The Beauty of Reduction May 24, 2008
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Although my garden machete couldn’t make the picture, my essential message remains the same:
Reductionism is a noble value for healthy living
. . .
Where can you trim excess in your activities and plans?
Video: Rachel Hulan - Green Interior Designer May 17, 2008
[VIDEO: feed and email subscribers click here]
Rachel Hulan is an interior designer in Santa Ana, California who specializes in non-toxic, natural, and recycled materials for flooring, wall covering, and other applications. Through working on projects as diverse as television shows, science centers, private residences and master planned communities, Rachel has developed a broad base of knowledge from which to develop her designs.
An active participant in the local green design community, Rachel is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, and the Green Build 2007 Host Committee. She is deeply committed to promoting awareness of sustainable design throughout Orange County and the surrounding communities.
I visited Rachel in her studio, where she gave me a guided tour on some of the unique materials she gets to work with.
For more information, you can visit her on the web at:
http://www.path-design.net/
The Tao of Style May 13, 2008
Embrace polarity & celebrate duality.
Style is one element of product design. Its stimulation of the senses - visual, auditory, taste, olfactory, tactile - often makes it the most prominent feature. Its importance, however, is relative.
In product design & communication, the metaphorical colors we choose and their luminosity determine the sensory positioning. The best palette is found by questioning what matters most to the specific target audience and what appropriately fits your brand. But does the product/service absolutely need to be strongly positioned in one direction or another?
The answer is No. Effective differentiation simply implies holding a unique position with the perceiver’s mind.
Style can be fluid and multi-faceted. When considering the emotions we want the product to evoke, one can look at a variety of themes, their opposites, and ways they can be combined together. Perhaps the product is destined to have a particular sensory experience, based on a defined company image and set of values. Perhaps fashion and trends drive the product line, or the industry product category. In either case, style serves a single purpose, but its strategy and execution is dynamic.
The goal in ideation is to quickly generate a variety of competitive product concepts aligned with your brand values, portfolio fit, and product innovation strategy. While these are the criteria we’ll use for screening concepts later, a strong cognizance of them during ideation can inhibit the process activity: Exploration.
Consider polarities and their potentially combined layering & blending. After some recent creative brainstorming, here are some contrasting styles, emotions, and patterns that I’ve put together.
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Antique, Historic |
Modern, Contemporary |
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Humility; Courage; Happy; Joyous |
Pride; Fear; Angry; Sad |
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Dark; Opaque; Rough; Sharp |
Light; Translucent; Smooth; Rounded |
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Fast; Continuous |
Slow; Intermittent |
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Accumulation; Indulgent; Embellished |
Reduction; Modest; Simplistic |
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Strong; Hard; Heavy; Dense; Loud |
Weak; Soft; Light; Loose; Faint |
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Spicy; Hot; Bitter |
Bland; Mild; Sweet |
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Conservative; Conformed; Commodity |
Liberal, Customized; Unique |
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Industrious, Productive |
Relaxed, Lazy |
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Individualist |
Collectivist |
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Technical; Scientific; Objective |
Artistic; Experiential; Subjective |
|
Deep; Low; Near |
Shallow; High; Far |
. . .
What additional methods of comparing & contrasting do you use?
Seminar: Design Green Now - Part 2 April 26, 2008
April 11th, I attended the local tour stop of Design Green Now, a seminar that explored green and sustainable product design & development. This article is Part 2 of a series that highlights the panelists, their presentations, and issues discussed during the Q&A.
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Nathan Vanhook
Art Director, Senior Wetsuit Designer
Body Glove
. . .
Body Glove, a water sports equipment and clothing manufacturer, decided three years ago to develop an eco-friendly line of products as part of a first step in transitioning the firm. Nathan was part of the development team that began first with life jackets (aka Personal Flotation Devices), then later with wetsuits and shirts.
The primary goal was to replace the foam, Neoprene, with an alternative material that could provide the same elastic and insulating properties. Neoprene is a DuPont product that is a form of PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride), that has additives called Plasticizers to make it soft and flexible. While PVC has been widely used around the world to make a variety of products, the material has been under growing international scrutiny for the last 10 years. This is because some of these additives are bio-hazardous and have been shown to leech/offgas after initial production and over time. Additionally, PVC (like all plastics), is petroleum-based.
Nathan recalled to the audience his first experience visiting their manufacturing plant in Donghuang, China. While being an eye-opening experience in many regards, Nathan told how he entered a poorly-ventilated massive room filled with new life jackets. The air had a strong chemical smell; a few workers who were affixing tags and performing quality control, weren’t wearing any protective gear for handling nor breathing. The experience awakened Nathan to the sobering reality of China: low cost labor, short life cycle designs, no environmental regulations, and a massive impact on the earth in terms of manufacturing volume.
