Thursday, December 22, 2005

More on ideas to reality

With his gracious permission, here is the full quote from Chris Flink on the nature of ideas and realization, that I excerpted previously. Thanks Chris!

I love this quote [from George Nelson: "Unless ideas are massaged into reality, they evaporate"]. To me, it nicely highlights the inherent fragility of even the best conceptual notions and affirms the associated importance of our build/realization capabilities. It is our technical depth and the impassioned commitment of our multidisciplinary teams that enable us to follow-through and convert otherwise fleeting genius into real value.

This is not to say that “ideas are cheap”, but rather that without the complimentary ability and conviction to carry them forward directly, they are ephemeral.

We understand that “Think to Build” is not a progression, but a range of mutually supporting activities often carried out by the same talented people. Wild creativity must be fully integrated with the rigor and resolve necessary to prevent any potential value it may uncover from melting away.

To me, the Nelson quote articulates much of what makes IDEO’s offering special. We’re fortunate to have many rare individuals that possess both the imagination and the stick-with-it-ness to take our clients’ businesses to exciting new places.

Previous posts on design:

Thinker-Uppers vs Idea Massagers
Navel Gazing + bad rock and roll analogy
What design isn't
Target getting it
Nussbaum on design
flux in the design biz
Talking About Design
Simplicity, Design, and Corn
Totally Chaotic!
Premium vs Luxury
Is Innovation Finished Or Isn't It?
Design Lust at Target's Pharmacy
Millenium Challenge 2002 and Design Thinking
Losing The Conversation, Taking It back

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

thinker uppers vs idea massagers



I just had a prototype work better than expected. So, on subject of doing versus thinking, here are some thinkings on doing, versus thinking.


The legendary Chris Flink at IDEO described his favorite quote from the also legendary George Nelson as seen here. Says Chris:
"I love this quote. To me it nicely highlights the inherent fragility of even the best conceptual notions and affirms the associated importance of [IDEO's] build/realization capabilities"
Some, like Ernie at the ad firm Tangelo Ideas, might disagree. He posts on the relative importance of "thinker uppers" versus those who put those thoughts into action:

"Yesterday, he [Jackson, his 4-year old] was talking about the stuff he does in pre-school, and how he makes up games for himself, and for his friends to play.... When my wife asked him if the other kids made up games, too. He said, “No, mommy – I’m pretty much the Thinker-Upper.”

"We talked about being a Thinker-Upper. How the world needs good Thinker-Uppers. How everything – from his favorite toy, to the car we drive, to his favorite websites, and the commercials on his favorite programs, is thought up by Thinker-Uppers. He thought that was pretty cool."

For the final word, Greg at daddytypes posts a great essay (rant? hard-won diatribe? you decide) on, of all things, the journey of massaging those ideas into reality, from the perspective of a guy who hears half-baked ideas all the time. A small excerpt here:

"Do you have a prototype or just a drawing, or a CG design? How to you present your idea to people, on the back of a napkin pulled from your pocket [or the equivalent] or in a professional-looking format that shows it's really going to happen and that enables people to grasp it and see how revolutionary it is? This doesn't have to be a slickly produced, glossy brochure, especially if the idea is still in development. But you should be able to to show and explain to someone--use me for an example, if you like--what stage the design is at in a way that allows me to understand its brilliance.

"Then, you need to show it to people and let them tell you you're crazy for reasons X, Y, and Z, and let them tear it apart and give you suggestions on how to improve it. Outsiders you can trust and who have relevant experience and insight--other parents who aren't mouthbreathers, in this case--should be asked to give their feedback and to help you debug your idea.

"Because unless you have a factory in Guangzhou ready and waiting for your wire transfer, your idea is not as ready or as perfect as you think. Design and development and successful realization of an innovation is an iterative process. However many refinements and versions you've gone through to get to the stage you're at now, you should expect to go through dozens, hundreds more to get your product ready for prime time."


Feeling better about my prototype now.

