Praxis Design

Website of Neil Goldberg

  • NEIL GOLDBERG
    • SPEAKING OF DESIGN
    • PROJECTS
    • VENTURES
  • DESIGN CONSCIOUSNESS
  • WRITING
  • CONTACT

Design Is Magic

August 11, 2016 by Neil Goldberg

Paulo_Coelho“Magic is a bridge that allows us to cross from the visible world to the invisible world”. I heard Paulo Coelho make this remarkable declaration and it stopped me. I have often said that design is magic and Coelho announced the formula. For design is how we make the invisible world of our minds visible and tangible.

All our ideas we translate into the world of forms can be experienced – by ourselves and others. This is as true when we design the house we live in or the devices that millions of people carry in their pockets. It is true when we configure an organizational chart to make teams more innovative or when we devise software that keeps track of how much exercise a health conscious nation is getting.

Coelho is the Brazilian author of bestselling novel “The Alchemist” that has sold over 200 million copies in 80 languages. He speaks with latin lyricism and a gentle lilt in his voice that is magnetic. “Emotions are something that we can’t see, we can’t touch, we can’t organize, but at the same time, emotions change the world. And the most important one being love.”

When we embody our ideas by design, we also give shape to our emotions. The magic of design is that it allows us to invest the objective world with all of our aspiration, our playfulness, our care and of course, our love. “A manifestation of love cannot be understood. It can be felt” Coelho continues. So every object, artifact, environment, embodies whatever care and attention were invested in it’s creation. If no care is taken, that will show up too. Whatever is in the designers’ hearts will be felt by the thousand, millions or billions of people who, in time, experience what they have made visible.

Design is how we give form to our intentions. Our ideas. Our passions and our demons.

Here we come to a caution for the creator in each of us. If our work is the embodiment of our best intentions, so is it of our worst. Design can be a bridge to malice just as it can be to care; to obsession as it is to joy. Design embodies contempt as easily as it does love.

It is the work of the designer, as the magician, to be aware of the emotions that inspire our work. It is up to us to choose whether to create a world of dark magic, or light.

Share this page:
fb-share-icon
Tweet

Filed Under: Uncategorized

 

Praxis Cycle Icon_small-01
Design is how we give form to our intentions.

By design we create a world that is adapted to our humanity. These are my musings - about design, design thinking and the design consciousness that drives them.

RECENT POSTS

  • Design Consciousness: Spring 2023 Edition
  • Zvika Krieger’s Journey at The Intersection of Design and Spirit
  • Grace Gilliam on Compassion and Creativity
  • Design for Social Change with Dave Dawkins of IDEO.org
  • Bringing The Divine Feminine into our Design Consciousness – Dr. Deena Aranoff’s in Conversation
  • Towards A Theology of Design with Pres. David Vasquez-Levy
  • From Design Thinking to Design Consciousness – Student Reflections
  • The Torah of Design – The Mishkan
  • Wise Design Leadership
  • A History of Design Consciousness – A Lecture @ Hult International Business School

EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Sign up to join the conversation.

Praxis Design
CONTACT:
Neil Goldberg
Berkeley, CA
USA
© 2014 - 2021 Praxis Design. All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2023 · Parallax Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in