Our visit with Giovanni Lauda was incredible enlightening. His journey to and through Rotaliana helped demystify a little portion of design for me. Per usual, it also made me question, or at least put into perspective my journey. Although I knew for a fact he works for a company, but something about him felt independent. A type of freedom I think all designers hope to be trusted with. Besides working at a company, he also teaches at a university. His talk about going to architecture school for six years got me thinking about the “path.” The one I thought I needed to follow. Then I got to thinking that I am going to be a junior next semester. And then I got to thinking of all the topics and fields I would like to learn about since being on this study abroad. I think, as a year of new beginnings (or at least a semester of new beginnings) I would really like to get more involved with the Austin scene of all types of design, and maybe make it a class thing that all design majors could be a part of.
After visiting enough design oriented companies, it was fully apparent that the companies put a substantial focus on research. Especially when one of your biggest competitors is within driving distance of your main headquarters, research is one of the definite ways of having a unique product. Maybe I am naive but I think one of the most untapped markets I’ve seen this week is the need based one. I don’t want to sound unimpressed, the strides Artemide and Kartell have made to move towards the future is nothing but impressive, but I think this trip has made me aware of what type of design I would like to be a part of. I think an interesting project for both companies could be how to use their platforms to solve some of the problems of the average Italian. With most of the material research already done, I can’t image there would be a big jump from applying that information to the problems that the average italian faces. Kartell began their company trying to attack these issues but has changed its focus in its most recent years. I thought this could be a good food-for-thought exercise to see if I could find a connection between the work that companies like Kartell and Artemide are doing and problems that have not been fully addressed as expressed by the Italian people. This also makes me think about my personal projects I have either already done or are planning to do and reevaluate how much of an impact it is making on its target audience. I think this is something I will think about for a project after this study abroad is over.