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"Who hasn't dreamed of being able to change the world? Who hasn't tried to imagine how things could be in a better society? The great challenge of being an industrial designer in one of the largest corporations in the world is that you know you can place a brick in the building of the future. You know that whatever you design will be produced in millions of units, purchased by millions of people, and used in millions of homes-how satisfying, if you create a useful, meaningful product that people really need and want!
"But what are the consequences if you don't?"
Stefano Marzano became head of Philips Design in 1991. His studio designs products, communications, and environments for the Philips Group, which manufactures lighting, domestic appliances, consumer electronics, industrial electronics, and medical systems, among other things. Faced with this enormous challenge, Marzano decided that his first move was to define a design philosophy and propagate it throughout the organization. Since then, he says, this design philosophy, which he calls high design, has been "the driving force behind all our everyday and long-term activities, and it has been embedded in a design process that is at the basis of all our work."
High design was born from Marzano's belief that corporations have a "responsibility to make the best possible decisions today for the best possible tomorrow," and that designers share this responsibility, in that they play a key role in the creation of the products and services that a large number of people will use. As he says, "We can create products that people don't really need, that are difficult to use, that don't fulfill people's desires." Consumers might still purchase these products under the influence of advertising or fashion, but their interest would be short-lived, and in the end designers would be responsible for contributing to a further development of the "throwaway society."
Accordingly, Marzano and his group defined their mission as: To create a harmonious relationship among products, people, and their environments, both natural and man-made. This philosophy is conveyed to all 450 Philips Design employees through lectures, publications, and introductory courses. Sociologists, anthropologists, and psychologists work with designers and with technologists, scientists, engineers, and marketers to "guarantee a human focus" for all products.
Strategic design is a relatively new service that Marzano's group offers: "Within our strategic design team, we explore new directions in which we can create truly human-focused designs that can feasibly translate into commercially successful propositions for the Philips Group and for our other clients." Through research in sociocultural and technological fields, and by talking to opinion leaders and experts from different disciplines, the group can offer insights into emerging lifestyles and use that information to determine which products might be successful if developed. Marzano describes one recent application of this approach in the project La Casa Prossima Futura (the Home of the Near Future), which was presented in September 1999, in New York, and explores ways in which technology and design can enhance the home environment.
Marzano says, "The biggest challenge arising from our vision is the fact that it will never be achieved; fortunately, there will always be room for improvement and for development." The philosophy of high design, however, makes it possible to continue moving in the right direction.
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