Something that has always been a career hazard for a designer is being out in front, absorbing information, and then synthesizing to predict what the next big consumer trends are. Trendwatching.com is a great site that does a lot of this data gathering work for you
It always nice as a designer working in industry to catch up with designers in academia. I always come away with an "academic shower" feeling refresh and inspired. Especially when it comes to innovations like dirt repelling paint and ergonomic chairs and my
One thing I have noticed about software companies, something that hardware companies figured out years ago, was they could not design or do everything. In April 1999 Flextronics announced that it would purchase a second manufacturing facility from Ericsson. Perhaps not the best example here,
A few years ago I was involved in design mentoring junior high school or lower secondary school students in the pilot run of the Many Ways of Seeing Project (MWOS). Based on the work by Nelson Goodman, and a few others, this design project was developed
We take a short break from design blogging today to dive into some extreme geek blogging. Apparently you can buy a Windows Vista upgrade for your Windows XP, COOL! But in typical Microsoft manner they actually literally put the upgrade OVER your existing
What are the advantages of writing product briefs or product descriptions? Plenty if you are a designer looking to get your design right! Recently I was glad to see that Guy Kawasaki had written in his blog that there was no statistical difference in successful
After my recent rant on how some companies continue to generate needless wants and fuel consumerism, I was not surprised to see a growing back lash towards designers like Philip Starck, who are guilty of creating overprices products that may look great but essentially hollow
Check out this really cool chair by Anna Gram that totally supports my new recent domesticated lifestyle. Aptly called the sweep chair, the simplicity in its design allows it's function to make a powerful statement. Being a work from home dad these days, I can
I really know how to beat my self up. As I have a few meet ups planned with designer friends and members of the design community here in Sydney in the next couple of weeks, I stupidly decided to re-do my portfolio in the
Yes, yet another touch-screen phone jointly developed together with LG. Before you go off on how Asian companies can copy the Apple Phone it so quickly
When I first looked at it I felt "this is a cool list of design schools" listed at business week. Then reality started to sink in, D-School? Wait, nobody calls a design school "D-School" except a business school teaching design. As usual my cynical
I was amazed to find out how extensive the Cult of Mac's influences are over the many products they cover. Even though the Apple Newton PDA was killed by Steve Jobs shortly after he re-joined Apple in 1998, the Newton community continues to defy all
What is it with funding that attracts entrepreneurs to it, like bees to honey? I'm not sure, but I know I went a little nutty when the "funding" ticket was waved in front of my face. Not once, but twice. And I hate myself
I have been asked by a few readers how I manage to do so much. Actually I do have a lot on my plate and actually don't get too much done! But seriously these days balancing between being a stay home Dad and running my
Take a look at a Apple's great looking phone + ipod +web browser. A product that does it all, but will it do it right? Looking exciting at first but then, where's the buttons. As I have written before, the lack of static buttons
Dear readers, I need to first apologize for the lack of postings here at Design Sojourn. This is simply because in the last few weeks I have been busy to the point of exhaustion. Before I can explain why, let me wish you
I've never expected it, but its seems that I'm
Designers always suffer with managing and showing their design "works in progress". The problem is usually designers don't get the feedback they want, or do too much and miss the dateline, or they do too little and the client feels they are not getting
Intrapreneurship or Internal Entrepreneurship is fast becoming a big buzz word as companies start to embrace design, innovation and creativity as a strategic competitive advantage. Using the viewpoint that "innovation begins with everybody" as a credo to beat the competition, companies like IBM, 3M and
Traits of successful designers This is fitting as a part 6 installment to our popular series here at Design Sojourn. In the past 6 months, I have been having the most wonderful conversations with senior design managers and representatives from some of the best design