Tim Brown says the design profession is preoccupied with creating nifty, fashionable objects — even as pressing questions like clean water access show it has a bigger role to play. He calls for a shift to local, collaborative, participatory “design thinking.”

About Tim Brown

Tim Brown is the CEO of the “innovation and design” firm IDEO — taking an approach to design that digs deeper than the surface.

About TedTalk

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker “ideas worth spreading,” talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world’s most inspiring voices.

Rob Forbes, the founder of Design Within Reach, shows a gallery of snapshots that inform his way of seeing the world. Charming juxtapositions, found art, urban patterns — this slideshow will open your eyes to the world around you.

About Rob Forbes

Rob Forbes founded Design Within Reach, the furniture company that brought high design to the general public.

About TedTalk

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker “ideas worth spreading,” talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world’s most inspiring voices.

For this talk, please visit: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/431

Customers want to feel what they buy is authentic, but “Mass Customization” author Joseph Pine says selling authenticity is tough because, well, there’s no such thing. He talks about a few experiences that may be artificial but make millions anyway.

About Joseph Pine

A writer and veteran consultant to entrepreneurs and executives alike, Joseph Pine’s books and workshops help businesses create what modern consumers really want: authentic experiences

About TedTalk

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker “ideas worth spreading,” talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world’s most inspiring voices.

For this talk, please visit: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/434

Paula Scher looks back at a life in design (she’s done album covers, books, the Citibank logo …) and pinpoints the moment when she started really having fun. Look for gorgeous designs and images from her legendary career.

About Paula Scher

With a career that fuses rock and roll, corporate identity creation, and impressionistic geography, Paula Scher is a master conjurer of the instantly familiar.

About TedTalk

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker “ideas worth spreading,” talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world’s most inspiring voices.

Core 77 provide 5 tips to the design students for for a better crit:

#1
Just enough: “This design is all about scale…” (You can’t ever go wrong with that one.)

Too much: “This design is all about scale, from the micro to the macro, from the human condition to the expansion of the cosmos. Design is about infinite possibility, and at this stage in my education, I consider myself limitless in creativity and ambition…”

#2
Just enough: “What I’m showing here blurs the line a bit between form and content…”

Too much: “What I’m showing here blurs the line a bit between form and content, teasing out the possibilities between what is and what might be. I think we can all agree that a true articulation of a design requires both the storytelling and, well, the actual book itself…so let me read you my book…”

#3
Just enough: “I tried to break the problem down into its most elemental parts…”

Too much: “I tried to break the problem down into its most elemental parts, and that the further I went, the more it became clear to me that at the end of the continuum—’cause that’s what it turned out to be, actually—at the end of the continuum, what we’re really talking about right there is ‘the user.’ So I started with the user…”

#4
Just enough: “The thing that I had the hardest time with was trying to make this assignment personal…”

Too much: “The thing that I had the hardest time with was trying to make this assignment personal. Without sounding narcissistic or self-absorbed…wait, are those the same thing?…well, without sounding like that, I really wanted to design something that made ME happy; something that I’D want to buy. And I have to say straight-out: I’d want to buy THIS…”

#5
Just enough: “Well, let me go on record that I have conflicted feelings about this work, but that at base, I really feel that these are studies. And as studies, they are more discursive than demonstrative…”

Too much: Actually, that last one IS to much, but it’s a great test. If they don’t cry B.S. after #5 comes out of your mouth, you’re pretty much ready to graduate. Congrats!

*BONUS* Patty
When all else fails, you can always go with “I’ve taken my cues here from both nanotechnology and biomimicry…” or the ever-popular, “…and of course, it’s totally wireless.”

For more information, please refer to http://www.core77.com/hack2school/default.asp

“red dot trend report” just introduced 5 of most important trends in furniture design 2008:

• All in white: the clearest trend is: white – it is not new, but very dominant and nowhere near its peak yet. The opposing trend to the colour white consists of bright, shining colours.
• All in gloss: Clearly dominant is also the trend towards high-gloss, lacquered fronts. Smooth, shiny surfaces dominate – regardless of whether its cupboards, chairs or tables.
• The play with tradition: The borders between professional production and technical ornamentation are blurring more and more. Furniture designs which refer to traditional techniques and which are combined with new materials show new ways of using a material and finding a new visual language.
• The play of the materials: combining materials is still a hot trend, which give furniture a haptic and at the same time visually interesting look
• Completely classic? This year, the tendency to use ornamental patterns alternates with a clear purist language of forms. New interpretations and re-editions of tried and tested classics combine the familiar with the new.

