Quote from Debbie Millman:
Every job is hard. Design is hard, marketing is hard, and working at McDonald’s and Starbucks and Walmart is hard. Why does it feel “easier” to do something we don’t love than to do something we actually feel passionate about? I think we lose our courage to pursue our creative dreams when we feel that the only way we can make a living is to conform. I realize now that making a living doing what you love requires a personal belief that you have something meaningful to contribute. What makes this particularly difficult is that making a living doing what you love doesn’t come with a real “rule book.” There is no single process for anything. In many ways, making a living doing what you love is an anti-process! For example, you may have a process for being creative, but the actual act of living creatively is organic and (nearly) involuntary: you have to do it—you have no choice—or a part of you dies. If you are considering settling because going after what you want seems too hard to do, remember that hating what you do every day is even harder. I guess this is a long way of stating that I believe one of the most important skills necessary to succeed as a creative leader is to, at all costs, avoid settling.
July 27, 2017
December 7, 2015
Design the Life you Love, a book by Ayse Birsel
12.4.15 / A LIFE DESIGNED
by Steven Heller
Ayse Birsel is co-founder and creative director of Birsel + Seck, a product design studio in New York City. She has developed a seminal book titled Design the Life You Love that teaches non-designers how to create a meaningful life using a unique creative process known as Deconstruction:Reconstruction™. “With this graceful, playful and human-centered perspective,” she says, “we design the products, organizations, work, services and experiences people love.” In this interview, she describes how design and drawing can change lives and loves.
What prompted you to do your book?
My father is a lawyer who’s always been interested in what I do, even though I didn’t follow the family tradition of law. He’s been telling me I need to write a book since my earliest days as a product designer. It was like a leitmotif of our conversations, but I couldn’t understand why this was so important to him, and moreover, what I’d write about.
Fast forward to Design the Life You Love. People who came to my workshops started to ask me if I had a book, or if I was writing one. They wanted something to take home with them and, as importantly, to share with others-their husbands, wives, kids, parents. Suddenly this idea of writing a book didn’t seem so crazy (sorry, dad!) or out of reach.
But writing was a whole different story. I wrote the first draft in Microsoft Word, which was a nonsensical idea for a designer. It was so boring that I haven’t read it since. For the second draft I tried to write with a friend who is a brilliant writer, so much so that I could only hear his voice. That’s when I realized I had to do it myself or not at all. The third time was the charm, and I owe a lot of that to Leah Caplan, one of my oldest collaborators, who showered me with inspiration and examples of similar illustrative books (including Keri Smith’s Wreck This Journal, which I loved for its style and playfulness) and helped me find my visual voice. That’s when I started to draw my book, and then I’d write about what I drew. Drawing rather than writing was the turning point. You’d think that would have been obvious, but it wasn’t. It took me three years to find my voice.
Tell me why life can be reduced to a design problem.
I think of my life as my biggest project. Life is just like a design problem, full of opposing needs and wants, constraints and challenges. You cannot have everything. If you want or need more, then you have to resolve some dichotomies, and design thinking is a great tool to help do this.
You know what is interesting though? Life deconstructed fits on two pages. Two! And that is a relief. Seeing your life on two pages gives you a sense of control-all that complexity, the enormity of life is actually manageable. It is not dissimilar to planning an incredible banquet and making a shopping list of what you're going to need. The idea of the banquet is overwhelming but once you have your list you know what to do. Life is not that different; it feels massive until you break it down to its ingredients and see that you can hold them on two pages. And those pages become your ingredients for what you want to make of your life, what you need more of, what you need to leave out, and what are your essentials.
Can non-designers design their life?
Ah! How much I love non-designers. Ordinary people are extraordinarily creative when given a design process and tools. Not only can they design their lives, they do it fearlessly (designing your life takes courage) and with gusto. Here it’s really important to frame life as a project within the context of design. Life is a complex problem and you need to think like a designer to get to something valuable: that means with optimism and empathy, holistically and playfully.
Over the years I’ve met some amazing people through my workshops. These people are often at a turning point in their lives and drawn to the idea of using design to reflect about what’s next. So they come to DLYL already with a personal challenge or problem set, which is a great place to start designing. No problem, no design. Their questions are universal: My kids left for college and I find myself an empty nester; my kids are little and my parents are aging, and I’m in the middle; I’m finishing college and I want to think about what’s next; I’m not happy at work; I’m retiring ... what does the next phase of my life look like? My role is to share my process and tools with them, inspire them with great examples of creative thinking from art, design, cooking, fashion and business. They do the rest and they do it beautifully.
