Any design medium can be influenced by holistic methods. Holistic simply means looking at the whole of a project and allowing the sum of its parts to kinda get along, to create practices and designs that make the whole more beautiful and well for the person or persons your considering.
Here at HDC, we honor those methods and practices by getting them out to the public, giving our followers access to the most innovative resources online from our community of designers and creators.
Holistic design goes beyond problem solving to incorporate all aspects of the ecosystem that a product is used in. It is concerned with aesthetics, sustainability, spirituality and other aspects of “wants” rather than “needs”. While it is most commonly employed in architecture with a little thought it can be adapted to any form of product or service design.
Not every project a designer works on will have holistic design considerations but it’s worth being aware of this concept for when the occasion or opportunity arises. It’s holistic design which supports Issey Miyake’s assertion that “Design is not for philosophy – it’s for life.” —Holistic Design Foundation