Michael DiTullo | What do you design for?

With three days to go before the conference, the question “What do YOU design for?” is more pertinent than ever and my conversations with designers throughout the country are just getting started. The theme of the Northeast District Conference to be held at the Rhode Island School of Design this Friday and Saturday, What do you design for? asks designers to truly question why it is they wake up each morning and what motivates them to make, create, invent, and do what they want.

This week I spoke with Michael DiTullo (RISD ID ’98), posing him this question and asking him what incites him to design. If you’ve ever responded to “Yo!” on the core77 website, you’ve interacted with DiTullo, who is currently a contributor, moderator, and producer for the site, as well as the Creative Director at Frog Design. An advocate for design and a mentor for others, DiTullo often returns to RISD advising them to sketch often and consider how their objects fit in the culture and will years from now. Below is his response to “What do you design for?”

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Design isn't something I do, it is really who I am. That reads like a horrible cliché. It is a bit hard to explain in anyway that does not seem completely off the nerd scale, but if I could spend all of my time imagining, thinking, and materializing what tomorrow might be, I would... as it is I probably spend 90% of my waking hours in that state. A fact my wife, Kristina, also a RISD alum, could attest to. I guess my secret is that I first and foremost do it for myself. As a designer I try to solve problems for potential users, I take the concerns of industry seriously so that we can get those solutions to their intended users, and I consider the impact on our culture, but I also believe before I can get to any of all of that, I have to want to do it for myself. Before i start anything I ask myself, "is this going to end in something I will be proud of?" I used to call it the refrigerator test... would I want my mom to hang this on the refrigerator? 

I'm passionate about putting meaning into the material world. Think of an engagement ring. Once for ounce, there are few objects as expensive as an engagement ring. It has no hard drive, no 4g connection, no moving parts, and yet I can’t think of another object that has a higher amount of meaning per ounce. It is the physical embodiment of a promise, of a relationship. It is a tribal indicator to all who see it and a reminder to the wearer. Few gestures mean more than putting on an engagement ring. Imagine if more objects had 1/10 of the meaning of that band of metal? 

What incites me to design? What doesn't? Design is the ability to see what is wrong with the world coupled with the desire and skill to do something about it. Everywhere I look there is something that incites me to design.... 

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What do you design for?

Carly Ayres is an undergraduate student at the Rhode Island School of Design, student representative to the Industrial Design department, and co-founder of RISD-ID.ORG.

Image source: MichaelDiTullo.com.