Wrong or right

We are now offering our designs as build plans on our website.

As part of the process I needed to acquire a few new skills. Especially in an effort to offer our designs to visitors of our store and doing it in a unique format that would make the build process easy to follow.

One of these entailed teaching myself some basics in graphic design, the first step of course was getting some ideas from the net. So off I went looking for some vector art samples of hand planes. I found a few I liked but one or two in particular seemed to get under my skin and at first I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why. Until it finally dawned on me.

They were backwards!

Have a look at this icon. In which direction would you expect to use it if you were right handed?

Now have a look at the icon the “correct” way around. I personally find it more pleasing, if not to the eye, most certainly to my mind.

Now all of this may not even register the slightest effect on some readers of this post or even if it does you may wonder as to the point of even bringing this up, let alone making the effort to write a blog about it.

Personally I can be accused of being many things but not as one who doesn’t appreciate good design. So what entails good design you may ask?

Well, apart from how it looks or how functional the piece is, to how complicated or simple the joinery may be or even the use of colour and texture. One of the often overlooked aspects of design is how it makes you feel. I will be the first to admit that I am no expert in design and have received no formal training in the field but what I do know, is what I like. Give me a sample of furniture that incorporates shelves and beautifully cut dovetailed drawers any day, as long as those features are arranged towards the right. You may argue that with me being right handed, it would be obvious that I would prefer this particular arrangement of elements as a result of functionality and you may be somewhat correct, but I experience some level of mental discomfort seeing arrangements that place such focal points on the left and that discomfort may likely point towards experiencing design on a deeper level rather than it being a simple case of functionality.

We know that design evokes emotions and it can be seen or rather felt when experiencing art, architecture, sculpture or cars, just to name a few. For some especially cars! So an argument could be made that furniture design may cause an emotional reaction in the viewer/owner and that these feelings could be triggered by more than the obvious elements like colour, material or complicated joinery.

Even if these emotions that some experience, when viewing a piece of furniture do not form a significant part our own emotional make up, it helps to keep in mind that it may do so for a client who you may be designing for and that those emotions may cause them to call all their friends to come over and see their latest acquisition and said friends may experience something in the emotional realm and then come knocking on your door for the same.

It could also just be that the friends want to get one up on on the other person when they come knocking, a phenomenon more often witnessed by planners for kid’s parties, or at least so I’m told. Just do your best, be thankful for the word of mouth and new the business. We are a weird species indeed.

So the point is that an awareness that some emotion may be involved when designing for ourselves or others could be useful in the process, even if you do not experience it as strongly yourself and if you happen to be particularly mischievous you may even cause some discomfort through your designs by incorporating elements that may be considered “out of balance” for some. Do remember though that the market for designs that cause obvious uneasiness with customers may be limited and that the customer is always king, they may not always be right, but they are always king and if they happen to want the drawer on the left and they are willing to pay for the privilege, try to oblige.