Body Glove was able to find in Japan, a suitable alternative made from organic compounds. While this was great, the foreign procurement would mean adding to the products’ life cycle mileage - a new aspect that simply now had to be accounted for. From materials’ origin to factory, U.S. warehouses, and on to local surf shops, the products had a total of 8,806 miles. Nathan explained that while eco-friendly materials are definitely one of the most important aspects of sustainable product design, one should think about the total travel distance in life cycle analyses.
When asked during the Q&A about tools and processes helpful to design & development, Nathan heavily promoted using the Internet as a global research tool for materials science information, alternative sources, applications, and suppliers. New developments and best practices in sustainable materials and construction are happening around the world; designers and architects can learn a lot by looking outside their borders.
In closing, Nathan mentioned the Iriquois native Americans considering the impact of their activities for the next seven generations - a wise and responsible forward-thinking philosophy that we as mankind should apply today.
. . .
Design Green Now - Article Series:
Part One: Heidrun Mumper-Drumm
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For additional information about Nathan, please see his profile at DesignGreenNow.
Think -> Concept -> Build April 18, 2008
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A model for concept development I put together, as part of a weekly series of info diagrams from different designers, marketers, and other creative types. The series is called “Think Draw Make”, the website is www.thinkdrawmake.com , and is organized by DT of DesignSojourn.com
Here is my official explanation of the diagram, as left by my comment at ThinkDrawMake:
My inspiration is from product development phases, with the understanding of ‘product’ as being wide open to include objects (physical and intangible) for commercial, nonprofit, personal, and communal use.
The word ‘Market’ may imply designing an object for commercial use only. However, it could be stretched so that we simply mean looking at non-competitive objects elsewhere in the world. This may be done for noting best practices, styling, and other inputs into concept development.
In the diagram, multiple ideas are thought out then each is examined against:
- Our Objective or Scope
- Quality (as a function of time, cost, and absolute value)
- Strategic Fit (organizational or personal values, culture, intended future direction)If the idea passes that preliminary intuitive test, then it’s a good ‘Concept’. These will then be further explored and refined through detailed descriptions, models (drawings, 3d forms, etc.), research, and viability analysis.
The second screen simply asks which concepts are worth making, given our scope, their viability, attractiveness, and whatever constraints we may have (time, money, etc.).
Then we build prototypes and lastly, finished objects. In the diagram, we began with 5 ideas and ended up building 2. I don’t want to make the whole process seem too disciplined or difficult - but hey that’s life - to make great objects we have to be a little critical, you know? Money and time doesn’t grow on trees
Seminar: Design Green Now - Part 1 April 16, 2008
Last Friday night, I attended the local tour stop of Design Green Now, a seminar that explored green and sustainable product design & development. This article is part of a series that highlights the panelists, their presentations, and issues discussed during the Q&A.
The moderator, Rob Curedale, is an industrial designer with 30 years experience in consumer products. He recounted to the audience his feelings on how designers’ relationships to their work have enlarged over the years from being aesthetics-oriented with a large attention for personal fame, to a holistic constraints-orientation that includes environmental and societal considerations with a greater concern for “Us”.
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Heidrun Mumper-Drumm
Adjunct Associate Professor, Graphic Design
Art Center College of Design - Pasadena, CA
. . .
Sustainability starts in the creation phase. This means not only considering materials selection, but also being efficient in the concept/prototype development phase in terms of minimizing scrap waste, packaging, procurement distance, and general energy consumption.
The challenge now is in finding an excellent process model for sustainable design, because the traditional design process doesn’t support it. We need to go from a linear model focused on constraints and objectives within our immediate realm of influence in the value chain, to a complete life cycle model. That means considering the activities and indirect needs of everyone besides the end customer - manufacturer, distributor, retailer, 2nd/3rd-hand parties, and recyclers. It means looking at the product’s environment throughout its life - packaging, shipping, application, storage, disposal - and how it interacts with that environment (beneficial, neutral, detrimental).
At Art Center, they have a Color Material Trend Lab (CMTEL) established in 2005 with funding from Nokia, where students can learn about and explore using a wide variety of materials, and staff members can request additional information and samples from suppliers.
They also have an EcoCouncil, established by Art Center students as a weekly forum to discuss sustainable design topics, in addition to proposing & organizing research and community projects. The prominent interest area involves conducting Waste Stream Analyses of scrap materials, packaging, and trash by using process maps, journals, and mathematical formulas for extrapolating collected data into a forecasted life segment/cycle assessment.
