For me, design is best described as a process that turns a curious ‘Maybe?’ into a determined ‘Maybe!’, which means that it takes curiosity and courage to try and create new things, but one shouldn't succumb to the misconception that you will actually solve a problem. There is always uncertainty about the effects a product will have in the world. This whole idea of the designer as problem solver seems rather outdated to me. As a designer, you create offers, you make suggestions, and in the big picture, you should be aware of the long-term transience of your work, and that you always change far more than you seek to change – eventually yourself. The things we design, they design us back. Thus, I try to create things that are as open as possible, that encourage freedom of use and appropriation. I try to design opportunities rather than oppressions, possibilities rather than prescriptions. I hope that what I design is not the conclusion of design, but the beginning of further design by others.
Dustin Jessen
Credit: Dominik Antoni