The Weight of Design
设计之前

19/05/25

At this very moment, perhaps you're leaning against a sofa, reading this article. The curve of the cushion supports your neck, allowing your body to relax. The water glass on the coffee table sits just within reach. This quiet, private moment shouldn’t be interrupted by any unnecessary movement. The surface of the water reflects the chandelier’s glow, casting soft light across the space—outlining the shape of the sofa, the height of the chair, the texture of the curtain.

You may notice many things, yet rarely realize that none of it is by chance. The angle of the cushion, the position of the glass, the warmth of the light—even this article you’re reading now—are all the result of something we call “design.”

Introduction

Design has long permeated our lives, becoming an invisible part of the everyday. Yet we continue to talk about it, because its objects have not disappeared. As long as there are specific goals to reach, design does not stop. It will continue to exist until there is no one left to serve. And until that moment, it remains—only after being named by humans did it acquire the identity of “design.”

Over time, however, its definition has quietly shifted. Since the first steam engine roared to life in 1697, the Industrial Revolution enshrined “efficiency” as a virtue. As mass production spread and capitalism expanded, design ceased to be merely a method for solving problems. It became a strategy for generating attraction—serving the market rather than the problem itself.

This shift is particularly visible in brand design. In The Designer as Brander, Ruben Pater notes how branding evolved from a product label into a promotional tool—connecting in form while cutting emotional ties between people and things. The brand seeks to build a “personality” to make up for the indifference of industrialization—offering the illusion of something “made just for you” in the midst of mass production.

Over three centuries later, cars lining our streets no longer symbolize speed and power alone—they are shaped by curves, aesthetics, and emotional resonance. Design has grown more complex, more attuned to human desire. Yet at the same time, it has become more deeply entangled in capital-driven consumption. Between efficiency and desire, design is no longer merely an optimizer of function, but a curator that packages meaning for want.

While design today is burdened by many passive responsibilities under capitalism, if creators fail to remain conscious of these forces, their work risks becoming superficial. We can’t simply produce a product or turn a catchy concept into a visual symbol without understanding why we’re doing it.

Faced with increasingly complex realities and manipulated desires, can we still do good design? I believe we can. I am just an ordinary design student walking a long and difficult path—observing, reflecting, and gradually gathering thoughts to share. I hope these reflections ripple outward and spark new ideas.

01 With Empathy in Mind

Design translates invisible needs into visible form. But to achieve that, we must understand where those needs come from. They are not conjured out of nowhere. They cannot exist apart from consciousness. Sometimes, the need arises from how society shapes individuals; other times, from how we cry out to the world—through confusion, longing, or hope.

At the center of all this is the human—the person standing across from design, a real user, viewer, or recipient.

Yet the “audience” is not a static concept. They are not templates from a marketing textbook—not defined by age brackets or generic background summaries. Though such methods may help structure thinking, people are fluid. Beneath all commonalities lie individual differences.

That means design is not about “expressing what I want to say,” but rather, about how others hear it—and whether they want to keep listening. Before starting a design, we shouldn’t ask “What do I like?” but instead, “What do they see? What do they misunderstand? What do they overlook?” Research should not be a checkbox exercise in collecting data—it is a genuine attempt to understand how others feel and why.

Thinking from the user’s perspective is not about pandering, but about empathy—about truly understanding their limitations and contexts. On that basis, we respond with authenticity and strength. We ask where the need comes from, who beauty is meant to serve, and whether it’s simply a derivative of marketing. To slap abstract terms onto things we don’t understand is irresponsible. Design is a tool for engaging reality, not a mask to escape thought. It must return to the human, or risk becoming hollow.

02 Dwelling in the World

We’ve all heard Newton’s story: an apple falling from a tree led to his discovery of gravity. But that ordinary apple takes over six months to grow—from seed to blossom to fruit. Before it reaches your hand, it must be harvested, sorted, shipped, and packaged. And when you finally take that crisp, sweet bite—it is sweet by design. That sweetness is precisely why the variety was cultivated.

Through one small apple, we glimpse the interconnectedness of the world. No field exists in isolation: science, agriculture, logistics, marketing, packaging, even taste preferences—all leave traces on this single fruit. All of this is presented to you under the name “design.”

To navigate the real world is like biting into that apple. It’s not just about accumulating knowledge, but about reweaving the threads of the world. In seemingly incidental sentences, we try to understand how things are built, connected, and moved forward. Good design rarely comes only from the desk. It is born from street-level observation, disciplinary intersections, and the messy problems you’ve lived through.

You must step into different disciplines, different communities, different cities—experience real tension and contradiction. You must get lost, be misunderstood, be surprised—collide with people, events, and things—to understand the soil that your creation grows from. Connect to reality. Let design carry the weight of the world.