When asked during the Q&A about the ability for capitalism and profit-mindedness to coexist with sustainable design thinking, Heidrun was a bit skeptical. The future holds a lot of opportunity for both fields, but don’t expect businesses to consider environmental stewardship for its own sake. The greater motivation for businesses in adopting sustainable thinking lies in reducing materials and operational expenses, while minimizing risk and product liability.
To promote responsible action and industry change, not just by leading product companies and innovators, regulation will be needed. This may involve:
- Restricting the use of certain materials, while providing incentives for others.
- Establishing stricter guidelines for manufacturing, storage, distribution, and reverse-logistics processes.
- Taxes and rebates for recycling, landfills, and other end-of-life cycle scenarios.
While sustainable thinking can be applied to many areas within a company’s operations, Life cycle analyses incorporated within the product concept development phase represent the best way forward. Briefly, they involve building multiple cost/benefit scenarios for concepts as a part of the Scoping, Business Case, or Product Design Strategy phases of product development.
In her closing statements, Heidrun gave the following recommendations to the audience:
- Avoid Greenwashing - There are going to be a lot of manufacturers out there using subjective labels and terms describing how environmentally conscious their companies, and safe their products, are. Whatever you say, be specific and honest.
- Perform a Life Cycle Analysis
- Do not fake the eco-friendliness of your product for the benefit of the design community or other value chain members. By only using a low percentage of friendlier materials or by mixing them with others that effectively create monstrous hybrids that cannot be recycled, and whose assets cannot be reclaimed, is a major disservice to this cause.
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Design Green Now - Article Series:
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For additional information about Heidrun, please see her profile at DesignGreenNow.
Trajan - The Original Roman Serif March 30, 2008
We’ve all seen this font before -it’s quite popular for use with books, magazines, posters, and billboards. The dead giveaway is the lack of serifs on the capital N’s top-left and bottom-right.
Trajan is an actual replica of ancient Roman letterforms found at the base of Trajan’s column in Rome. The specific style is called square capitals, and only uppercase letters are available. This typeface was used for inscriptions and signage for cultural events, decrees, imperial arches, architecture, etc. It was first painted on marble with a brush, followed by chiseling into the stone. Sometimes holes were bored into the etched type to support melted bronze subsequently poured in.
Here’s a quick mock book/movie title I’ve made with it - I was first thinking of going all silly and calling it “The Briefcase”, but “The Public Defender” looked better:
The name comes from the Roman emperor Trajan; the digital typeface was designed by Carol Twombly for Adobe in 1989.
Additional information available at: Wikipedia and Typophile
One more for the road…this video introduced me to the font and pokes fun at its ubiquity within the U.S. film industry:
Official YouTube Link
Multi-Functional Product Design - Part I March 26, 2008
One thing I love about product design is the ability to combine separate objects into something new and practical. I like to stress that last adjective. The concept of novelty can be applied liberally, and usually implies a sense of amusement. However, the degree to which the novel product (or aspect thereof) is ‘useful’ (in purpose and time-span), can be highly questionable depending on the end user profile, and our own qualitative value assessment.
All of this analytical reasoning lead to the questions like:
What is of Value? For whom? Under what circumstances?
While user profiles are excellent tools to expand upon basic demographic and psychographic modeling, there are two major considerations that affect the attractiveness of a multifunctional product: space and time.
Space - This involves the environments in which we live, work, relax, commute, etc. It includes the amount of physical space you have, shared spaces, and their salient and secondary aspects.
Time - What we all value and may sometimes feel deprived of. This includes dedicated time for particular activities, shared time for multiple activities (like often found in the multitasking workplace), and random time for the unexpected (pleasant, neutral, undesirable) situations and activities.
When examining both of these considerations in a particular context, look for what your allowances and constraints are. Doing this will help you find an opportunity to take advantage of.
Lifestyle changes (gradual and sudden), will serve as catalysts for utility and value in multifunctional products. Maybe we already have individual products that can currently do their job well, but in the new circumstance or lifestyle change, a single product with increased functionality that allows for time & space improvements can be of moderate to significant value.
One area where time and space are often limited is in urban areas, where living spaces tend to be smaller, resources and amenities may be geographically dispersed, reliance on public transit is greater, and people can tend to live faster. An additional factor that affects time and space is the blurring line between work and leisure. Flexible working hours and more individuals working from home has created opportunities for manufacturers to create products that can be catered for both environments.
