Industrial Design Should Abandon Social Change Claims and Embrace Its Role as Applied Art
By
John Jervis
6mo ago· 10 min readenOpinion
100/100
Golden Brown
Bagelometer↗
A five-star bake. Worth schmearing, sharing, saving.
Score100TypeopinionSentimentneutral
Summary
The article argues that industrial design has historically overestimated its ability to drive social change and should instead embrace its role as applied art. It critiques the 'messianic' claims of design movements from the 1950s onward, suggesting that design's influence on social transformation was always limited and temporary. The author contends that design should focus on its practical, aesthetic functions rather than grandiose social engineering ambitions, positioning it as a form of applied art rather than a revolutionary force.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledIt's time to recognise that design's status as a force for social change was only ever a blip and instead embrace its role as applied art
The cult of design – and of the designer – first ignited in the 1950s and still burns strong
Industrial design should have dropped its messianic claims long ago
design's influence on social transformation was always limited and temporary
It's time to recognise that design's status as a force for social change was only ever a glitch and instead embrace its role as applied art, writes John Jervis as part of our Performance Review series.