There are a couple tricks I have devised to make the process super accessible:
Will designing your life make you truly confident or falsely secure?
I think that on the spectrum between truly confident and falsely secure lies the designer's state of mind, energized and determined by the potential and power of your ideas.
There are three emotional states in design:
That to me is the state of mind of designing your life. Confident enough to prototype it and secure enough to share it with others so that you can collaborate together, but also honest enough to know that, like any designer, you need to protect and nurture your idea until it’s strong enough to stand on its own. And even then you need to continue to evolve it over time.
[From The Daily Heller. Permalink.]
by Steven Heller
Ayse Birsel is co-founder and creative director of Birsel + Seck, a product design studio in New York City. She has developed a seminal book titled Design the Life You Love that teaches non-designers how to create a meaningful life using a unique creative process known as Deconstruction:Reconstruction™. “With this graceful, playful and human-centered perspective,” she says, “we design the products, organizations, work, services and experiences people love.” In this interview, she describes how design and drawing can change lives and loves.
What prompted you to do your book?
My father is a lawyer who’s always been interested in what I do, even though I didn’t follow the family tradition of law. He’s been telling me I need to write a book since my earliest days as a product designer. It was like a leitmotif of our conversations, but I couldn’t understand why this was so important to him, and moreover, what I’d write about.
Fast forward to Design the Life You Love. People who came to my workshops started to ask me if I had a book, or if I was writing one. They wanted something to take home with them and, as importantly, to share with others-their husbands, wives, kids, parents. Suddenly this idea of writing a book didn’t seem so crazy (sorry, dad!) or out of reach.
But writing was a whole different story. I wrote the first draft in Microsoft Word, which was a nonsensical idea for a designer. It was so boring that I haven’t read it since. For the second draft I tried to write with a friend who is a brilliant writer, so much so that I could only hear his voice. That’s when I realized I had to do it myself or not at all. The third time was the charm, and I owe a lot of that to Leah Caplan, one of my oldest collaborators, who showered me with inspiration and examples of similar illustrative books (including Keri Smith’s Wreck This Journal, which I loved for its style and playfulness) and helped me find my visual voice. That’s when I started to draw my book, and then I’d write about what I drew. Drawing rather than writing was the turning point. You’d think that would have been obvious, but it wasn’t. It took me three years to find my voice.
Tell me why life can be reduced to a design problem.
I think of my life as my biggest project. Life is just like a design problem, full of opposing needs and wants, constraints and challenges. You cannot have everything. If you want or need more, then you have to resolve some dichotomies, and design thinking is a great tool to help do this.
You know what is interesting though? Life deconstructed fits on two pages. Two! And that is a relief. Seeing your life on two pages gives you a sense of control-all that complexity, the enormity of life is actually manageable. It is not dissimilar to planning an incredible banquet and making a shopping list of what you're going to need. The idea of the banquet is overwhelming but once you have your list you know what to do. Life is not that different; it feels massive until you break it down to its ingredients and see that you can hold them on two pages. And those pages become your ingredients for what you want to make of your life, what you need more of, what you need to leave out, and what are your essentials.
Can non-designers design their life?
Ah! How much I love non-designers. Ordinary people are extraordinarily creative when given a design process and tools. Not only can they design their lives, they do it fearlessly (designing your life takes courage) and with gusto. Here it’s really important to frame life as a project within the context of design. Life is a complex problem and you need to think like a designer to get to something valuable: that means with optimism and empathy, holistically and playfully.
Over the years I’ve met some amazing people through my workshops. These people are often at a turning point in their lives and drawn to the idea of using design to reflect about what’s next. So they come to DLYL already with a personal challenge or problem set, which is a great place to start designing. No problem, no design. Their questions are universal: My kids left for college and I find myself an empty nester; my kids are little and my parents are aging, and I’m in the middle; I’m finishing college and I want to think about what’s next; I’m not happy at work; I’m retiring ... what does the next phase of my life look like? My role is to share my process and tools with them, inspire them with great examples of creative thinking from art, design, cooking, fashion and business. They do the rest and they do it beautifully.
There are a couple tricks I have devised to make the process super accessible:
- Lots of drawings. What could be so hard about a book that has a drawing on every page?
- Be playful and don't judge your ideas. The right one will emerge eventually and you will recognize it when you see it. So go with your gut, with whatever comes to your mind. The good, ugly, weird and funny!