Where there is a user will, there is a way. Change will force us to be creative - whether there’s a commercially available and affordable solution to the little things and bigger issues in our lives, or not. It is in this intersection where ethnographic research holds large value - identifying behaviors and looking for opportunities.
Avenir March 23, 2008
While I’ve liked Futura for a while, especially having seen it around from street signage to books, I recently came across Avenir and liked the bit more comfortable look. Avenir was designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1988. He described it as:
…intended to be nothing more or less than a clear and clean representation of modern typographical trends, giving the designer a typeface which is strictly modern and at the same time human, i.e., suitably refined and elegant for use in texts of any length.
What’s also special is that each of its varieties (sizes and weights), were uniquely designed for versatility in different contexts, especially print where it is well regarded for use in books with large amounts of text.
On Design March 19, 2008
Today I am tackling that big, illustrious word: Design
Why? A new course in my studies is on Design Management, and the first chapter describes for us what it is, and some of its roots and branches. Since my background is originally in Business Management, Marketing, and Logistics, my original conception (for years) was that design was about aesthetics, while everything else was engineering. This perceptual model slowly changed with time, especially after I came into my first job out of college and met with our industrial and packaging designers. Over the last six years, I’ve come to meet and befriend designers in a variety of fields who have taught and exposed me to a plethora of topics and principles common to their line of work.
But you know what the most valuable thing I learned was? There’s a big difference between Art and Design. The former is pure creative, while the latter encompasses: research, planning, creative, and testing. This deep insight has immensely expanded my appreciation for the roles that designers play in our lives, and their contribution to business and society.
Design is both a noun and a verb
Thus, Design implies both an Intention (plan or objective in analytical and creative stages), and an Outcome (model or form in execution stages).
While there are many design disciplines, each with their own objectives and serving different audiences (commissioners and users), these basic elements hold true.
A major difference among the disciplines is the degree to which each is oriented to either Art or Science. The design tree on the right (click on image) serves as an excellent model to this practical theory that design encompasses both.
While this diagram shows the traditional major design categories: Environmental, Product, Packaging, and Graphic…there are some additional categories not shown, that can stand on their own or act in conjunction with others. These include: Information, Interactive, Communication (nonverbal, written), and Process design (quality and time improvement).
Design is an activity that’s problem-solving, creative, systemic, and coordinating. This is identical to the role of Management, with the addition of Oversight, Leadership, and Strategic Analysis & Planning.
An additional element of design some people consider relevant, is cultural contribution. This implies that the objective of design is also to provide some societal or ecological benefit; it may be questionable based on the context of the situation, but at least we can subscribe to a primary rule of sustainability: First, do no harm.
When we now observe design from this perspective, well heck…there’s a lot of folks engaged in some form of design everyday; we just don’t recognize them as ‘designers’. One that comes to mind for me is supply chain planners who optimize the efficient production and distribution of goods.
——>>>>>>——->>>>>>>
How do you see the role of design? Are there additional disciplines or other aspects of design you would like to share?
A Design Tree November 12, 2007
A diagram I drew modeled after a simpler illustration in the excellent book: “Design Management” by Brigitte Borja de Mozota, originally designed by David Walker (Cooper et al., 1995, p.27).
[The diagram]…“roots the design profession in the handicrafts and its key areas of expertise: perception, imagination, visualization, geometry, knowledge of materials, sense of touch, and sense of detail.”
Further quoting Borja de Mozota, p.9:
1) The roots of the tree represent the immersion of design in different handicraft techniques and its insertion into the creative community. It assures the transfer of this knowledge to the firm, and distributes this expertise within the firm by a process of cross-fertilization.
2) The trunk of the tree represents the specific areas of handicraft expertise, including calligraphy, pottery, jewelry, drawing, modeling, and simulation. It represents the permanence of design expertise in its material form.
3) The branches of the tree represent different design disciplines’ valorization of the different areas of expertise.
Makes a lot of sense. For me, a big metaphysical analogy came from my reading of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance“, by Robert M. Pirsig. The combined perspectives can help place ‘Design’ into the larger perspective of functional disciplines, spanning 2 dimensions: Classic (technical, scientific, objective) and Romantic (artistic, experiential, subjective).
Collaborative Social Design October 21, 2007
While reading through my latest I.D. magazine, I came across two very interesting organizations that act as communities for social design projects. Very cool and similar to the open innovation networks out there.
Founded by Japanese design retailer Felissimo in partnership with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), this community site offers design competitions, news, and member discussions.
A forum for architects to review and rate projects by others, participate in 3 open challenges, find and connect with other members, and contribute and share resources.
