Why design?

British people love to shop. Fact. Whether we have enough money or not is a secondary thought for some people. So what's the first thing that goes through your mind when your out and about?

Well to answer this question, we have to ask ourselves. When we're in a shop, we see things we like, decide we want it, then look at the price and negotiate how we can afford to get the item, even if it means sacrificing other things.

It's this stage that's the most difficult. When a new product comes out, such as the iPod touch, or a new fancy laptop or mobile phone, we admire the product for what it looks like, what it can do and how well it'll match our personalities or dress sense.

Apple now create their iPods in a variety of different colours. Pink for the more feminine people, blue for the more "boy-racer" people, silver for the trendy people and now even black with the iPod touch for those who want to flash their cash. So why are we more willing to spend our money on products that look good as well as perform well?

There's several answers to this, firstly, the recession is a time where people don't have as much money and therefore it's now more socially important than ever to get these products to make us look rich and well off, as if the recession isn't bothering or affecting you in anyway. Secondly, we're willing to pay more as we have confidence and trust in certain companies. When we're investing in a laptop for example, we trust that Dell will create a well made machine that will do exactly what we want and well. As do we trust Apple to create MP3 players that sound great and look funky.

But why do we want these products to do more for us than just function properly? It's all very well having a laptop or mobile phone that runs fast and makes calls and texts, but that's not why we pay £300 and over. If we wanted a phone that did just that, we could get one that costs around £20. However, we invest so much into these gadgets because they look great and to be seen with the latest object of desire is sure to boost your street credibility. There's a growing pressure upon us as consumers to invest into these gadgets as they can do so much for us, and by pushing this, we invest into what we believe will make our lives easier and more convenient.

The companies who make phones, such as Nokia, are always telling us that you basically can't live without it. For example, the new N96 has satellite navigation tools built in, and Nokia are able to promote this as "you'll never get lost again" which is virtually telling us that we DO get lost and that THIS phone will stop that happening. What did we used to do when we get lost? Either get out a map or go ask someone, which is a much cheaper option of course. However, Nokia are saying that you no longer need to do that as it's all included in this one phone, alone with the usual calculator, calender, camera, sound recorder, music player, address book, mobile television etc.