For more information and full report, please refer to http://en.red-dot.org/82.html?&ftu=8613913d7c and http://en.red-dot.org/newgallery/page.php?id=90&lang=en

Design Sojourn published a list of 25 bad habits of industrial designers:
1) Looking at other products for inspiration.

2) Not creating or studying the design brief.

3) Not checking if the concept fulfils the design brief.

4) Spending too much time on the computer.

5) Not improving their sketch communication skills.

6) Not improving their verbal communication skills.

7) Not making a concept model because they were lazy or not wanting to get dirty.

Coming to work late.

9) Not understanding that a design is not theirs but the company’s.

10) Getting too emotionally involved in their designs.

11) Not being friends with Engineering.

12) Forgetting to compromise.

13) Not being friends with Marketing.

14) Mistaking arrogance for confidence.

15) Forgetting Industrial Design requires multi-disciplinary skills.

16) Being disorganized in mind and/or space.

17) Poor Time management.

18) Not planning a 3D construction process before doing 3D modelling.

19) Designing in a 3D program.

20) Forgetting to document their work.

21) Forgetting that there are costs impacts to design decisions.

22) Not including draft angles and part lines in 3D models or design files.

23) Forgetting to save work or worst deleting it by accident.

24) Not thinking through a design to the very end and it gets ripped to shreds.

25) Forgetting that a presentation board is also a design element.

Below is other comments submitted by other people to design sojourn:

26) Over satisfied with the first design. (by Design Monkey)

27) Sketching the same design over and over again. (by Design Monkey)

28) Making things that can be produced instead of creating “insanely” great products. (by Idris Mootee)

29) Forgetting the goal of design is to improve not just make something different. (by Dave Pinter)

30) Being apathetic to sustainable and green design. (by Dave Pinter)

The following four are by Raghuraj Ananthoj with some editing on my part.

31) Not understanding if the form inspiration is appropriate to the form being created.

32) Failing to understand the brand philosophy of the company.

33) Not building a good relationship between fellow designers by sharing knowledge and work.

34) Avoiding critics, which can help improve the current design and other product features.

For more information, please visit http://www.designsojourn.com/25-bad-habits-of-industrial-designers/

Claire Beale, editor of ‘Campaign’, wrote on Independent, about Jonathan Ive’s understanding of design.

“The word design is everything and nothing. We think of design as not just the product’s appearance, it’s what the product is, how it works. The design and the product itself are inseparable.”

On the relationship between design and experience

“And when I say the product I mean the product in its total sense, the hardware and the software, the complete experience that people will have. We push each other, we’re very self-critical and we’ll take the time to get the product right.”

“My goal is simply to try to make products that really are meaningful to people. Ultimately there is something motivating and inspiring in seeing someone using an Apple product and enjoying an Apple product.”

“I remember it really clearly, the moment when I realised that technology could be accessible and intuitive. And I had a real clear sense of the people who made it: it speaks to their values and preoccupations. And that’s what makes Apple a remarkable and unique company.”

For the full article, please visit: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/comment/claire-beale/claire-beale-on-advertising-830554.html

SocietyGuardian Editor Patrick Butler dismisses old fashioned values of what good design should be about and argues design must do social and environmental good to be good at all.

A seminar at the Design Council last week discussed precisely this. The council had come up with a new definition of good design: the most controversial bit was that it ought to be “sustainable” – in other words, that it not only looks good, or shifts lots of units, but that it has to “do good to the world around it”. If designers, as the council believes passionately, have a wider role in tackling climate change, developing thriving communities and creating more efficient public services, then this seems eminently sensible.

For the full article, please refer to http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/30/policy.design

http://www.idsa.org/webmodules/articles/articlefiles/GETIDJOB.pdf