03 Just Do It

This article, this thought, may have been expressed countless times before. As latecomers, perhaps all we can do is bring our unique experience and imprint of the era, and rewrite the same questions in our own ways. But why does it still move us? Because this is not about the transfer of knowledge, but the path we’ve walked ourselves.

Over a thousand years ago, the poet Li Bai wrote: “I raise my head to gaze at the bright moon, and lower it to think of home.” He could not have imagined that, in the distant future, humans would actually walk on the moon. Between ideal and action lie generations who looked up at the sky. Again and again, we dreamt of the future—and slowly, through failure, illusion, and perseverance, turned that dream into reality.

Everyone has ideas. What matters is who takes the first step. Do the work—because action is a choice. Every moment, we make decisions: which road to take, what to eat, who to become. These choices shape a future we cannot predict.

We may not control how the future unfolds, but we can always choose what to do now. The moment you take action, the world begins to respond differently.

Of course, action does not guarantee reward—often, it yields no proportionate return. But it brings experience, which is invaluable. Experience does not promise success, but it brings you closer to the future you seek.

Writing this text was also a form of action. Editing again and again, revising words, reading aloud—it was a way of shaping vague thoughts into something speakable and shareable. To write while thinking—that is the very meaning of doing.

Ideas do not appear out of nowhere. It is through action that we begin to see what we truly wish to express. Purpose and process should not be separated. To obsess over the outcome breeds anxiety; to fixate on the process risks losing direction.

But looking on the bright side, it is precisely because of our messy emotions that we inhabit such a rich, imperfect world. The same goes for design, and for art. They stem from our resonance with life, our visions of the future, and our desire to leave a mark.

Perhaps in some distant future, new forms of intelligent life will emerge—bearing new questions and longings—and create entirely different designs. When that time comes, they too will be pondering the meaning of their world, just as I am now, in this quiet corner. Trying, in their own way, to respond to the voice of the world.

此时此刻的你，或许正靠在沙发上，阅读这篇文章。

靠枕的弧度支撑住你的颈椎，让你能自然地放松。茶几上的水杯，刚好处在你伸手可及的范围，这个私人而静谧的时刻，不该被多余的动作打破。水面映出吊灯的倒影，柔和的光线为这片空间带来了视野，照亮了沙发的曲线、椅子的高度，窗帘的纹理。

你可以注意到很多东西，却很难意识到这一切并非偶然。靠枕的角度、水杯的位置、灯光的冷暖，甚至你此刻正在阅读的这篇文章，都是某种“设计”的产物。

引言

设计早已渗透我们的生活，成了日常中看似理所当然的一部分。但它仍被不断提起，是因为设计的对象尚未消失。一旦我们还有特定的目标要达成，设计就不会停止，它将持续存在，直到再无服务对象可言。而在那之前，它始终在那里——只是在人类为它命名后，才被称作“设计”。

然而设计的定义，也在文明的演进中悄然变形。从1697年第一台蒸汽机的轰鸣开始，工业革命将“效率”推上神坛。随着流水线产品的普及和资本主义体系的扩张，设计不再只是“解决问题”的方法，反而成了“制造吸引”的手段——它开始服务于市场，而非问题本身。

这种变化在品牌设计中尤为明显，Ruben Pater在《The Designer as Brander》一书中提到，品牌从最初标识产品的符号，逐步演化为一种宣传工具，在形式上制造连接，在情感上却逐渐切断人与物的真实关联。品牌试图塑造“人格”，以填补工业化带来的冷漠——在批量制造之中营造出一种“为你而生”的错觉。

三百年多后，遍布大街小巷的汽车不再只是速度与动力的象征——它们开始讲究流线、审美、共鸣。设计变得复杂，也更贴近人的欲望。

但与此同时，它也更深地卷入了由资本驱动的消费机制。在效率与欲望之间，设计不再只是功能的优化者，而成了为欲望包装意义的策展人。

尽管在资本主义的裹挟下，设计被赋予太多被动的职责。但如果创作者不能清醒地意识到这一切，设计就很容易浮于表面。我们不能只是做一个产品、把一个脍炙人口的概念包装成视觉符号，却不知我们为何而做。

在面对日益复杂的现实和被裹挟的欲望时，我们是否还有可能做好设计？我的答案是必然。笔者是一位学习设计的普通人，只是在学习这条道阻且长的路上，不断地观察，不断地反思，终于积累下一些思考，在此处分享。希望这份思考能带来新的想法，从而引起水波荡漾。

01 以人为本

设计是将无形的需求，以有型的形式呈现。而实现这一目标的前提，是明白需求从何而来。它并非凭空捏造，也无法脱离意识出现。有时这份需求来自社会对人的塑造，有时它又来自我们对世界的呐喊，困惑、欲望与期待。

