Out of the blue, my DH sent me an email this morning:  

"Our friends at the Art Institute of Portland are having an Open House on Saturday (9.13) afternoon starting at 11am until 2pm. Their mission is to help you develop your artistic ideas into abilities and your passion into a creative career. Students can earn a Bachelor’s degree with a major in 1 of 16 creative programs AND…you can even minor in sustainability! To get you started on your way to being the next Art Institute of Portland student click here and tell us what design means to you for a chance to win a $1000 scholarship! Don’t forget to swing by the Open House on Saturday for a tour, chat with instructors and check out the life of an Art Institute of Portland student." 

Golly, they sure do make it sound like fun, don’t they?

But what was my first reaction?  Terror.

Seriously.  I was actually terrified.  It took me a minute to figure out just what it was that was striking me, but it was in fact terror.  Because this is something that I would absolutely love to do.

I’ve been happier in the past five years of not-engineering than I ever was in five years of engineering school, or the 11 years of working in high-tech.  I’ve all but concluded that I really should have gone to Iowa State, where I would have been able to easily change my major from engineering to art or fashion design — although my dad would’ve killed me.  And I could have had some actual fun in college, too.  However — had I not been working in high-tech, I would probably never have even met DH, and besides, it’s far too late for all that now… right?

Well, I’m no chicken when it comes right down to it, so this is what I ended up submitting.  Let’s see if either of you can figure out just which recent knitting project I am alluding to in my 250-words-or-less (247 words, actually): 

As an engineer, I learned “design” means “efficiency”: if something is well-designed, it does what it is supposed to do, without waste or extra effort. In that world, appearance is secondary — although I find there is a definite beauty in watching something or someone perform efficiently. My mother loved to watch professional ballet dancers because they “made it look so easy.” Observing anyone who really knows what they are doing is fascinating.

Five years ago, I quit my engineering career to live in the world of fiber arts. I learned that “design” in this world is often considered to be only about appearance: anyone thinks they have “designed” a knitted item just by drawing a sketch. This cheapens the term “design”. To have an idea is one thing — to successfully translate a concept into a beautiful reality still requires knowledge and expertise, and these cannot be faked. Poor execution of the design work will permanently and irrevocably disfigure even the best concept. 

Truly elegant “design” combines both of these aesthetics: function and beauty. But if one has to be sacrificed, then function trumps form every time. A well-designed tool is still well-designed, even if it is aesthetically ugly; if it does the job well, it is still beautiful, though in a different sense. It is beautiful because the skill and talent of the designer show in the finished item. To borrow a quote from a friend: “a novel idea is exciting, but execution is everything.”
 

Thanks for the perfect finisher, Patricia — I told you I was going to use that!