Design VS. Style

What is the difference between ‘to design’ and ‘to style’?

I chanced upon a conversation today in which the word ‘design’ was used to refer to an end product that is high on ’style’ and low on ‘design’. This blatant misuse of the word in certain coctexts has, in my opinion, contributed to the misconception of what ‘to design’ really refers to. What do I mean?

Take, for example, the fork and the spoon. Both these forms of cutlery have universal shapes aimed at fulfilling specific tasks: the fork, for spearing; the spoon, for scooping. One can certainly fashion forks and spoons that pay homage to our many -isms, but is doing so ‘to design’ or ‘to style’?

Now, take a look at the spork, also known as the foon. Just as their given names suggest, the spork is indeed a blend of the spoon and the fork. Its compact, double-duty nature is ideally suited to the needs of backpackers and fast food chains.

Needless to say, I consider the fork and spoon example I raised as a ’styling’ exercises. The functional aspects of the fork and the spoon did not change. They were simply re-imagined by means of adapting stylistic cues of years past to suit contemporary aesthetics. The process involved little innovation, if any at all.

The spork example, on the other hand, was designed to meet certain needs. It fulfilled a void in the cutlery family by leveraging the functions of both the fork and the spoon. This process involved innovation.

Is this a question of semantics? Perhaps so, but I sincerely think that a distinction needs to be made between ‘design’ and ’style’. The former seeks to meet a need through innovation while the latter merely aims to appeal to contemporary tastes by responding to trends.