My First (Design) Love

Today on Valentine's day, I was thinking about love, that is of course, my first design love.

I can't think of any other company, that has impacted my life the most, as Disney does. I think that to some extent, it still impacts me, and I am pretty sure, it will still in the future.

Growing up I would watch all their movies, and I was always awestruck by their capability of making me dream and imagine. And up to this day, I still watch their movies, old and new because they bring me back to a happy time in my life, but they also make me think about the future.

Image Source: Giphy.com

Later on, I dreamt of going to the Walt Disney World theme park and when I finally had the opportunity to visit their premises in Orlando, Florida, it was beyond what I could possibly think of, it was simply magic. I could not believe how they could create amazing experiences for the visitors, and the attention to detail, as well as the interactions between the characters and the audience. The design of the theme parks, the stores, the restaurants, everything was an incredible experience. And I knew I wanted that in my life, I wanted to do something like that, to bring the Disney experience into my career.

Image Source: Disney World

I wanted to become a Disney Imagineer so bad. However in my hometown, Guatemala, the next best option was Industrial Design. So I became an Industrial Designer, and since, I have strived to create functional and aesthetic products that help solve a need in a ‘Disney kind of way’.

Image source: Giphy.com

Now I think of myself as a 'Non-Disney Imagineer', which is the reason why last year I started studying an MA in Service, Experience and Design Innovation at University of the Arts London, because I want to improve services and create new experiences and translate the 'Disney experience' into real life. You may ask:

But "What does this have to do with the Global Futures Design course?"

Walt Disney was fascinated by the future. Disney's PR team indicate on their site that he had a vision, and more than 50 years ago he was advised by every amusement park, carnival and funfair operator in the world that the “theme park” he envisioned would fail.

He ignored the bad press when the first Disneyland opened in 1955, and immediately began thinking about how to improve and enlarge his vision.

The idea of a park unlike any other had been in the back of his mind for at least 20 years before it was actually born.

And that is why Disney was and still is my first design love. Not only is it a company that inspires, sets trends, but it also incorporates the latest technologies into their work, such as Virtual Reality on their movies and theme parks. I believe Disney has mastered the experience of their customers in a particular way, and they know how to keep their customers happy. They leave nothing to chance, and pay attention to the small details, they listen to customers and also plan strategies that make people happy. So if I want to look into the future, and global trends that affect a whole industry, such as entertainment which also impacts the economy, I look at what Disney does.

References:

Disneyland Paris. Insight to a Dream: How it all Began. Walt Disney’s unique vision finds a home in France with Disneyland Paris.[Online]. Available from: https://news.disneylandparis.com/en/2015/09/10/insight-to-a-dream-how-it-all-began-walt-disneys-unique-vision-finds-a-home-in-france-with-disneyland-paris/ [Accessed 14 Jan.

2018]

DisneyLand