- Draw and write to use both your right and left brain. Drawing and writing use different parts of the brain. You need both to design. That is why the book starts with a drawing exercise, same as all my workshops. Just draw something! I've learned over time that everyone can draw. You don't need to be Rembrandt, you just need to draw. Stick figures welcome.
- Gather inspiration. Every designer needs some inspiration to open up their minds to beauty and genius. The same goes for designing your life. In the book I ask you to think about other people who've influenced and/or inspired you. When it comes to life, look for inspiration in others. They inform you about your values, and you need your values to anchor your design. Let me leave it there but if you have the book, turn to the Heroes exercise and do it. Again, it is about serious play!
Will designing your life make you truly confident or falsely secure?
I think that on the spectrum between truly confident and falsely secure lies the designer's state of mind, energized and determined by the potential and power of your ideas.
There are three emotional states in design:
- Bound by what you know. This marks the beginning of the creative process where your preconceptions are still holding you in current reality.
- Freed by what you can imagine. This is the middle of the process, helped by inspiration, rich with possibilities and potential ideas. The process swells.
- Energized by what is possible. This is towards the end when your logic kicks in and you start to make choices and converge towards the big idea.
That to me is the state of mind of designing your life. Confident enough to prototype it and secure enough to share it with others so that you can collaborate together, but also honest enough to know that, like any designer, you need to protect and nurture your idea until it’s strong enough to stand on its own. And even then you need to continue to evolve it over time.
[From The Daily Heller. Permalink.]
September 2, 2015
Quote from Martha Graham
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. . . . There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us dancing.”
—Martha Graham, to Agnes de Mille
—Martha Graham, to Agnes de Mille
October 18, 2014
July 8, 2014
Play!
Loved this TED talk.
Play is necessary for creativity, productivity, learning, and much more. People who play more are happier, healthier, have better relationships, and are more open to trying new things.
http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_keil_a_manifesto_for_play_for_bulgaria_and_beyond
Play is necessary for creativity, productivity, learning, and much more. People who play more are happier, healthier, have better relationships, and are more open to trying new things.
http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_keil_a_manifesto_for_play_for_bulgaria_and_beyond
December 30, 2013
3 Paths Toward a More Creative Life
From Fast Company's Co.Design:
1. Be mindful—disconnect
2. To create meaningful things, delve into the past
3. Be masterful
See all the details here:
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671921/3-paths-toward-a-more-creative-life
1. Be mindful—disconnect
2. To create meaningful things, delve into the past
3. Be masterful
See all the details here:
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671921/3-paths-toward-a-more-creative-life
February 2, 2013
Quote: Stefan Sagmeister
How do you go about ispiration/having ideas?
Stefan: The process I've been using most often has been described by Maltese philosopher Edward DeBono, who suggests starting to think about an idea for a particular project by taking a random object as point of departure. Say, I have to design a pen, and instead of looking at all other pens and thinking about how pens are used and who my target audience is etc., I start thinking about pens using.....(this is me now looking around the hotel room for a random object)....bed spreads. Ok, hotel bedspreads are...sticky....contain many bacteria...., ahh, would be possible to design a pen that is thermo sensitive, so it changes colors where I touch it, yes, that could actually be nice: An all black pen, that becomes yellow on the touching points of fingers/hands...., not so bad, considering it took me all of 30 seconds. Of course, the reason this works is because DeBono's method forces the brain to start out at new and different point, preventing it from falling into a familiar grove it has formed before.
July 31, 2012
The Agony of Creation
The creative process can be broken down into steps, followed methodically, and achieve results every time. Occasionally, the creative person has a “eureka” moment when an idea pops fully formed into the mind. Most ideas are born of agony.
Even when you follow the process, you always have moments of self-doubt. Will your audience recognize the value of your concept? Or will you look like a fool? Will you be able to explain how you arrived at your proof so that others can see the brilliance of your solution? The more “out of the box” your thinking, the harder it will be for the people in cubicles to accept.
Sometimes you follow the process, but you just can’t come up with that spark that makes it fun. For any number of reasons, you lack the motivation. You fear the well has finally run dry for good. You consider applying for a cashier’s position at Target. Fear will kill your creativity faster than anything. This is the time to remind yourself that you are talented, you can solve this problem, and go do the things that renew your spirit. Take a look at creativity triggers. Then overwhelm the impasse with quantity.
