If we didn’t accept the conventions of design, would our design, still be design?

If we didn’t accept the conventions of design, would our design, still be design?

Allow your design to destroy rationalism by combining the conscious and unconscious realms of human experience to create an almost surreal visual experience.

Your body jolts in absolute terror as the ground below your feet crumbles away beneath you, as your body starts falling at a rapid pace. You wake up gasping for air as if your lungs have been deprived of air for several whole minutes. Your heart rate begins to slow down as your body slowly comes to terms with your consciousness. The reason your body fears your subconscious sleep-like state so much, is because when you sleep you have no control, your subconscious takes over and you lose all control, accepting everything as you become a victim of your own mind.

You feel relieved to know that it was just a dream as you slowly close your eyes, once again slipping into a deep slumber. Your logic slowly begins to dissolve as your subconscious begins to take possession of your body. You find yourself standing on an unfamiliar beach with no recollection of how you got there. The water is a bright fuchsia colour, you don’t question this strange phenomenon, instead you gracefully walk up to the vibrant liquid, embrace it in your cupped hands and drink it. Suddenly it starts to rain. Babies, babies everywhere, babies falling from the sky- how will you look after all these babies you ask yourself as you start to panic, you don’t have enough money to look after all these babies, but that’s okay you have plenty of carrots and who needs money when you have carrots? You pick up a baby and your world starts to turn, suddenly you’re being chased, chased by nuns. You start to shoot them one by one, where did that gun come from? Why are you killing innocent nuns? You can’t stop, it has to be done. You run into a wall, “Ouch”, it says, a talking wall. You turn around to discover your six year old sister giving birth, you happily give her your blessing and continue swimming away from the shark that’s been chasing you, it viciously bites your left arm as you laugh hysterically taking it home to put in your fish tank. You look down at your Victorian ball gown and back up at your crush who you met at a book store three days ago, happily responding with an, “I do”, you’re eighteen years old and married, you’re ecstatic. Just at the height of your happiness you hear the sound your body knows only to well, the sound of reality as your subconscious starts to fade away and your logic begins to take over. Bordering on the verge of consciousness your arm stretches towards your bedside table as your hand grabs your alarm clock, turning it off with speed. Suddenly you’re in control, you have a conscience, you have choices. We live in a world that is governed by rules and conventions. In the world of design no one is an individual, designers feed off a cycle of repeated trends and fads resulting in designs that are no longer unique but expected. In order to see a change in the world of design, designers need to give into the vulnerability of design and let their subconscious reign free, only then will we see a new, interesting juxtaposition of old and new, freedom and individuality. Designers need to let go of their sanity and explore a world of design that hasn’t been tapped into, a world where there is less control and more expression. Design shouldn’t be followed, but challenged. Design shouldn’t be accepted, but questioned. If we didn’t just accept the conventions of design, would our design still be design?