Kill or Carrion
As a formally trained Designer I am often challenged by products that seem to be created in the complete absence of due process.
The greatest challenge is when you encounter fantastic design, most likely a product or article where the process has been rendered so transparent, that you have to consider whether the creation was purely intuitive, or so thorough that the design is fully resolved?
One of my favorite all time custom car creations is the Manta Ray by Dean Jefferies. This car is 100% KILL, fresh ideas, beautifully executed and resolved in cohesion with mechanical aspects of the car and the resources available to Dean Jefferies.
The idea of Kill over Carrion, is how I personally differentiate new design from adopted design.
As in nature, the Carrion is an easier mark, less effort, shorter path to satiation. To be comfortable with larceny becomes a habit and typically leaves more time for relaxation.
On the other hand a Kill can be risky, expose one to perils of the hunt, there is repeated likelihood of failure to complete. One can go hungry a long time if your DNA is programmed for KILL’s alone. The stress of not knowing where the next Kill will come from is a distraction that evolves into a pre-occupation, further reducing the chance of a kill…….
It’s pretty much 10 years since my last design Kill. By my own definition I have been living on Carrion for quite a while. Picking up scraps has left my design skills idling, pretty much like those without the skills to ever score a Kill.
I feel it’s time to sharpen ones instruments and search for a target.