Reading Reflection: Chapters 1-3

What is design? if you were to ask this to random people every answer would be different. The book, "Design: A Very Short Introduction" definition of design is the human capacity to shape and make our environment in ways without precedent in nature, to serve our needs and give meaning to our lives. Not much in nature is left that hasn't been rendered or manipulated to benefit humans or make our day-to-day life easier. With design, choices come with responsibility. Also meaning that design can be evaluated by effect to benefit ratio.  The world as we know it today didn't just come about out of nowhere. The history of design is quite stifling if you really take a look at it. Design manifested itself in a variety of ways. I believe the first thing humans designed would have to be the hand. Instead of digging a hole with the hand why not design a tool to replicate this. Or also drinking from your hand. why not make an object out of a carved out rock to make drinking easier. Forms were adopted by intention or accident. The key that really got design going was the ability to communicate or language. Language is the key to further development. Language is a way to express the thoughts of your mind to other individuals. Then once individuals became settled in specific areas design changed from utilization for survival to competition for government and individual wealth. Design factored into class implications and mass production which then led to modernism and post modernism or from simplicity to information age. A key concept to design is that form should always follow function. Once function follows form then the design isn't implicated to anything other than art so then design wouldn't be the definition of design.