Being an architect

Designing for public is always a challenge. Be it a railway station, a cashier desk in a bank, a scooter parking area, a public library,  a round-about in a busy street,   or a pub, we cannot judge the design until it is used by the intended users for a specific period of time. Its very easy for designers to get carried away by the opportunity of creating something which is noticed by a large spectrum of users. We often try to "design" it such that it stands out and calls for attention. Seth Godin observes the process of designing public interfaces in general in his blog . First, do no harm--three rules for public interfaces When we think of design, we usually imagine things that are chosen because they are designed. Vases or comic books or architecture... It turns out, though, that most of what we make or design is actually aimed at a public that is there for something else. The design is important, but the design is not the point. Call it "publi...

We all are familiar with wrappers. It comes in all forms. There is a chance that you recognize a product mostly by the wrapping. You may want to disagree. But, honestly, many a time you buy the wrapper and not the product. You paid Rs 300 for the music CD that you bought last week. Now, it is very unlikely that you will pay that amount to just few songs once the labeled CD and its beautiful cover is removed. You may still take the music, but you may not buy it. You are most likely to open and read through a document arrived on your desk in a FedEx envelop than one received through mail though the content could be perfectly conveyed through a mail. A FedEx envelope has made the document look more important. Surely, the wrapping has done the difference.                LETS BUY THE WINE, AND NOT THE BOTTLE