I recently visited the website of the book "The Art of Client Service" written by veteran advertising Account Manager Robert Solomon. Though I have yet to read the book (I plan to eventually!), the content really resonates with me, as it is a...
Gadi Amit, president of NewDealDesign, writes at The Fast Company Blog that Innovation (or Design Thinking?), as championed by the likes of Bruce Nussbaum (BusinessWeek's Design Blog) and David Kelly (IDEO), is "killing" Industrial Design by forcing an "analytical structure" over something that is...
I'm sure many of us "poo-pooed" Apple's first generation iPhone as sorely lacking in the technology department. However, no one can doubt the buzz the impending launch of the iPhone OS version 3.0 has created. On the flip side, if we can look...
You can find a boat load of Concept Products everywhere on the Internet these days. Every second news article seems to be a new concept mobile phone, PC or even a car. But are we fooling ourselves with Concept Products and patting our...
My first exposure to Dieter Rams was through a German lecturer I had at school that really idolized him. Perhaps it was that constant, "Dieter did this" or "Dieter would have done that" that really put me off! Now that I think about...
The background of this article stems from my interest in how Strategic Industrial Design forms the backbone of thinking in the very best designers in our field. Therefore I have been quietly spending some time studying and observing strategic designers and their “modus operandi”....
Recently Raph, from the very excellent Design Droplets blog, wanted to know how I define Strategic Design. I never had to consciously apply strategic design and thinking methodologies as it was something that I just did through my daily design activities. It was, in...
A fictional discussion in a studio near you. Friend: Designers need to loosen up. Me: Yeah? How so? Friend: Sometimes, designers are taking their design work too seriously. The rest of the world just takes design at face value. Me (In a philosophical voice): This organic...
I was doing my usual weekly “talk back” engagement session by answering my reader’s comments and questions when I stumbled over this. One of Design Sojourn's readers left a question in the “comments” section of my design article "25 Bad Habits of Industrial Designers"....
As part of Google's Authors@Google, Kenya Hara discusses his awesome book "Designing Design" and his new book "White". Warning, it runs for 53 mins and is about 78 MB! If you have not already get the book here on Amazon: Designing Design - Kenya Hara Designer Kenya...
I received a few blips of news in my inbox telling me that HTC has purchased 100% of One & Company Design Inc for $USD 4.82 Million in Cash. One & Company Design was involved in the Touch Diamond series of HTC Smart...
Originally Published July 09, 2006, edited and updated. It is not necessary, but if you are interested in the background of this article, do read Part 1 first. Here are some strategies I have found useful and successful in managing and fostering design as a business strategy...
Great write up by the people at Core 77 on how the "The Best Design Policies Are Local" which includes a great collection of speakers reflecting on their efforts of Design in their home countries. What struck me was the presentation by Song Weizu...
Edit 1: Originally published 08 June, 2006. Edited and updated. Can you actually quantify something so subjective and intangible as a design or an Idea? Can it then be used as a foundation to tell you if its a good design/idea or not? As someone who...
Edit 1: Tim is from Frog! Sorry Tim! Edit 2: Completely forgot to highlight, original seed concept "Just Plain Old Thinking" is from csven of rebang. Edit 3: Lesson: Blog when awake! Duh! Tim Leberecht, Frog Design's VP of Marketing, has written about Design Thinking and how...
I think this would have done the rounds in the design blogosphere by this time. Sorry, it is a little late as I completely forgot to post it. But here it is, and all I can say is I WANT THIS! ILoveSketch from Seok-Hyung...
The title of this quick post came up in a recent discussion I had with a business partner. After further reflection, I find this very true. It is applicable to all forms of strategy including design. So let me reword this: A good...
I finally got the time today to sit down and really think about the impact of these troubled times. It has been a very hectic month since I officially started my new role, as a result, I really only hovered around the global impact from...
It's about time, the (M)Ad Men figured that out. Well they sort of did before and there always been Industrial Designers in advertising and branding. But much of the focus then was on packaging design, and Industrial Design was often seen as nothing...
I have always liked to use the term "Strategy Visualization" as an activity for designers to solidify, by design, a company's business strategy. So recently, I was having a chat with my boss about getting some "visualizations" done for a design strategy by our client. ...