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Concept
Design language
Summary
A design language or design vocabulary is an overarching scheme or style that guides the design of a complement of products or architectural settings, creating a coherent design system for styling.
Designers wishing to give their suite of products a unique but consistent appearance and user interface can define a specification for it. The specification can describe choices for design aspects such as materials, color schemes, shapes, patterns, textures, or layouts. They then follow the scheme in the design of each object in the suite.
Usually, design languages are not rigorously defined; the designer basically makes one thing similarly as another. In other cases, they are followed strictly, so that the products gain a strong thematic quality. For example, although there is a great variety of unusual chess set designs, the pieces within a set are typically thematically consistent.
Sometimes, designers encourage others to follow their design languages when decorating or accessorizing.
Industrial design is the process of designing products for mass production. A design language can provide a range of products a similar style that sets it apart from competitors.
In automotive design, the design language often uses a signature grille design. For instance, many BMW vehicles share a design language, including front-end styling consisting of a split "kidney grille" and four circular headlights. Some manufacturers have appropriated design language cues from rival firms.
Apple used the Snow White design for its home computers in the 1980s, which used parallel stripes to give the impression that the enclosure was smaller than it actually was. The Apple Industrial Design Group is responsible for the industrial design of all Apple products.
Cadillac introduced the Art and Science design philosophy in 2000, which emphasized sharp and crisp edges.
Ford used the New Edge design language in the 1990s and early 2000s, which combined intersecting arcs to create soft aerodynamic shapes. Later Ford used Kinetic Design that featured a large lower trapezoidal grill on many vehicles.
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