The Great PDT Debate!

Design is for men by men. Women are not properly represented in design.

A statement that me and Philly Deegan were put to the task to fight against this. Quarantine made this debate a bit more difficult to do but using big blue button we were able to give our points clearly and effectively with little interference. Our opposition for this debate was John Christy and Niamh Barry who clearly put in the work and raised excellent points and really made me and Philly think about our points much more.

In my opinion I took this statement as current times that women are well represented as there are a much smaller group but they get and deserve all the praise they are given but just because there is less women in design doesn’t mean they are not well represented. Nothing stops these women from going into the world of design just how nothing stops a man from going into the Makeup industry there just simply isn’t equal numbers so the stats on the little women in design is a bit misunderstood in my opinion.

Anyways here is a little snippet of what our debate script was

A statement like this should be deemed irrelevant that in fact the design world should be portrayed without defining genders. When languages were created they put genders on the objects making them masculine, feminine or neutral. In today’s world the fact that a boat or a car etc is referred to as a she or that in the German language die Schule is the school which represents a feminine object. It doesn’t make sense cos its gender doesn’t have any relevancy to the actual object.

Women are well represented in design currently. We can all agree that women have not been well represented in the past but due to the increase in popularity design is becoming a more balanced and equal platform for anyone who has a bright idea that could change the way we think. Figures like Apple icon designer Susan Kare and architect Zaha Hadid are two names that have changed the design world for the better. Susan Kare was a graphic designer who was one of the main designers for the apple mac. This is a revolutionary piece of equipment as it is used worldwide as one of the higher tier products in the computer and laptop industry. Zaha Hadid was an architect who was the founder of Hadid architecture. She ended up being awarded with the Stirling award in 2011, which is one of the highest awards that architects are given.

From a quick look online, we have found that in NCAD between 2015-2016 there were 72 females and 45 males in the design building. With a ratio of 18 females and 13 males graduating from the visual communication department which is a key element to have when presenting your designs. This highlights the change in times as women are now more respected and represented in this industry.

As product design students, if we really appreciate design in all its form and beauty why should we care whether it’s designed by male or female? Why can’t we as civil human beings just stand back and applaud the genius behind a piece of art, architecture or a sketch or a wonderful manufacture no matter what gender, race, religion or sexual orientation? This is a concerning topic that features in aspects of today’s world other than design.