers, we have the chance of our own voice to literally tell the whole world of our ideas. The question is how we can rise above the rest of the voices in order to be heard.
A prominent example of how to use the new possibilities to create original content are the independent musicians of RIOT !N PARIS. Based out of Brooklyn, NY, they have built an international fan base only by the means of social networking and viral campaigns (their first music video, “The Attack of the 5ft. Hipster”). What makes them groundbreaking though is that they rely on the input of their fans in order to write their new songs, crowd-sourcing proposals in the form of appeals and contests on Facebook. The songs “An!mal House” and “P!nk Nike Hightops” are example results of this process; RIOT !N PARIS possesses the musical know-how and provides it to the best idea. They form a musical interpretation of contemporary issues.
Another approach to this mentality is the fashion brand (service) Threadless: The brand, knowledgeable in all aspects of commercial clothing sales, offers illustrators or artists the chance to put their concepts up for vote. At the end of a cycle, the proposals with the most votes will be included in the new collection and the designer will be reimbursed accordingly: A synergy between two parties.
This is the core essence of what designing should be: A request/problem/aspect of life that needs a physical representation, or less abstract knowledge/information set into form. Just another form of communication and negotiation of request and offer of know-how.