Design: The Invention of Desire

by Jessica Helfand

A compelling defense for the importance of design and how it shapes our behavior, our emotions, and our lives

Design has always prided itself on being relevant to the world it serves, but interest in design was once limited to a small community of design professionals. Today, books on “design thinking” are best sellers, and computer and Web-based tools have expanded the definition of who practices design. Looking at objects, letterforms, experiences, and even theatrical performances, award-winning author Jessica Helfand asserts that understanding design's purpose is more crucial than ever. Design is meaningful not because it is pretty but because it is an intrinsically humanist discipline, tethered to the very core of why we exist. For example, as designers collaborate with developing nations on everything from more affordable lawn mowers to cleaner drinking water, they must take into consideration the full range of a given community’s complex social needs. Advancing a conversation that is unfolding around the globe, Helfand offers an eye-opening look at how designed things make us feel as well as how—and why—they motivate our behavior.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Art Design, Philosophy, Business, Art

228 pages, Hardcover

First published April 26, 2016

About the author

Jessica Helfand is a designer, artist, and writer. Educated at Yale University, where she has taught for more than twenty years, she is a cofounder of Design Observer and the author of numerous books on visual and cultural criticism. The first Henry Wolf Resident at the American Academy in Rome, Helfand has been a Director's Guest at the Civitella Foundation and a fellow at the Bogliasco Foundation. She will be the artist in residence at the California Institute of Technology in the winter of 2020.

Reviews

[Tim Belonax · Rating 5 out of 5]

Few contemporary designers write as thoughtfully and eloquently as Jessica Helfand. From the book’s structure through its execution, it exemplifies a high level of thought without being alienating. I look forward to her next book.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peguei esse livro digital para ler porque ele parecia trabalhar sobre desejo no design. E realmente trabalha, mas não da forma como eu esperava. A autora trabalha em 12 capítulos temas que envolvem o design como Melancolia, Humildade, Identidade, Mudança, Memória, Desejo e alguns outros. Meus favoritos foram o de memória e identidade por motivos de serem os mais próximos dos meus estudos de mestrado. Embora eu tenha estudado Design Gráfico na graduação e na especialização, eu quase sempre penso design como apenas a parte gráfica, e não penso no design de produtos, de materiais, de s superfície e tantos outros. A verdade é que o design está por toda nossa existência. Jogos têm design. Histórias têm design. Este texto tem um design, uma estrutura. Assim, eu imagino que a mensagem que a autora quer produzir com seu livro seja a de que já que tudo contém design, o papel do designer é acentuar essas características utilitárias e estéticas do objeto para que este nos traga uma sensação de desejo, de posse, seja ela pelos mais variados motivos explicados nos 12 capítulos deste livro. Contudo eu senti falta de uma objetividade maior no texto. Estrutura e design ele tem. Mas não encontrei a funcionalidade.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there's a pair of Achilles heels that too many designers possess it's a lack of self-reflection and skins that are way too thin. Jessica Helfand's book is a honest and sobering reflection on the state of being a designer today that asks the hard questions we should have been grappling with all along. If you want to teach a design studio course that contends as much with ethics and context as it does form and content, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more perfect road map than Helfand's book.

But this isn't a dire or depressing tome. Far from it. Designers willing to humbly go along on this 12-chapter journey with open and inquisitive minds should feel empowered and enlightened by its end. It's smartly written, but never rarefied or academic. My only criticism is that it's so good I'm now afraid to write anything of my own on the subject for fear of it being inadequate by comparison.

[Amelia Leicht · Rating 5 out of 5]

I return to this book by Jessica Helfand constantly. It was assigned for one of the very first classes in my MFA at SCAD, and my original copy is marked up, dog-eared, referenced and cross-referenced to the point that I've purchased a "clean" copy to lend out. It's referenced in very nearly every project I've completed towards my degree, it's that important to my mindset and philosophy.

It's not a quick or easy read - at times dense, heavy, esoteric or ethereal - but Helfand's command of language paints striking, confronting pictures of the way we think about design, and in turn how design has made us think. With time, reflection, and meditation, this book became the basis of how I consider my field, my role in it, and the field's role in our world.

[spike シ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this at work during a Christmas gift exchange, and apparently it was intended by the giver for somebody else. he was trying to impress some chick but I somehow ended up with it. So I gave the little love note card inside (it was a Peanuts with Snoopy on it) to the girl but kept the book heh heh. I always put it on display every time I see them (even on zoom calls) as a reminder of how I really brought them together.

Jessica's writing about some very interesting shit in here. Shit we need to hear, about design in life, culture, and our information spaces we inhabit. sometimes in this day and age we need people who walked the walk to talk their talk, and this is it. Get it, read it, apply it.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a lot of complicated feelings about this book. A fascinating read with amazing, captivating writing...but at times felt like a New York Times Op-Ed. If I proceed with the thesis I'm thinking of, it'll greatly contradict half of this book. It's not that I can't see Helfand's point of view; it's that I can't stop thinking of how there are possible answers worth investing in. So I guess, in a way, it did what I think it was written to do – motivate designers into introspection and retrospection.

[Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty fond of this book. Definitely a thicker read and will be reading it a second time in the coming months. Super intriguing points within its chapters, as someone who is basing their life on design this book is some fresh air.

[Brian Kovesci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in preparation for a guest lecture the author will be delivering tonight.

This is a very intriguing collection of thought experiments regarding design in the contemporary world.

[Olivia Escobedo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teeth in handbag

[Carly Antor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because it was more a philosophical design book which is not my regular read. I read this book before meeting the author, Jessica Helfand at a conference and I'm glad I took the time to read something out of my norm.

[alex ✨]

this was really interesting but I think I would need to reread it to get a better grasp of what’s being argued. it's a bit too abstract at times.