Doing a little “pipe dream” thinking this morning. Must be the pipe fitter gene I have ‘cause I don’t smoke. 

Just thinking how good it feels to be able to design from scratch and make custom things that never existed. 

It’s the reason I built up my machine shop with all its tools. The reason I do Lost Wax Casting. Make things from wood. Do LASER engraving and cutting. Did I mention all the 3D printing?

It’s all creative art. I have also dabbled with art drawing and art painting. The tangible dimensional real object creation is what I enjoy the most. 

I like the old school design where extra time is spent in making functional things artistic. Pure function like Shaker furniture is a style. But a curved table leg has a lot more aesthetic appeal.

Much of the old school cast iron (CI) was cast with details unnecessary for pure function. A lot of the CI design effort included the artistic flair.

Perhaps the time spent with fancy design became a frivolous waste of time and materials as the industrial age advance into the “production” age. 

Pure plain function was cheaper to mass produce without attractive details. 

There is always a place for details. The beauty has always been in the details, as the old maxim states.

My opinion is the hidden bits and pieces of product design can certainly be pure design for function. But they don’t HAVE to be. Hidden detail is a signature of the designer. Its a sign of attention to all details. 

An individual craftsperson, especially one “retired” from profit motive such as me, can spend the time and effort on these details without higher management reprisal. WE are the higher management of our own time, money, and effort. (grin)

A direction I like to look with design is where I can add a bit of flair, just because I can. Going beyond pure function. For me, that’s what I enjoy. Being a bit different. 

I think I wouldn’t make a good minimalist.…