Previous posts on design:

Navel Gazing + bad rock and roll analogy
What design isn't
Target getting it
Nussbaum on design
flux in the design biz
Talking About Design
Simplicity, Design, and Corn
Totally Chaotic!
Premium vs Luxury
Is Innovation Finished Or Isn't It?
Design Lust at Target's Pharmacy
Millenium Challenge 2002 and Design Thinking
Losing The Conversation, Taking It back

Monday, December 19, 2005

total. eichler. lust.



















OMFG. If only....

Previously on Eichlers:
Eichler Map Site
My Brahmasthan is more Vedic than yours
DMD's Eichler Remodeling Blog
The Hole In My Roof
Eichler Atrum Otaku
I Heart My House

Friday, December 09, 2005

Turn up the Bass

I had a synesthesia moment yesterday in the checkout line at Whole Foods, sampling a bite of some crappy fat free strawberry cereal bar and trying to describe to myself why it felt lacking.


It was bass. Fat is bass. Fat-free is all treble and tweeters. I need the deep, throbbing, in your body there-ness of bass in my food, not the ghost tinniness of fat-deprived fakes.


Some foods taste good as treble. Fruit is treble. A crisp cold ice water is treble. Yum. But I gotta have that bass. I crave the food equivalent of subwoofers turned up to eleven.

art: French Fries by Catherine Jones

Monday, December 05, 2005

navel gazing + bad rock & roll analogy

Well, it seems that while I was stuck in design ennui, so were a bunch of other folks. I read Bruce Nussbaum's design blog on business week for the first time in a while, and it seems I'm just another designer stuck in navel-gazing mode. Maybe its the holdays.


Interesting, the whole thing seems to have stemmed from a blog entry by Design Observer, who Nussbaum knows as Michael Bierut of Pentgram Design. That blog got passed around the local intranet here a couple weeks ago, so we must have all been drinking from the same glass of frowney punch.


Design? Innovation? Design thinking? I dont know, it's all shades of the same color to me these days. I'm blessed that my work takes me from brand strategy to first shots and everywhere in between. I'm blessed that I have the opportunity not just to let loose beauty and goodness, but also make them have a positive financial impact for my clients, who are increasingly knowledgable about the power of design. But, part of me does pine for the naivete of design's garage-band days, when it wasnt all about business.

Maybe another way to rephrase the existential dilemma is this: If design is becoming corporate rock, what is the new design punk?


Not that I'm a capital-D Designer. Or maybe I am. After all, a product of mine has made it to the MOMA. OK, only as far as the MOMA store. But still, just let me have that, huh?








previous posts on design:

What design isn't
Target getting it
Nussbaum on design
flux in the design biz
Talking About Design
Simplicity, Design, and Corn
Totally Chaotic!
Premium vs Luxury
Is Innovation Finished Or Isn't It?
Design Lust at Target's Pharmacy
Millenium Challenge 2002 and Design Thinking
Losing The Conversation, Taking It back

Friday, December 02, 2005

What design isn't.

It's been about two months since I last wrote anything down about design. I've been busy and frankly I havent had any real thoughts. about design, that is.

In the meantime, i've started running, in a serious way not seen by my body since high school. My changes tend to be like that. They come in step-function form. Now I run 3-4 times a week, a big change from running zero times a week. Tuesday night, and again last night, I ran 4 miles. the longest runs i've had since high school. I've cut my 12+ minute mile down to a sub-11 minute mile. Not great, but not too shabby either for a couch potato.

Running has given be an opportunity to think about what design is not. Running is not about innovating every time you run, its about stick-to-it-ness, and making steady progress. There are no sudden paradigm shifts available in running, you dont find some shortcut that gets you from a 12 minute mile to a 6 minute mile through cleverness. You get there through running.

Lately, it seems that design and innovation are seen as some magic cure-all. That any business, once they embrace innovation, can cut their 12 minute mile to a 6, because they see all the design companies doing 6's, how hard can it be, aren't we all innovating?

But you get there through running.

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