而这一切的中介，是“人”——是那个站在设计对面，真实存在的使用者、观者、受众。

可“受众”并不是一个静态的概念。他们不是商业书中的目标群体模版，不是一段年龄区间，一段背景描述就能概括的。尽管这些方法有助于帮我们理清思路，但人是流动的，在庞大的群体中，所有的共通性也藏着各自的差异。

这意味着设计不只是“表达我想说什么”，而是如何让别人听懂，并愿意听下去。在设计开始前，我们应该问的不是“我喜欢什么”，而是“他们看到了什么、误解了什么、又忽略了什么”。”设计调研不是完成任务式的收集数据，而是真切地考虑，需要通过何种方式理解他人的感受。

真正站在受众角度思考，并非一味迎合，而是设身处地地理解——理解他们的局限与所处情境。然后在理解的基础上，做出真实且有力量的回应。思考需求从哪儿来，“美”是为了谁的“感受”服务，又是否只是营销的衍生物。给自己都不明白的东西冠上抽象的名词，是不负责任的表现。设计是介入现实的工具，而不是逃避思考的遮羞布，它必须回到人本身，才不会走向空洞。

02 活在尘世

或许我们都听过牛顿的故事：一颗从树上掉下的苹果，让牛顿发现了引力的作用。而这样一颗普通的苹果，从播种、发芽、开花到结果，要半年。在你看到这颗红彤彤的苹果以前，它要经历采摘、筛选、运输与包装。最后你终于吃上了这脆甜的一口——它一定是甜的，这正是这个品种被培育出来的意义。

透过一颗小小的苹果，我们窥见世界的关联。没有任何一个领域是真正独立存在的：科学、农业、物流、营销、包装、甚至口味偏好，都在这颗果实上留下了各自的痕迹。而这一切，最终以“设计”为名被呈现给你。

在尘世中摸索，也像咬下一口苹果。它不只是认知的积累，更是我们重新组织世界线索的过程。在那些看似偶然的句子里，我们尝试理解世界是如何被建构、连接、推动的。好的设计从来不只诞生于书桌前。它诞生于街头巷尾的观察、跨领域的模糊地带，以及那些被你亲身经历过的复杂问题。

你必须走进不同的学科、不同的社群、不同的城市，亲自经历那些充满张力的复杂关系之中。要迷路过、被误解过、也惊讶过，和人事物碰撞，才知道每一次创作回应的是怎样真实的土壤。与现实建立连接，让设计沾染尘世的重量。

03 去做

这样一篇文章，这样一个想法，可能早在数百年前就被人提起过无数次。作为后来者，我们能做的，或许只是带着独一无二的经历与时代印记，以不同的方式续写同样的问题。但为什么它依然令人如此动容？因为这不是知识的传递，而是我们亲自走过的那段路。

一千多年前写下“举头望明月，低头思故乡”的诗人李白，可能怎么也想不到，在遥远的未来，人类真的能登上月亮。理想与实践之间，隔着无数代人对星空的凝望。我们一次次酝酿着关于未来的梦，也在失败、妄想与坚持中，将幻想一点点化为现实。

每个人都能迸发出灵感，但区别在于，谁迈出了第一步。去做——一定要先去做，因为行动本身意味着我们做出了选择。每分每秒，我们都在做选择：小到走哪条路，吃什么饭；大到我要成为什么样的人。而这些选择，最终组成了我们无法预知的未来。

我们无法完全掌控未来的走向，却能在每个当下做出选择。只要你开始行动，世界就会因此折射不同的反馈。

当然，行动并不意味着一定能获得丰厚的回报，甚至常常无法与付出成正比。但它带来经验，是无法被衡量的宝贵财富，这些经验不会保证你成功，却会让你更靠近想要的未来。

写下这些文字的过程，其实也是一种“去做”。反复地遣词造句、不断默读修正，尝试把模糊的念头，变成可以被言说、被他人理解的东西。一边写一边思考，这正是“去做”的意义所在。

所有的想法并非天然出现，我们在行动中，才逐步看清自己真正想表达的东西。目的和过程不该分离。执着于目的，容易迷失在结果焦虑；执着于过程，也可能忘了初心。

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但往好处想，正是人类复杂的情感，构成了这样一个多彩而不完美的世界。设计亦如此，艺术亦是如此。它们源于我们对生活的共鸣，对未来的想象，以及想“有所作为”的渴望。

也许在某个更遥远的未来，又会有新的智慧生命，怀着新的困惑和期待，设计出全然不同的事物。而那时的他们，也将和此刻的我一样，在某个角落思索着世界的意义。试图用自己的方式，回应着世界的声音。