We Don’t Belong to the Tools, They Belong to Us

When I was in design school, I really enjoyed learning new techniques to develop and present my designs. It started with my pursuit of mastering perspective and marker rendering before moving onto the airbrush a couple years later. In the latter ’80s and early ’90s, 3-D computer drawings were in their infancy in mainstream design and architecture – our college studio had just invested more than £100,000 in one of the latest silicon graphics computers and software. Two lucky students would get the opportunity to spend a handful of hours per term using these amazing and magical machines. The rest of us would miss out.

But coinciding with this was the advent of a powerful microcomputer, the Commodore Amiga. For a few hundred pounds I bought a computer that would allow me to create my own 3-D renderings. Imagine the astonishment, not from my fellow students, but from my tutors, when I turned up to the end-of-year presentation with a 3-D animation of my final year’s design.

Throughout my career, I have continued my love of new technologies in the development of retail design projects. Using sketch-up to sculpt the volumes of architectural space became second nature, studying structural models and sun curves using Revit is de facto.

Most modern design offices look more like trading floors than a creative collaborative environment, with screens and computers dominating the landscape and designers so often engaged in a solo computer task.  Today when a resume crosses our desks as creative leaders, we run down the checklist of required software’s, AutoCAD, check; Photoshop, check; Sketchup, check, etc. But increasingly, these days, I am drawn back to paper and pencil – granted, I am getting older, but this is not a luddite regression.

Over the years, I’ve noticed the correlation between thinking and the tool you’re using. I recently read an article in The Wall Street Journal about a study on computer use and its effects on learning and cognitive retention. A law professor carried out a study where he observed students during lectures from the back of the classroom. Students almost exclusively use laptops for note taking these days, and, not surprisingly, they were multitasking while attending the lectures. But what was interesting was how the use of computers and multitasking affected the thinking and memory of the students. Those who used computers – and were not multitasking – created very accurate notes, but when asked about the theories taught in the lesson, they were less able to explain them. They had become almost transcribers and were not participating in thinking about the subject nearly as much. Those that did use pen and paper created edited notes about the subject and theory, thinking and processing while writing. Multitasking, as expected, had an even more detrimental effect on focus and cognitive retention. Interestingly, students sitting near the multitasking student, also suffered from cognitive impairment and retention.   

There is something about the analog process – and this is proven in studies – that generates a more thoughtful and memorable process. We are free from the tool, free to think and create. Sketchup was a breakthrough 3-D software for many, it was one of the first 3-D programs that is simple and intuitive enough to use while allowing designers to think while they create.

In many ways, our design process tools have not changed, fundamentally, in decades. In simple terms, it could be argued that we now have digital pencils and digital production, and that the work of many is now in the hands of the individual. And we have building information modeling (BIM) and other so-called intelligent software, but I think we are on the cusp of a real revolution in our digital tools in the coming decades.

And I am not talking about 3-D printing or building information models. Software is beginning to “think” and artificial intelligence is being created for all kinds of uses. Robots are the here and now. Design software of the future could become more like a studio assistant, it will learn how you think, it will learn how you create. It will incorporate data streams to help you prove and affect the design. Software already exists that can visualize and apply architectural code to 3-D models, based on live data about the local municipality process and current approval statistics. And it will not just be our design tools: Materials are being developed at the atomic level to think, self-build and adapt.

I think, pun intended, it is time for designers to “re-learn” how to think, to evolve our process and methods for the upcoming 30 years. The technologies being developed and implemented today are starting to have the same effect on service industries, for example Uber and Amazon, which have changed manufacturing and eliminated many jobs. Thinking is the designer’s unique skill, and the tool should not define us or our work.

The first question I ask now in an interview, “Show me how you think.”

As a new creative director for retail at dash design, Peter Burgoyne has built a reputation for elevating retail design by combining disparate elements into a cohesive, strategic vision. His passion for technology and drive to make the retail experience powerful, memorable and results-driven has allowed him to work with clients such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Tumi, Kenneth Cole, Lord & Taylor, Duane Reade, Printemps, Shinsegae and Holt Renfrew, to name a few. Peter’s background in industrial design also allows him to take a holistic approach to design and view opportunities through “different lenses.” It also keeps him laser-focused in his journey to answer the question: “Is there a better way of doing this?” Burgoyne is a member of VMSD’s Editorial Advisory Board.