The Meaning of Products

Lately, I have been wondering about the relationship between products and people. I have also been investigating how branding plays a role in our society and peoples everyday lives. I think that the reaction a product receives is heavily influenced by branding. I believe through branding a product can be viewed in a different way by consumers. A product that is made under a company or designer with a name already established has a better chance of receiving a controlled result. They have a reputation or built trust with consumers, that gives the buyer a sense of security. Security may limit consumer’s palette and curiosity of other brands and designers, but that is why customer loyalty exists.

However, I don't think that all interactions between products and people are influenced on branding. That is why new designers are being founded and new ideas a coming out. The fact that new designers can come into our society proves that the "new" is having some impact on people that can create a language between the "new" product and an individual or group of individuals.

I do believe that designers old and new, who are able to survive in the world, are ones that have an understanding about the subconscious. They understand or have previous data (statistics, demographics, people’s real wants and needs) about people’s psyche and are able to predict an outcome. Because of this knowledge they are able to design a product that will most likely have a desirable outcome, but of course this outcome is not always desired. Even so, these successful designers have some better understanding than the majority. They are able evaluate and understand multiple levels of interface.

From my observations, I strongly believe that design has the power to effect or even control how a person can or cannot act. Any design will provoke some type of feeling in a person. I don’t think that a design is always interpreted in the way that they designer intended, but they is why opinions are formed and controversy is conceived. I think that in this “controversy” idea of ownership plays a big role. A person’s image/persona is something personal and something dear a one’s heart whether one likes it or not. It is their identity in the outside world and the “stuff” that they have is part of creating that identity. By owning that stuff they are expected by society or fellow consumers to behave in some manner. By stepping outside of those mannerisms one could possibly mar that image and the “stuff” that goes along with it.