Design Vs Curate

Today, a lot of creative professions have a tight relationship between the principles of curation and design. When creating works and collections, practitioners in the fields of art, fashion, digital experiences, and content production strive to strike a balance between intentional design decisions and careful curation. However, what distinguishes curating something from designing it exactly? Is it more of a spectrum or a thin line? Analyzing the link between these vital creative jobs has become more relevant as the position of "curators" grows in our culture.

Fundamentally, to design something is to intentionally plan and shape its form, structure, content, and features with an end goal or intended consequence in mind. Design is the process of ideation and creation. The process of carefully choosing, arranging, and presenting already-existing objects in order to contextualize them, shed light on them, and produce visually appealing arrangements or collections is known as curation. Curators use their judgment, subject-matter expertise, and sensibility to choose, arrange, and care for the objects on exhibit.

Whereas curators seek for, collect, and enhance pre existing concepts or works, designers generally create original concepts and material. While curation is more sensitive and grounded in research, design is often more imaginative and creative. One may argue that design is more aspirational, emphasising innovation and pushing limits. By arranging material and maximising situations, curation adds value in a more interpretative and responsive manner.

These responsibilities, of course, also meld together. Curatorial judgments are influenced by design choices and vice versa. They stand for many goals and ways of thinking that are used in creative processes to create compelling platforms, products, and experiences.

Instead of a clear-cut distinction between design and curation, there is really a continuum that extends from creative, expressive design at one extreme to academic, institutional curation at the other. Most creatives err on the side of one or the other, but they nevertheless incorporate elements of both.

For example, an artist painting in a wholly original style that pioneers a new genre would epitomise deliberate design, while a museum curator arranging artifacts and artworks into thought-provoking exhibits embodies curation. On the other hand, a fashion designer who sources vintage materials to incorporate into modern clothing takes an approach blending design and curation. A playlist creator who hand-picks and sequences songs by various artists to set a mood strikes this balance too.

Professionals in disciplines like user experience (UX) design work to create digital platforms that intelligently and meaningfully curate material for users. Here, curation is enabled by design. Similar to this, content strategists employ their curatorial expertise to create taxonomies, metadata schemas, and algorithms that tailor designs to individual users in order to maximise vast databases of media and information. Here, design is enabled by curation. The dynamic interplay between design and curation is seen in several creative disciplines.

Here are some detailed examples distinguishing design and curation across different creative fields:

Art

Artists that create original forms and styles via painting, sculpture, and drawing are the epitome of design. Curators of art devote a great deal of time and effort to choosing, examining, and placing already-existing artworks into museum exhibitions. However, in order to communicate ideas, many artists also organise their portfolios thematically. Curators might also commission new works that are inspired by existing pieces in a collection. Artists that create interactive installations create experiences, and some institutions are starting to display the curation process of art as art.

                                                            

                                                                                                                                               

                     Source: Ai generated                                                                                      Source:https://sothebysinstitute.com   

 

                            ART                                                                  CURATION

                                                                                                                                                    

Product Design 

Product designers focus their creativity on creating innovative products that meet the demands of consumers. However, the most popular goods combine elements and features in an appealing and straightforward manner. For instance, Steve Jobs was well known for fetishizing the selection of just one or two essential features for every Apple product and for ruthlessly removing any unnecessary components. In order to convey company identity, product packaging also strikes a balance between educational design and creative curation of textual, visual, and tactile elements.

                                                                          VS

              Source: https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/ 

             

                    DESIGNING                                                        CURATION(Branding)

Fashion Design

Haute couture designers use bold, avant-garde lines and shapes to convey a sense of absolute uniqueness. Nonetheless, hype-generating drops and capsules that purposefully under-curate inventory are what make streetwear labels like Supreme so appealing. Fast fashion stores, such as Zara, on the other hand, prosper on curating the newest trends with varying design quality. Astute stylists also combine high and low fashion items by curating unique outfits.

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           DESIGNING                                                                 CURATION(Styling)

Architects

Visionary architects such as Zaha Hadid create structures with previously unheard-of forms via sheer creativity. To establish their identity, signature styles select a few recurring elements from several projects. However, it's still essential to arrange floor plans to accommodate human requirements in addition to selecting procedures, textures, and sightlines that complement the surrounding urban fabric. Additionally, expressive movements and carefully chosen plants that fit the environment are balanced in landscape design.

