De-sign of the Times: What ‘Designer’ Really Means

It’s a term that gets thrown around constantly. Designer bags. Designer furniture. Designer sneakers. But what does it actually mean?

Is it just about the name attached to it? The price tag? Or is there something deeper?

True design is more than a label. It’s the refinement of form, the balance of proportion, weight, and detail. It’s how materials and finishes work together to create something that feels intentional. The best designs don’t just exist - they fit. They feel inevitable, like they were always meant to be that way.

This was on full display at the Things in Themselves exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which showcased the work of Naoto Fukasawa. His designs don’t demand attention. They don’t try to impress you. Instead, they just work - so well that you almost don’t notice them at all.

Fukasawa’s whole approach is about making objects so intuitive they disappear into everyday life. Whether it’s a perfectly contoured rice cooker, a seamless ±0 humidifier, or the classic MUJI CD player, his work proves that designer doesn’t have to mean loud, flashy, or exclusive. Instead, it’s about designing something that feels so natural, so right, that it becomes part of the background. That’s the difference between design for design’s sake and design with real intent.

Good design has a point of view. It’s not just about how something looks but how it’s experienced. The way a chair supports the body. The way a watch feels in your hand. The way a gaming mouse becomes an extension of movement. Fukasawa’s work is a reminder that thoughtful design isn’t about decoration - it’s about solving problems in a way that feels effortless, like it couldn’t have been designed any other way.

So when we call something designer, are we actually recognizing the craft behind it? Or are we just using a word that doesn’t mean much anymore? Because real design isn’t about the logo stamped on it - it’s about the thinking that shaped it.