Green Design

Today as I was browsing design.org, a particular link caught my eye "Interior Design: Recycled Lamp Shades". I consider myself an environmentalist and my main interest in design is interior architecture, so the title was intriguing enough. The page contained pictures of several different lamps made by using recycled items such as bottle caps and beach balls. Each lamp is very different from the others, but they all look excellent in their respective rooms. Despite the fact that they were made from reused items, each lamp looked somewhat expensive, as if it could be bought in some fancy downtown boutique.

Although this act of using recycled items to design something new is not completely new, the post was still very interesting and pleasing for me to read. It reminded me of the vast spectrum of products design has to offer, virtually infinite possibilities. Design is not simply how something looks or even what it does; design is also the process of getting there. It is the concept and resources used to arrive at this final product. Design can be utilized to encompass not only ideas of style and function, but also art, emotion, resourcefulness, innovation and just about anything the designer wishes to include. I think that is what really makes a great designer, someone who sees design as not a destination but a process, and someone who is open to including in that process just about anything that sparks the imagination, and produces a real thought.


Featured lamp: Made with recycled film slides by Sabina Batelman.