Source: Ai generated                                                                                                          Source:https://tnbvietnam.edu.vn/                                                                                                                     

                   DESIGNING                                                               CURATION

Digital Experiences 

UX designers prioritise user objectives through testing as they conceive and prototype new app interfaces. However, in order to make these frames stick out, site content administrators control how looping streams of new materials are added. Expertly crafted playlists are prioritised by music streaming services like Spotify almost as much as their front-end design. In order to tailor experiences, community growth marketers are also aware of how to effectively aggregate user data through gamified tracks and onboarding routines.

    Source:https://medium.com/                                                                                                               Source: Ai generated                                                                              

                       DESIGNING                                                      CURATION(Customization)

             

Content Creation

Curating contributions and archives, editorial creatives create vines, movies, and tales centred around contemporary subjects. These days, Buzzfeed-style newsbrands gain market share more quickly by quickly curating and offering comments on viral material than by using original journalism. Even authors of books strike a balance between penning fresh pages for their manuscripts and carefully revising older portions to polish their style.

 Source: Ai generated  

                DESIGNING                                                      CURATION(Editing)

             

Music

During recording sessions, composers and musicians create brand-new song melodies, textures, and structures. However, after the fact, DJs craft the experiences of dancers by combining well-known songs into a smooth, high-energy trip. In a similar vein, annual festival lineups are revealed through poster reveals that prioritise carefully chosen band rosters over any graphic design. Even album tracklists use juxtaposition to weave songs into intricate stories that go beyond any one song.

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                        DESIGNING                                                                     CURATION

             

“The Rise of Curators and Designers  in the Creative Culture”

In fields including fashion, entertainment, journalism, and music, the roles and importance of "curators" have increased dramatically as curating has come to be acknowledged more explicitly as a talent and artistic activity in and of itself. From playlist creators to social media influencers, almost everyone involved in producing cultural material and consumer experiences nowadays appears to take on the moniker of "curator" in some way. What motivated this tendency, and what does it tell us about the priorities of the creative world today?

Some analysts note that the exponential increase in content volume and accessibility brought about by digitalization and online platforms corresponds with the expansion of curators. It is now essential for professionals to know how to break through the clutter, make connections, and present material for their audiences in an efficient manner since consumers of the internet are constantly being inundated with feeds and streams of content. These circumstances call for more curatorial awareness.

Furthermore, user experience principles inform us that an abundance of unstructured, unfiltered options frequently causes customers to become disengaged or feel overwhelmed rather than thrilled. As a result, rather than showcasing their complete inventory, businesses are assigning teams to carefully choose items. Similarly, shows rotate between well curated highlights rather than permanent sprawls as museum holdings grow.

The proliferation of "curators" in many businesses has had a profound effect on creative disciplines, as has the extension of design roles and thinking. The purposeful construction of customer and audience journeys has gained prominence due to the democratisation of sophisticated design technologies and the mainstreaming of user experience (UX) ideas. As users become accustomed to intuitive, fluid applications and websites, they have higher expectations for all products and touchpoints to demonstrate consistent design thinking. As a result, more companies are investing in design operations infrastructure and including designers in strategic deliberations.

Prominent internet businesses such as Airbnb, Netflix, and Uber extol the virtues of carefully crafted interfaces and experiences, rather than merely technical prowess, in driving their success. Their impact helps to spread the word about the need for chief design officers and other executives with experience in design. As firms realign themselves around comprehensive customer centricity, design soon starts to permeate every activity, from facilities management to HR.

"Designer" professions are proliferating outside of the software industry, into the finance, healthcare, government, and other sectors as both startups and established businesses focus more on superior design to help them stand out. An increasing number of consumer goods also display the designers' logo. In the end, curatorial positions and the growing discipline of design come together to create compelling, human-centred experiences. Astute companies deploy integrated design and curation capabilities on a large scale.

Some experts point out that the celebration of "curators" draws attention away from acts of pure artistic originality and toward interpretive activities of framing, placing, and linking artistic works. This gives greater room for voices and viewpoints other than those of a single designer or artist. Additionally, it appeals to audiences who are thirsty for deep metacommentary as well as fresh works.

Naturally, some designers feel bad about giving over control to curators because they think their meticulous curating would stifle radical artistic expression or divert attention from other artists. They argue that although curating satisfies our nostalgia, it also stifles the next great creative leaps that design inspires. Determining the ideal balance is a topic of discussion.