Sustainable Design Conversation with DT October 14, 2007
Continuing on the conversation I had yesterday with DT regarding design strategy, today we discuss Sustainability in design:
Mario: After looking over the classic design strategies previously covered, I noticed I hadn’t included Sustainability. Some folks and organizations think of sustainability as a side consideration. However, I believe it is an essential strategy that should be included in the mix. Apart from ecological advantages in manufacturing, product usage, and disposal, there are also potential cost, quality, and performance advantages among others.
From some friends’ experiences in marketing communications and from articles on this subject, I see a larger emphasis on designers becoming well acquainted with eco-friendly inks, paper, and other supplies so that they can provide more leadership and direction to co-workers and management who aren’t as well informed.
How do you see product designers’ roles and activities when considering sustainable design? Could you share some unique perspectives from the consumer electronics industry?
DT: In fact sustainability has had its up and downs. It used to be a time where to be environmentally friendly you had to suffer with poor design or inferior products. Not any more. I would go almost as far to say that sustainability should be a given these days. Governmental requirements have help facilitate this as well. Products these days need to have lead free components, energy saving circuitry, a product end of cycle return strategy (ie used printer cartridges) as well as benefits if the product uses recyclable materials. Some companies do this better than others, but nevertheless this is all going in the background under the radar of most consumers.
However there in lies a bigger problem. Consumption. What is a point of making a product fully recyclable when people continue to buy? Case in point Apple iPods and mobile phones who’s life cycle is a notorious 6 months? The problem here is the energy and effort to recycle these products back into usable material far outweighs the environmental impact of virgin materials.
Therefore Sustainability 2.0 is not so much about recycling but more about creating “sustainable behaviours”. Getting mankind to be aware and control their consumption. Removing consumption demand also helps reduce planned product obsolescences. Of cause industrial designers and marketers here can have a huge role in interfacing humans with products and solutions, this is because changing a behaviours is a difficult thing to do.
Mario: Interesting…from the way you put it and as I see it, promoting sustainable consumption patterns appears to be the next avenue of responsible creation and living. Traditionally, extending the usable life of a product implied they were better designed for long-term performance. This created loyalty and admiration in users, allowing for higher price acceptance. But the nature of these products was that their life cycle was fairly long (let’s say 5+ years), and the rate of innovation in the product category was fairly low (in terms of functional utility in the eyes of consumers).
With highly innovative products in competitive markets, this is not the case as you pointed out. I’m concerned myself about the volume of certain electronics’ purchase, consumption, and resulting e-waste out there…especially in regards to cell phones. Ultimately, it’s a sociological understanding of the long-term implications of rapid consumption that will need to be addressed. But when speaking to a colleague about this subject, we debated whether this pure ethical awareness approach is feasible. He proposed, and I agreed that there is always a business solution to end-of-lifecycle management. The challenge is setting up either reverse-logistics programs from manufacturers that promote this thinking, or establishing provincial / community programs.
In all, I see it as a systems-design approach that combines social awareness of responsible consumption patterns with processes to better handle end-of-life scenarios. It’s a big jumble that involves many differing factors. But I think commerce and people’s behavior will not change on their own, unless society (and unfortunately but necessarily government) generate effective awareness of the problems we face and demand change.
What do you think?
DT: I believe that well designed products with long life cycles still have a role to play with encouraging sustainable behaviours. This is also applicable in high technology products as well. It is a misnomer actually and because of many safety requirements high technology products actually can last a long time. It is the software and components that keep making a product out dated, and as we now move into product experience and the intangiable aspects of software, this cycle will only get worse. The psychology of this touches on the whole “keeping up with the Joneses”, the haves and have nots, and the constant need to be ahead of the rest and own something new. Again this is a behaviour thing and (no offense) owes much to do with very successful advertising and branding campaigns generating consumer desire. In other words, years of advertising encouraging consumer wants not needs.
Refocusing back on product design, I don’t think that that creating a business case for an end of life cycle management solution is the only answer. This to me is a discussion on prevention rather than cure and which side you want to be on. In many ways our efforts in recycling, recyclable materials, ROHS compliance, and EOL management etc. is a reaction to a problem, a cure if you would like. Therefore in this case the solution should be about nipping the issue in the bud.
I agree with you, it is not easy, and most of effort should really about education and educating the public. Its about managing consumption, changing behaviours and awareness. There are many opportunities where designers can come in to make the behaviour change easier, but much of it has nothing to do with making better or different consumer products. For example can you design an iPod that people wont want to change in 6 months? You might, but Apple won’t do it because their business relies on this 6 month product life cycle. Then with education you then teach people to ask if you really need to upgrade your iPod every six months or better still do you even need an iPod in the first place? I don’t; I just listen to the radio which is essentially a iPod with 2,000+ songs.
