Design Is

Shopify and Dribbble have teamed up for a rebound challenge that asks designers to define what design is to them. Check out https://dribbble.com/shots/1650934-Design-is-Official-Shopify-Dribbble-Playoff for all the details.

This is a personal submission that I created for fun. To me, there are many things that define what design is. Instead of trying to list those, I decided to take it in the opposite direction and describe what design is not.

I wanted it to be tongue-in-cheek and I wanted it to require some thought. Likely inspired by the redesigns I've been involved with lately, I found myself thinking of the term "lipstick on a pig" - an expression that conveys how prettying up a thing or "product" does not change or hide the nature of it. In other words, the product is not made better purely due to cosmetic adjustments and design is more than making something pretty.