According to the authors of the texts provided, a common theme between the two texts seems that design is more than just art. Design is not just the creation of beautiful things, but the creation of beautiful things that as they apply to everyday life. Design concerns itself with the problems of the day, be they social, political, or environmental. Design is unlike any other form of art because it is not completely about expression. 

Design is different than other creativity because it has purpose other than stroking the ego of the creator(like painting, drawing, music, and sculpture can). That’s not to say that there are not auteurs who seek to gratify their egos or express themselves within the world of design, but with design’s purpose being to convey a message or create an experience, the field is not set up for the artist to come in and gratify themselves alone. Bruno Munari says “Culture today is a mass affair, and the artist must step down from his pedestal and be prepared to make a sign for a butcher’s shop” by using their craft to create things for society the auteur becomes useful rather than self pleasing. 

The most important tasks facing designers today however is not the pressure created from within, but externally. The designer must face an onslaught of demands for the times in which they exist. The designer is expected to know a vast array of technologies, and carve out a unique niche for themself in a place where the lay-person also wants to do the things they want to do, the “prosumer” . As if being assaulted on all sides weren’t enough designers must also give deep thought to theoretical and philosophical problems of the age. 

Part of what a designer must do is create what doesn’t exist. To do this a designer must think about social, political, and environmental problems that as of the present moment for said designer have no answer. It is on the designer to use their skills to make the world a more livable place for all, altering what exists already to be more harmonious with its surroundings, or creating something from scratch.The designer touches thousands of lives with their contributions, and often these contributions go totally un-noticed.