From Marcel Wanders Official Website //The Contemporary Renaissance of Humanism.
Foreword in: Marcus Fairs ed. Twenty-First-Century Design,
London: Carlton Book, 2006.
I remember my first design years in the early 80's. I was studying design, totally enthusiastic and ready to change the world! Design was a deep and refined cultural medium according to me, able to touch humanity in a subtle and caring way and guide it to new unprecedented heights. I looked for all the little and bigger philosophies and ideas to support my growing knowledge and -dreams.
Reacting to my endless enthusiasm my teachers and my other design-heroes used to give me their "more realistic" view and told me "Marcel, it's terrible, the people in the street are ignorant, stupid and traditional. They're not interested in the great future designs we try to realize. They have no sense of taste and are unwilling to follow us". I was shocked and couldn't understand why we, being the hero's of the future, were so incredibly misunderstood and left alone.
Later I started understanding that in fact our point of view was outdated and that our works were conceptually as well as also visually based on a design theory and sense of style which was created for the first years of the industrial revolution and the baby-days of industrial design. Architects and designers strived to produce products that could be made by machines and that would help create welfare, equality and a political foundation for democracy. They created works that celebrated the poor possibilities of the available machinery. In this period bending metal tubes and cutting wood with a machine were considered small miracles. Designers created products that were easy to manufacture but difficult to communicate to an audience which was used to beautiful, crafted, ornamented objects.
Unfortunately this once interesting quest became a stylistic dogma which is still today controlling the works of design. The industry is far more capable of creating great fantastic products but we still follow the traditional dogma and we don't use the industry's full potential. We still feel the need to make things easy, economic, functional and simple instead of inspiring and brilliant (just imagine this would be the qualities of a gift you get from your lover). When I finished school I started understanding that our public perhaps was not so much interested in our so well-engineered works because it wasn't meaningful enough to them and they were looking for more inspirational media. They were just not so interested in our ancient (design) philosophy and they wanted more out of life.
If I look into the hearts of people, sometimes I can sense what they dream of. If I talk to them I can understand their needs. Their need for surprise, for security, for contribution and growth, for individuality and familiarity. Humanity creates an endless flow of illusions and hope.
So many girls want to be beautiful princesses or flying elves, so many boys want to feel cunning knights or wise kings. Why don't we make it our goal to realize those dreams, contribute deeply to the lives of others and ourselves in the meantime. We are allowed to speak the universal language of design which can be an inspiration to so many if we find the right words to speak.
It is our responsibility to be magicians, to be jesters, to be alchemists, to create hope where there is only illusion, to create reality where there are only dreams. We cannot work for the company who pays us, we have to work for our public and create great value for them, we can no longer use humanity to serve technology, we have to use technology to serve humanity.
- Marcel Wanders.
Above image: Marcel Wanders famous head shot wearing his iconic Nose Necklace.
