Don Norman's 3 ways good design makes you happy:

"I love it. I just don't know why." This quote by Norman demonstrates the 3 categories we use to explain why good design makes us happy. Essentially, "it's all about fun..", but to successfully achieve this, a product must be both beautiful and functional.

'Visceral' is the experience. Its what makes us happy or sad. Norman describes it as the biology of design in our body. it is our brain reacting to different aspects such a bright colours or font types. An example of visceral processing is the 1960's e-type jaguar which is stunningly beautiful but constantly breaks down and falls apart but people still love it because it is beautiful.

'Behavioural' is all about feeling in control. The designer wants you to have control of the product. for example the teapot from the four seasons in chicago or driving a high performance super car around a tight bend. Thee products feel with you and have emotion.

'Reflective' is the way Norman describes our "super ego", where we have no control over ourselves. It's all about our image - perfect example is the Hummer. It's a car that defines one's status; seeking and gaining that attention through a product.

Thee three levels of processing all play an important factor when designing a new product. If we take these levels into each design, new products will response better to each user and hopefully when in use create an unique experience between the product and user.

Norman also demonstrates through a problem solving experiment he conducted that being happy whilst completing a task can effectively make a task easier to complete. Throughout the presentation Norman constantly mentions that the experience of design and the relationship between a product and user should be fun and i totally agree, "Its all about fun"

Me and Design

Design is all around us, everywhere we go, we are bombarded with design but most people don't appreciate it like i do. Design is a passion, a need and is something that i am drawn to and want to develop into a career because it is what i love doing. I guess i have always bee interested in design from a young age helping my dad make in the workshop making violins or in most cases destroying them lol but it wasn't until i started design and technology at school where i though i could pursue this as a career.

My main interest when it comes to design is automotive design. I find when done well it can incorporate any or every aspect of design. In saying that i would love to see my future develop into some aspect of Automotive design. I will be happy as long as i am designing something that interests me and hopefully that people love.

Hopefully with my design career i can travel the world and use influences from many cultures in my designs.

One of my favourite designers would have to be Marc Newson. I love his clean cut, colourful and amazing forms he incorporates in his designs. i also love the way he has branched out into many aspects such as furniture, jewellery, planes, cars and much more.