1) How would you describe Nagaoka’s “non-designing” design practices?
In Nagaoka’s idea, “non-designing” design practices is to make product fresh that will standout for the newest. It’s that way of thinking he is hoping to change. This “non-designing” design practices connected with long life design, which also means to design the product that people would care and used for long time.
2) How do your opinions of “good” design compare with Nagaoka’s?
Would you define good design differently, how so?
In Nagaoka’s opinion, a good design should be long life design and contain a long history behind the design itself. People can use those products for a long time and not that easy to discard. However, anything that is hard to use is a bad design.
Personally, I believed a good design may have different aspects go being good. Firstly, the design needs to be beautiful enough that can attract people’s attention. Secondly, a good design should be useful in people’s life. Lastly, a good design should not be too expensive so that everyone can use them.
3) Nagaoka says that we have entered a new era where people want to buy things that mean something to them, that truly matters, and that we have entered a new era. Do you feel these ideas are specific to Japan or are applicable to other countries too? What evidence do you have of your opinion (what makes you say yes or no)?
I feel like these ideas are specific to Japan. As I shopping on internet, I was always attracted by the Japanese newest product. Not only me but also my friends and people around me, they all love to buy the products from Japan. I think this is because Japanese design is always beyond people’s life and they are making long life products. The things they designed are really useful in daily life and having a high quality.
4) What kind of design do you think appeals to young people today?
I think one kind of design that will appeals to young people today is the newest and fashionable clothes. People always want to put newest clothes on nowadays. Another kind of design would be electronics device. In the high speed society, people love to have their electronics device to connect with people and work or study.
5) Near the end of the program, the host of the program says the future of design could be, “people who make things with care and people who use them with care” and that this could be a new form of prosperity. Do you agree? Why?
I agree with this idea. Long life design is a new idea to people. Nowadays people would prefer buying a new products instead of repair them when the product is broken. However, long life design would fresh people’s mind well and introduce a new concept to them. Actually, every individuals may have at least one item that they kept for more than five years. This means people will love to keep a good design product for a long time.
6) What do you think of the student projects shown at the end of the program?
I think they are really well developed. One of my favorite product is the clothes made by a girl. She only used the material grow up by herself to made the clothes.
7) Do you consider yourself a long-life designer? Would you like to become one?
I would not consider myself a long=life designer but I wish to become one. Personally, I am not a person who likes old design and product and I want to buy new products. However, I love the concept of long life design. It’s a respect to the design and it also save the environment.
8) How might the concept of Long Life design be useful to designers working within the constraints of the Anthropocene?
The long life design will save the resource on earth for no doubt. If most people start to get aware of the situation we are living now and could support long life design, there will be less waste product and material. In other words, it also save the environment.
– After watching the video, what are two questions you have for Gen about kintsugi?
1.Why the artist always choose to use gold or the bright color to repair the ceramics？
2. In order to find the beauty of broken things, have you try to broken the ceramics on purpose?
– Lacquer, the base of kintsugi, has been used for repair for nearly 1000 years in Japan. Are there similar practices of repair in your home country?
When I was young, I saw a watch store on the street that can repair the old watch. My mom came into that store and repair my grandfather’s old watch.
What kinds of design and cultural values do you think enables a process of repair such as kintsugi to be practiced and refined over hundreds of years?
Sometimes, an old ceramics often contains a long history or story behind. Buying a new and beautiful ceramics is not equal to the old one. However the idea of repairing is not only for find the beauty but also keeping the memory and history.
