On Design Alienation

As a creative activity,design is closely related to the development of human society and plays an important role in coordinating and improving the relationship between human and nature,society and self.Modern design is evolving and developing with the task and demand of machine batch production.It is undeniable that there are many excellent designs that help people solve various inconveniences in life,but there are also many designs that are controlled by business and capital,from seeking happiness for human beings to becoming a kind of alien force that influences,dominates and rules against human beings,and the problem of design alienation arises from this.Design alienation is not only a problem of the design profession itself,but a comprehensive reflection of the cultural,social,ecological and ethical issues of an era.Based on this,this paper will promote the research of design alienation based on the existing theoretical achievements in the academic circle,try to sort out and build the theoretical framework of design alienation research,clarify the logical relationship between various types of design alienation thought,and the multiple roots of design alienation,and explore a feasible governance path of design alienation from the perspective of the main responsibility.This paper first extends the concept of design alienation from the essence of design.Originally,design was to build a new,harmonious and symbiotic life world through the externalization of subject consciousness and purposeful practical activities.However,under the consumer culture and people’s desire and demand,design went astray,and the purpose of design became a commercial means,controlling and hindering the development of human society.By sorting out the formation and evolution of alienation thought,three philosophical criticisms of design alienation are generated under the guidance of Marx’s labor alienation,Frankfurt School’s technological alienation and artistic alienation,which serve as the important theoretical support of this paper.Based on the theoretical criticism of design alienation,combined with the alienation phenomenon in design,it can be summarized as subject alienation,function alienation and aesthetic alienation.In the aspect of subject alienation,the design subject is subject to the capital market and the demand of mechanical production,which leads to the dissolution of the status of the design subject,the weakening of self-consciousness and the rupture of the practice process.Functional alienation is manifested in that function is placed above human logic,which leads to formalization of use function,cognitive dysfunction and surfacing of innovative function.In terms of aesthetic alienation,the artistic aesthetics that originally served users evolved into a market strategy and consumption behavior,overflowing with the materialization characteristic of "money oriented design".From the type of design alienation,three characteristics of design alienation are further deduced: capitalization,over technology and anti humanity.In the capital market oriented design activities,design is reduced to a means of increasing price,which makes the design thinking capitalized,the design existence commercialized and the design field consumptive.The technology that originally realized the design intent has degenerated into an active and offensive concept,and the design activities that overused technology have become replicas on the assembly line,forming an automated and structured design methodology.The dependence on technology eventually leads to the loss of criticism,and ultimately leads to the reversal of man and object,the tension between man and society,and the alienation between man and nature.In retrospect of modern design,under the influence of enlightenment reason,design has been trying to find the balance between technology and art from the social revolutionary movement,but gradually moved towards design reason.The lack of value rationality makes the decision makers around design become more powerful,the design makers become more utilitarian,and the users become more desirous.The separation of instrumental rationality and value rationality in design is reflected in the symbolic control of symbols,the meaning of images and the abuse of cultural power in design performance.The occurrence of alienation is ultimately human alienation.The governance of design alienation needs to guide the subjects related to design activities to the right track.The most effective way to effectively curb design differentiation is to establish a correct responsibility ethics by dividing the responsibilities of designers,society,enterprises and the government.