Design Exploring different types of design and defining good designStudy / 2025 -
What Is Design?While organizing my previous work files, I found a document from 2021 that included my own definition of design. I defined design as a medium of communication with users. It’s because a designer creates something new by embedding their own thought for the sake of users. Those visualized ideas are conveyed to users through design. From this perspective, a user engaging with a design is essentially taking part in a process of communication with the designer, and design becomes the medium that facilitates this exchange.
Therefore, every design should contain a story. That story may be instructions for use, or it may reflect the design philosophy of the brand. The tone, the manner in which the story is told, can vary from designer to designer. But, the story must be communicated in a way that users can clearly understand, making true communication possible.
Oct 2025. Steve’s phrase “Think Different” doesn’t mean creating something odd. A design filled only with rebellion but lacking social contribution is not my style. When individuality becomes too dominant, it turns into art, not design. I believe design should evolve in step with changing social movements and the needs of its users.
Dec 2025. I totally agree with words of Jony, the former CDO at Apple.
“People confuse innovation with being different or breaking things. I have no interest in breaking things, because breaking things and moving on quickly leaves us surrounded by carnage.”
Small ThoughtsJan 2026. At one point, my goal was to create sustainable design. For me, sustainability is like a tree: one that is firmly rooted in a single place, yet meaningfully changes in how it appears in response to its surrounding environment. The roots (its philosophy) and the ground it is rooted in (the industry itself) remain stable. What changes is the form of design that emerges above ground, continuously reshaping itself in response to evolving technology, society, and human needs.
For example, a function may exist today within a mobile app’s interface. But if AR becomes the dominant medium in the future, that same function should evolve into a form suited for a spatial environment. More importantly, in AR, what matters most is that relevant information appears seamlessly within the right context. Therefore, it should not be bound to a single platform. Instead, it must exist at the level of functional units, capable of adapting its form according to context. This idea of sustainable design was once my most important philosophy.