Pink's Chapter Four - Design

Earlier I spoke about how school systems might have a greater graduation rate if curriculums were designed to meet the students’ interest. It would seem CHAD - the Charter High School of Architecture and Design - is such a system. The school has taken students that belong to a group at high risk for dropping out of school and enrolling them in a curriculum leaning toward their interests. This has caused 95 percent of the students to attend classes daily, whereas in other Philadelphia schools, only 63 percent of the students attended classes daily.

In this chapter, Pink asks us to look at and observe all the manmade things that surround us, and to think about how they have been designed. Many people take all these designs for granted, and many may also be under the illusion that anyone can create a good design. I think everyone would come to better appreciate good design and not take it for granted if we could experience a Twilight Zone episode where all rewarding designs have been replaced with mundane ones. (It would be impossible to eliminate all design.)

Pink, in the section Design Means Business/Business Means Design, touches on how successful companies that are known for having good designs set their products above their competion. Good designs can help to sell products even if the products are more expensive.

In the Designing Our Future section, Pink points out that hospitals are improving patient care by adding more natural light to their buildings. I agree. From my hospital experiences, I believe that windows in recovery rooms can improve patients’ attitudes, helping them to recover. However, I think Pink should have added how artwork displayed throughout the hospitals could also benefit the patients’ mental health. The Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital in North Atlanta is a good example. Children’s art can be found everywhere, making their time in the building more pleasant and enriching. Adult hospitals can do the same.