However, the popularity of curator positions nowadays indicates that people want compelling contextualization experiences in addition to stunning new creations. In addition to additional material, audiences want for help navigating the creative landscapes of plenty of options. In an environment of cultural wealth, this creates a fruitful interaction between curation and design.

Optimising the Design vs Curation Balance

When developing projects for their audiences, creators of all stripes—from directors of museums to founders of Internet startups—must consider how to balance curation with design. An excessive amount of design without careful framing can lead to confusion and mess. Overcuration that lacks creativity depresses. How can leaders effectively communicate?

Maintaining rigorous cycles of intended innovation together with inclusive curatorial review through feedback is crucial, even though formulae differ depending on the sector and kind of project. Well-rounded procedures acknowledge curation as artistic labour as well, not merely tidying up after the glitzy spark of design. Curatorial decisions should be supported by design decisions, which will further spark ideas.

Users' optimum contextual responses may be ascertained by using techniques such as A/B testing to explore different curatorial arrangements of design components. Big data and algorithms need us to assign machine systems curation responsibilities while maintaining human ethics and aesthetics at the centre of critically important creative decisions about what is viewed and highlighted. Design, data, and community feedback are all combined in responsible curation.

Better design-curation symbiosis also happens when teams include UX writers, architects, experience designers, and content strategists as creative equals alongside artists and designers. Dismantling status silos gives all jobs more authority. Overt power conflicts between "design genius" egos and "curatorial censors" disappear with inclusive leadership and consensus-building, allowing Ethos, Logos, and Pathos to intersect smoothly.

The following techniques and best practices may be used to many sectors to achieve the ideal balance between design and curation:

Platforms for Digital Media

Popular music and video streaming services like Spotify and YouTube place a strong emphasis on customization algorithms, which use design signals like viewing history and listening habits to automatically create content for users. However, problems with the quality control surface. The best approaches entail having in-house creative teams manually oversee featured content pods while also overlaying predictive AI curation on top. To fully utilise their talents, these creatives cooperate across editorial, data science, and design departments. Likes, ratings, and comments from the community are also included into platform designs to measure user response and enhance curatorial relevance.

Fashion Retailers

E-commerce frees up factors that previously restricted physical displays of specific inventory by brick-and-mortar fashion businesses. However, the internet's enormous, uncontrolled diversity overwhelms. Editorial curation teams, frequently with luxury credentials, are chosen by boutiques like TheRealReal to select editorial curatorial teams, often with luxury credentials, to hand-pick items fitting within thematic narratives around essentials, workwear basics, party dresses etc. These stories improve discoverability and serve as a guide for website design. In order to combine deliberate selection with expansive convenience, store ideas also strike a balance between showrooming whole ensembles and having a changing back catalogue accessible digitally.

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Portals for Knowledge Management

Knowledge bases, from online libraries to wikis at work, expand rapidly as a result of quick self-publishing. However, an abundance of data hinders usefulness. It is helpful to keep information architecture (IA) neat by using taxonomy design principles and metadata tagging. However, ongoing supervision by teams dedicated to content curation—who revise terminology, eliminate superfluous materials, and create guidelines for ordering—remains essential. AI recommendation algorithms help even more. Well-balanced procedures provide curators the authority to influence IA and highlight certain assets, while enabling subject matter experts to freely publish new content.

Services for Spatial Design

When carrying out client engagements, furniture curators should work in tandem with interior designers, architects, and associated project managers. Design takes care of the surfaces, flow, and structure, but layering in thoughtfully chosen fabrics, artwork, and décor according to purpose, location, and context completes the image. For the comprehensive realisation of spaces such as restaurants, hotels, and workplaces, several boutique businesses provide collaborative design and curation packages with shared creative direction. The well-planned container's walls and layout complement its carefully chosen furnishings and artifacts.

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Through the integration of innovative design jobs and contextualization-focused curatorial positions, organisations may maximise creative outputs and audience experiences by using their combined capabilities. Ensuring seamless operations from design to curation benefits not just items but also environments.

Instead of seeing curation and design as diametrically opposing creative forms, we might best serve audiences by encouraging their interaction. Better design should be sparked by curatorial thought, and curation should be sparked by design innovation, creating a continuous creative cycle. Curation supplies the stagecraft through tasteful selections, while design communicates the spark of creation. These skills are essential for timeless works that audiences appreciate time and time again.