At the end of the day, as long as corporations rule, we don’t have much of a choice but to take bitter medicine at the end of the day. As it is even planned obsolescence is a big problem we face as designers and a reason why I made a decision a long time ago to avoid working in fast pace consumer electronics industry as much as possible.
But we can take heart as much of our efforts in teaching is working on the new generation and we are taking a step in the right direction. Systems design and management can be a key contributor in this discussion here. But if we don’t step by a look at the bigger picture, and as long as we don’t teach about adopting sustainable behaviours we will continue to fight a losing battle.
Going forward we are on a cusp of a new revolution and that is personal fabrication or fabbing. The time for Desktop Manufacturing will be is just around the corner in the next few years. I believe combined with the sustainability issue, this will force everyone involved in the product development cycle to re-think what it means to make a product, especially when your customers can make exactly what they want. It is scary but I am really looking forward to it.
Mario: I’ve thoroughly enjoyed our conversation about design strategy and sustainability in product development. Thanks for joining in!
DT: Thanks for this discussion, I totally enjoyed it and hope we can keep in-touch and perhaps in future collaborate.
Design Strategy Conversation with DT October 13, 2007
Mario: To build some greater perspectives on product design in the modern age, I’ve invited DT of Design Sojourn to a little chat about the subject. DT helps build objectives, strategies and development plans for consumer electronics firms across Asia. He’s been a pioneer in promoting the field of Industrial Design, in many more regards than simply admiring fanciful oeuvres d’art et leurs aspects fonctionnels (French for art and functional objects). He reaches out to students and other professionals alike in sharing theory, trends, and best practices in the workplace and beyond, while celebrating the contributions of others to the field.
DT, thanks for stopping by and leaving some feedback on my post New Product Design Strategy. I feel that I’ve barely scratched the surface on this field, as most of what I’ve come to learn has been from my own experiences with CPG manufacturers, some friends, and my PDMA Handbook . What other kinds of strategies or considerations should marketers and product developers be making these days?
DT: Thanks for the wonderful introduction. I have to say you have nailed it at first go. With regards to your list of strategies, they are pretty much all there. But from my point of view I would consider them as tactical implementations instead.
These days marketing and product development and perhaps corporate people have to understand that Strategic product development takes a 360 degree holistic view and outlook. Also to me strategic product development is multi-disciplinary and success means satisfying all requirements of stake holders.
Under the current environments stories such as where marketing communications come up with great ad campaigns, but some how the products fall short on the brand promise, or Research and Development creates an amazing technology, but some how sales don’t seem to understand it, are very common.
Strategic product development prevents this. In many ways Industrial Designers are uniquely positioned to bridge this gap, as they have a multi-disciplinary approach to problem solving that is based on a strong background in research drawing inspiration from many sources.
Mario: Interesting. It appears to me that the situation you’re pointing out is that there’s a disconnect between product development and the marketing function, arising in the form of communication. In theory, a firm is supposed to carry and update the product definition from its beginnings in concept development, through the product development phase, and into the launch phase where it is then slightly tuned for the target markets. Traditionally, the responsibility for this communication lays in the hands of project leaders, core product development leaders, and launch leaders.
But what happens leadership is weak or non-existent? This seems to be a common risk these days, with global distributed product development and outsourcing being as common as it is. What I believe you’re hinting at, is that communication is an inherent part of all design strategy. Not just for project management purposes, but for the eventual market success of the product as well. This means that marketing and product development have a responsibility to collaboratively spell out the product’s features, attributes, benefits, value proposition, and positioning. I think it’s irresponsible to expect marketing (especially outsourced agencies), to make all this up on their own.
Do you see the current climate of outsourced product development necessitating even stronger communication bridges with marketing and stakeholders? What do you think?
DT: It not so much about just fixing a disconnect or making communication better, its actually more about a strategic management of the product development process.
You could say that project management manages and forms a node point between say R&D and marketing thus facilitating good communication. In fact that is still a major requirement in making successful products. However in my view this is still a line function. Project managers are often so caught up in the daily grind such as, tracking schedules, negotiating contracts, ensuring deliverables, that I often find that they don’t have a chance to ask if all this madness is right in the first place.
Therefore as a result of this designers recently have been finding a niche, especially in large organisations. Their strategy visualisation skills are vital in ensuring if the organisation is traveling in the right direction in the first place. Furthermore the designers ability to move between disciplines or departments and empathising with them, means this new thought in strategic product development assumes that the designer is not a function of any other department (ie R&D or Marketing) but a function of management. As a result if you notice many successful companies today, such as Apple, P&G or IBM, have very senior design managers working closely with the CEO or the board of directors.
