Design as Conversation

* BMW M3 through the years, from http://www.bmwblog.com/2010/08/01/car-magazine-bmw-m3-through-the-ages/

Like a conversation, Design cannot standalone; there are no monologues, no solo acts. A creative design does not simply come into existence, it is the extension of something else. Designs progress and evolve by going back and forth, feeding off the ideas and successes of previous designs in order to inspire new designs.

Designers may converse through design from opposite sides of the globe or within the same office. A designer will create something, and put their work out there. When another designer is working on something, they may see that first design, and use a general idea or a piece of it and put it into their own design. For example, look at the picture above. Throughout the years, car models will alter their design little by little. However, there is always a hint of the previous model, the inspiration, in the newer model.

* Photo from NotCot.org, http://www.notcot.org/post/12238/

This idea of a conversation, the chain of inspiration, may be intentional or subconscious. For example, by looking at the images located above or below, it is clear that many companies use similar logos. In the case of the Starbucks logo (below), many other coffee establishments chose a similar logo to that of Starbucks. It is clear that the conversation isn't based on an emotional connection. Here, the idea is that Starbucks has done so well as a business, and to mimic its success, its logo should be mimicked as well.

*Photo from The Legality, an online law journal located at http://www.thelegality.com/2008/01/23/does-scrabbles-cd-spell-the-end-of-scrabulous/