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10 design quotes, visualized
11/04/2010 – 5:30 pm | Add Comment
10 design quotes, visualized

From the FreshBump site via advertising professor Deborah Morrison comes this entertaining poster set of 10 great creative quotes from the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Picasso, and Albert Einstein, presented visually. Click here to …

The Glimmer Manifesto
02/28/2010 – 6:29 pm | 2 Comments
The Glimmer Manifesto

It's tough out there. So many huge problems in the world, so much noise, so hard to know what to do and where to begin. All of which means—it's a great time to be a …

Presenter par excellence
12/29/2009 – 5:49 pm | 2 Comments
Presenter par excellence

Of all the TED talkers that have had an impact in the blogsphere, there is one that I find myself watching over and over again: Swedish researcher Hans Rosling and the most dynamic global stats you’ve ever seen.

DesignThinkers 2009: The Journey Into the Design Mind
11/03/2009 – 4:01 pm | Add Comment
DesignThinkers 2009: The Journey Into the Design Mind

In my keynote speech today at RGDOntario DesignThinkers 2009 in Toronto, I talk about how I approached the writing of Glimmer like a kind of anthropologist, venturing into the exotic jungle of Design as an …

“Welcome to the age of reconsideration.”
08/10/2009 – 10:39 am | Add Comment
“Welcome to the age of reconsideration.”

Context: During an interview with Marty Cooke, creative director at the advertising/design agency SS+K, he used this term “age of reconsideration” and I believe it is an apt one for theses times. Everything is open …

“You must keep moving away from what you know.”
08/10/2009 – 10:03 am | Add Comment
“You must keep moving away from what you know.”

Context: Bruce Mau’s philosophy. People tend to design their lives and careers so that they are usually on firm, familiar turf, intellectually speaking; they go with what they know. To the extent that they learn …

“The reality is, people don’t fund problems, they fund solutions.”
08/10/2009 – 9:41 am | Add Comment
“The reality is, people don’t fund problems, they fund solutions.”

Context: Cameron Sinclair‘s point is that designers are in a position to not just point out areas of need, but to envision and sketch possible solutions, which then increases the likelihood of attracting funding. 

“To bring about real change, you must kiss a lot of frogs.”
08/09/2009 – 4:16 pm | Add Comment
“To bring about real change, you must kiss a lot of frogs.”

Context: Dean Kamen told me he believes that as a society, we have become averse to and afraid of real change—the kind that is often messy. “Think about the kind of big public efforts we …

“We don’t need a getaway. We need a get-to.”
08/09/2009 – 5:30 am | Add Comment
“We don’t need a getaway. We need a get-to.”

Context: Bruce Mau’s point is that instead of looking for more escapism in their lives, people should be seeking more opportunities for engagement with others and for authentic experiences.
 
 

“The older we get, the more we begin to think like designers.”
08/09/2009 – 5:00 am | Add Comment
“The older we get, the more we begin to think like designers.”

Context: Recent studies cited in the 2008 neurology book Progress in Brain Research found that as people age, their focus of attention widens and it means they can actually take in more information, not less. …

“The familiar gets us in the door, and the surprising keeps us engaged.”
07/25/2009 – 8:05 pm | Add Comment
“The familiar gets us in the door, and the surprising keeps us engaged.”

Context: This is an idea that Brian Collins (head of the New York design firm that bears his name) quoted to me, but quite a few designers made a similar point when asked to articulate …

“We know less about how a family lives now than in the 1950s.”
07/24/2009 – 8:04 pm | Add Comment
“We know less about how a family lives now than in the 1950s.”

Context: According to business/design guru Patrick Whitney, who heads the IIT Institute for Design in Chicago, the expanding tech capabilities of companies enables them to easily produce more “stuff”—yet this exacerbates a problem Whitney refers …

“Naïvete allows you to do what the experts say can’t be done.”
07/23/2009 – 8:03 pm | Add Comment
“Naïvete allows you to do what the experts say can’t be done.”

Context: Bruce Mau believes that to be able to see a problem with a fresh eye, and to be open to all possibilities, it actually helps to be a naive outsider. It allows you to …

Experimenting in tough times is “like steering into a skid—it’s counter-intuitive.”
07/22/2009 – 8:02 pm | Add Comment
Experimenting in tough times is “like steering into a skid—it’s counter-intuitive.”

Context: Marty Cooke, a creative director at the design/marketing firm SS&K, points out that during lean times, there is a natural tendency among businesses to limit risk by pulling back on creative experimentation—but actually, a …