A friend once asked "why do streets in our country look washed-out?"
That remark was made by Shatha (the host), as well
Design and colors
What is the use of design in our lives?
Design, as I may suggest, is not about colors…
It is a different thing..
But colors might be the thing that captures our attention the most
So, we are usually interested more in them
And think that something is dull when colors are missing
But actually it is not about colors
Let's bring up some observations about our surroundings
Let's ask; what and why
Starting from schools;
This is a classroom..for female students
The chairs are..as you see
And they are required to sit on those benches for 5 hours a day
Windows look like this..
Poor ventilation
And this is how the school looks from the outside..
Safety and security aside, the school looks very discouraging
This is the school uniform that many students are forced into wearing
Looks more of prisoners ..unfortunately
Car plates, as an example
The format has changed several times
But the car plates in Yemen remain difficult to install
In addition to their small sizes..and seriously why the blue? God only knows!
TV and radio commercials..that are still the same since the 1980s..
Making us watch them forcibly
No need to mention names here..
Outfits..
I'm not talking here about the type of costumes but rather how they're worn
Paying attention to details in the way we're dressed..general hygiene
There's something strange about our society;
If you are dressed up and clean, people will wonder;
What's wrong with him? What's with all this swagger?
What a show-off!
Streets have chronic issues with design
We've always heard that and we will probably continue to hear it until further notice..
Trees…when we feel like renovating the streets;
We paint them!
What's the problem?
Practically, it's not just about colors..
It goes beyond to planning.. comprehending the need for design
I think each one of you has had an experience with a handyman, one way or the other..
Carpenters..plumbers..blacksmiths..
You go and tell them this is crooked..
And they would say; no it is not!
They don't see it crooked, by the way
It is your eyesight that is straight and that's your problem!
The same goes for other designs..
How many designs of important documents have changed during our lifetime?
Passports..IDs..driving licenses..
They keep discovering that something is wrong, or something is missing
It never occurred to them to make something more far-sighted
That would last for, say, two years
This has never happened yet, Let's hope it would
The subject matter is, hence, irrelevant to colors
It is about the functions of design, the need, the thorough study of simple things
And how we're going to use it
Let's go back to..
Although I'm not a big fan of indulging in the past and the history
Because everyone just seems to talk about it, so what shall we do about it? Die?
However, let's talk about specific examples from the past
Design is, in a nutshell, these four values;
There are other things, surely
But those are more generic
Simplicity, function, value and time
Design shall observe these things, among others
These are the Aden water tanks
Back in the days when they were built,
The engineer who designed them and the workers
Hadn't seen any similar thing somewhere else
There wasn't google or anything..
They had had a water problem, so they'd given it some thought
And then they'd initiated steps until they came up with such great result
Of which today, in 2012, we take so much pride
Because we haven't done anything comparable
The houses of Shibam..
The concept of house used to be quite primitive among the Bedouins and other Arabs
A group of people had begun to think differently
And produced homes, that again we take so much pride in to date
Agricultural terraces;
Same thing .. a great idea
And I'm certain that the person who invented them in Yemen wasn't the same one in Brazil
Two different people
The old houses in the Old City of Sana'a
Given that we live in Sanaa, and therefore are closer to them, we know many details
I'm sure the buildings in Shibam aren't any less creative and meaningful than Sanaa's
But, since we live in Sanaa we know more details..
We know that they are cold-proof, heat-proof and has a natural water cooling system
And involve, in most cases, backyards that are used for farming..
family gatherings and have become a part of the life style
costumes..traditional jewelry are all about tiny details..
to the degree that forces you into wondering; those people were amazing
anything you lay your hand on from traditional clothes and handcrafts,
makes you question; are those who made them really the ancestors of today's man who pays no attention to details?
Really strange!
If we are to comment on the previous designs;
They'd tried to adapt their surroundings to fit the things they need
Designs for living, economy, fashion..
the bottom line is; They'd redesigned life at the time
And adjusted with their designs
There is a common notion amongst us;
That indeed we don't pay attention to details..
People are poor struggling for food
And that it is a useless luxury..
But the thing is, people do look for design .. details and an added value in everything
Nevertheless, they either don't find it or simply give up too soon
An evidence is that cellphone;
Which used to be quite the deal..very prestigious
But when the smartphones emerged; people treated them lightly as a game..
Smartphones, though, came to wipe out those cellphones completely
Smartphones feature few details from the outside, but many from the inside
Smartphones are about design
So, they've beaten up ..despite the similar applications and so on..
Design has beaten up complexity ..
This is an example
Another example;
Sometimes people might ask; so, within my job, what can I do?
In my life..I'm not a manufacturer..
If everyone says this, there won't be any sort of innovation in any field..
Neither in education nor health..
One X-ray engineer who happened to be a designer of MRI machines..
Whose name is Doug Dietz..
He'd thought that he was helping the world with this beautifully-designed machine
He was standing in the hospital once and saw a child crying of fear from the machine
So, he started to wonder; why would a child cry from a painless scan?
They told him that all the children, or about 80% of them,
Were getting scared from the machine, which was causing inconvenience to hospital administrations
He could have said; "that's the machine, deal with it!"
This is an example of how people can change anything around them
He went through the designs of MRI machines
And redesigned the MRI room to this
He transformed the children's experience drastically
And instead of telling the children; "you will now be scanned by the MRI machine",
They are told; "Let's get on-board the ship, you'll go inside and see the pirates ship..
But don't move so pirates won't see you
This idea has transformed the children's experience, and they started to like the machine
The hospital started to receive more cases..
Children spirit went higher..
This is one idea
I have no doubts that each and every one of you has something to change;
In his life and in the people around him by only rethinking things..
Ask yourself; why is this place put together like this?
Why is the door opened outwards and not inwards?
In your home, workplace..you have a place where you can change something..
Design is for change, for improvement and for our lives..
Design is not just a shape, color or brochure..
It is a total experience .. an attempt to reassess everything around us and to reproduce it differently
Besides needing the artistic details, we also need to come up with the how to optimize them..
Our behavior towards devices, or in the streets..it is part of design
Design is not about the beauty of things.
We have a problem with..
the rest rooms are fine but part of the design is to learn how to use them..
I really have an issue with the person who was in the rest room before me!
The simplest we could do, and that's really for the lazy ones;
Is to help the next generation of youth and children..
And don't pass on our pessimist behavior and outlook toward design, change and innovation..
And try to change them;
If not for us, for them.
Thank you