Not only that, if we zoom out from our discussion here, this is really all about innovation and getting ahead right? So if a designer’s strategy visualisation has to have any weight, it must come as a directive from the top. It is, ironically, pretty regimental if you look at it, but innovative thought, solutions and strategy puts people out of their comfort zone and if the “order” does not come from the top, personal motivations tend to get into the way of the best interests of a company.
This also leads me to you next point, outsourcing. It is inevitable, companies need to out source to stay alive. But the down side means development gets more fragmented and as a result the strategy stake holder is absolutely vital in ensuring that the end product meets all the expectations set out.
Mario: I like your description of design leadership transcending the traditional organizational departments and becoming a part of upper management, should a company allow such integration. Although it might seem idealistic to imagine industrial designers reaching across different parts of the company to develop creative solutions where there are problems, I believe their greatest contribution to the firm lies with developing the company’s product innovation strategy and managing the product portfolio. This is an elevated position that will span disciplines in marketing, finance, r&d, and supply chain management, for which specialized masters education programs will be necessary.
Regarding outsourced product development, I see and share your concern. Traditionally, almost every part of a business can be outsourced these days. But in modern business today, when marketing and innovation are outsourced, there lies a very large potential risk of losing company identity, a spiritual sense of ownership, direction, and control. Companies that maintain a long-term vision must keep this in mind, and thus exercise due care when working with third parties. As external activities become more important to the firm as critical competencies, the level of partner relationships must deepen and in-house talent has to be developed as appropriate to the circumstances. All I’m advocating is that to be true to yourself as a company, you are responsible for your own vision and direction. Partners can help you build upon that.
Before I begin my next question, what are your thoughts on this?
DT: I actually disagree with you to a certain extent, but you are correct to say that the characteristics of such very senior designers require many years of training and exposure to many parts of the organization. A good MBA helps as well. Thus such designers with such abilities are rare indeed.
You are also correct to say that designers have the greatest contribution to innovation strategy and product portfolio, but that is what we traditionally think are the roles of designers. Don’t misunderstand me, I am not saying designers should take over or lead the functions of marketing or R&D etc., instead far from that. If you would like, the role of strategic designers are in a form of facilitators that make recommendations based on the empathy of the requirements of the rest of the team. Strategic designers work with the departments to find solutions in perhaps a role of a in-house consultant. Another way is to look at them are as “cooks”.
With regard to outsourcing, as you mentioned you can outsource everything including your own life. But these days companies are starting to get smart with this and realize you cant out source everything. So its only on one level that we need to talk about strong partnerships, but the smart companies are identifying their strategic competitive advantage and are choosing to keep it in house rather than out sourcing. Take for example HP they don’t outsource their printer component design.
Furoshiki - A Japanese Art September 21, 2007
A few weeks ago, I came across this traditional method of folding fabric over objects as a form of packaging / bagging known as Furoshiki. I’ve included a few videos about it that I’ve found, and a picture I’ve found (click for larger image) describing different folding methods. Enjoy!
Cooper - The Famous Rounded Serif September 14, 2007
I’ve seen this stubby serif growing up in dozens of places, just like you. Be it the original “Payless Shoes”, pizza parlors, TV shows, and wherever else. This Wikipedia article on the Cooper typeface tells a lot more about its history and use in popular culture. The thinner version of this font is from Bitstream.
The Hannover Principles of Sustainable Design September 13, 2007
First developed in 1992 by architect William McDonough and German chemist Michael Braungart, the Hannover Principles set out to address our interdependence with nature, and how we can use design to better protect and improve our environment. These guidelines aren’t just meant for industrial designers, engineers, architects and others with a hand in creation or maintenance; they also include you, your organization, your suppliers and customers.
I first came across them through a 6 part audio series called the Monticello Dialogues, where William McDonough is interviewed on the topics of design and sustainability on the Monticello estate, the home of Thomas Jefferson.
Here are the Hannover Principles with additional commentary as interpreted from the interviews:
- Insist on the Rights of Nature and Humanity to Co-Exist - The conditions for the shared environment of mankind and nature should be healthy, mutually supportive, diverse and sustainable. It is our personal responsibility to be an active participant in the process, and not simply hope someone else is doing/will do something about it. We have to insist on Design to ensure this co-existence is possible.
- Recognize Interdependence - We are dependent on the natural world to enable our activities. How we interact with it has diverse implications at every scale that in the design process should be considered for the near and long-term.
- Respect Relationships between Spirit and Matter - Among indigenous people across the world, this is the only principle that matters and which governs our actions. It can be a bit tricky, as certain advances in biochemistry for example have raised ethical questions on man’s meddling with nature.
- Accept Responsibility for the Consequences of Design - Instead of paying most attention to the Rights of Man, we should be focusing on our Responsibilities. Rights are fuzzy when it comes to where we draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Individuals, governments and corporations all interpret rights differently. As a result, laws and regulation have served as a reasonable arbiter. However, the problem of these instruments is that they don’t apply equally to all parties. Responsibility is largely diffused and diminished as we move from the individual to the larger organizational level. The solution is to fix the design so no regulation is needed. This means designing products and processes that can do no harm.
- Create Safe Objects of Long-Term Value - Don’t burden future generations with maintenance, cleanup, and support activities for objects that present long-term liabilities. Nuclear power is one example.
- Eliminate the Concept of Waste - We should try and reach toward zero waste, not just being more efficient. Eco-efficiency is a noble goal, sure. You recognize what’s bad, and try to be less bad. But that’s not pushing the envelope far enough. The human capacity for creativity in design has allowed us to reach some previously inconceivable accomplishments. We can do more through a mindset toward eco-effectiveness.
- Rely on Natural Energy Flows - Like the natural world, human design should look toward the sun as a reliable source of energy. (I’ll expand on this to include the secondary effects of the sun on geophysics, namely hydro and wind energy).
- Understand the Limitations of Design - Nature is a model and mentor for man, not a force to be sidestepped, controlled, or manipulated. Although design can do wondrous things, all human creations are impermanent, and thus design isn’t a panacea for all problems. Those of us who help develop and plan should practice humility to remind us that we are only human, and there are limitations to what we can do and the to lifespan of our creations.
- Seek Constant Improvement by the Sharing of Knowledge -Build and encourage open dialogue between yourself and others in establishing a connection between long-term sustainable considerations with ethical responsibility, while promoting the interdependence between nature and human activity.
I really liked what McDonough had to share. If you listen to the dialogue or pick up he and his partner’s book, Cradle to Cradle, they’ll share with you their vision of a future where the byproducts of products and processes are nutritional and helpful. Before I veer into the subjective unknown, here are some links for further information:
Various Writings - Here you’ll find the original Hannover Principles and other works
Cradle to Cradle - The seminal book written six years ago and used as the basis for McDonough’s design consultancy.
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Have you come across any other similar guidelines for sustainable design and development from other individuals or organizations? Please share!
Times Roman - Remixed September 5, 2007
Normally, I find this font boring. It was designed by Stanley Morrison in 1931 for the Times of London, to provide excellent readability for high-speed printing on low quality paper. I will acknowledge its power as a workhorse typeface. For print though, I prefer Caslon….but that’s beside the point of my post today.
What I did want to point out was the beauty of this typeface online and offline, under particular conditions. First, increase the size, then reduce the kerning (the proportional spacing between characters). Note: The ability to adjust kerning is available in desktop publishing software like Quark or InDesign (but not MS Word). For online, it is only available when using CSS. Lastly, it’s also available in Image editing software. I used Adobe Fireworks CS3 for the example shown below; the sizes are in 48, 58, and 90 (top to bottom), and kerned at -6.
One more thing about Times, if you use it in bold it will look hideous…but that’s just me.
Also online, for all general purposes you’re best off using the font Georgia. In some cases where a large typeface allows, Times may suit you better.
P.S. - I’m not claiming to be a pro typographer, it’s just one artistic interest. If I’m wrong somewhere or you have any recommendations, please leave me a comment below. Thanks!
Didot & Bodoni - The Contrasted Serifs August 31, 2007
This font belongs to a class of serifs known as didone or modern, and are distinguished for their highly variable stroke width, or contrast. Why they’re called modern, is beyond my understanding…but I guess the name stuck. Very similar to Didot is another font called Bodoni, developed by an Italian named Giambattista Bodoni in 1798.
What I love about these fonts is their elegance; you’ll often see them used for luxury items and environments. One easy example to imagine is “Giorgio Armani”. But because of their extreme contrast, they aren’t good for screen displays nor small print because it’ll be very hard to read and the serifs will disappear. Generally though, a font publisher may have a “display” version appropriate to your needs.
Another example of modern fonts is shown here using their thicker versions:
This is Poster Bodoni, which evokes a very different feeling: stylish, retro or 70s funky.
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Have you seen these fonts used in particular atmospheres or applications you really liked? Please share!
Packaging: Dentyne Ice August 29, 2007
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