Then comes the agony of the critique, where you witness your “baby” cut apart, watered down, and compromised for political purposes. Everyone on the committee will want to “contribute” by offering another suggestion that you’ll have to address. The best advice I’ve heard for overcoming the torture of a hundred little revisions is “Do better work.” Proofread, correct any obvious mistakes, look at it from different distances and angles, take a break and look at it again. I try to only present proofs that I am happy with myself. Never present something that you have to apologize for. I do not take criticism personally. I try to use every suggestion as on opportunity to make the project better.
Is the agony worth it? Do you have the inner confidence to present something that's never been seen before? Are you comfortable with being the one who thinks differently? Everyone has to decide that individually.
Even when you follow the process, you always have moments of self-doubt. Will your audience recognize the value of your concept? Or will you look like a fool? Will you be able to explain how you arrived at your proof so that others can see the brilliance of your solution? The more “out of the box” your thinking, the harder it will be for the people in cubicles to accept.
Sometimes you follow the process, but you just can’t come up with that spark that makes it fun. For any number of reasons, you lack the motivation. You fear the well has finally run dry for good. You consider applying for a cashier’s position at Target. Fear will kill your creativity faster than anything. This is the time to remind yourself that you are talented, you can solve this problem, and go do the things that renew your spirit. Take a look at creativity triggers. Then overwhelm the impasse with quantity.
Then comes the agony of the critique, where you witness your “baby” cut apart, watered down, and compromised for political purposes. Everyone on the committee will want to “contribute” by offering another suggestion that you’ll have to address. The best advice I’ve heard for overcoming the torture of a hundred little revisions is “Do better work.” Proofread, correct any obvious mistakes, look at it from different distances and angles, take a break and look at it again. I try to only present proofs that I am happy with myself. Never present something that you have to apologize for. I do not take criticism personally. I try to use every suggestion as on opportunity to make the project better.
Is the agony worth it? Do you have the inner confidence to present something that's never been seen before? Are you comfortable with being the one who thinks differently? Everyone has to decide that individually.
April 21, 2012
How to Be Creative
from the Wall Street Journal article by Jonah Lehrer
Recent research into the creative process reveal some "hacks" for how to achieve that elusive eureka moment. The characteristic that most creative people share is not genetic, but environmental. Creative types hang around with a diverse set of people. They are also curious about many things and pursue their interests with passion. Creative insight occurs when one "connects the dots" between different subjects.
Most innovation comes not from experts, but newcomers to the field. A fresh perspective is not limited by tradition or habit.
The right state of mind also contributes to creative breakthroughs. Being relaxed, having fun, laughing, even getting a little intoxicated, all increase creative problem solving. Daydreaming and that twilight state between sleep and wakefulness are moments ripe for creativity.
Getting outside of your workspace is important. A short trip to the coffee shop or library will increase your creativity. Traveling the world and exposing yourself to other cultures will supercharge your creativity.
Finally, a playful spirit is essential. Having the mind of a child and getting deep pleasure out of your work is extremely conducive to creativity.
Recent research into the creative process reveal some "hacks" for how to achieve that elusive eureka moment. The characteristic that most creative people share is not genetic, but environmental. Creative types hang around with a diverse set of people. They are also curious about many things and pursue their interests with passion. Creative insight occurs when one "connects the dots" between different subjects.
Most innovation comes not from experts, but newcomers to the field. A fresh perspective is not limited by tradition or habit.
The right state of mind also contributes to creative breakthroughs. Being relaxed, having fun, laughing, even getting a little intoxicated, all increase creative problem solving. Daydreaming and that twilight state between sleep and wakefulness are moments ripe for creativity.
Getting outside of your workspace is important. A short trip to the coffee shop or library will increase your creativity. Traveling the world and exposing yourself to other cultures will supercharge your creativity.
Finally, a playful spirit is essential. Having the mind of a child and getting deep pleasure out of your work is extremely conducive to creativity.
November 8, 2011
Anybody Can Be Creative
From the Wall Street Journal, October 17, 2011:
David Kelley, founder of IDEO and d.school at Stanford, says that to "unlock creative potential," people must become "open to experimentation, more comfortable with ambiguity, and less afraid of failure."
Having a specific problem to solve is the best start. In Kelley's class, students "define the problem themselves through research and direct observation."
The next step is "ideation" or brainstorming and visualization. The third step is prototyping.
Kelley encourages many little experiments and failures along the way, leading to better and better solutions. He found that collaborating with with others who have "radically different points of view" leads to a better learning experience. As his students gain confidence, they become more innovative.
In their book The Innovator's DNA, Dyer, Gregersen, and Christensen say the key skill for generating innovative ideas is associating. Some people do this more naturally than others. But everyone can do more associating by "questioning, observing, networking, and experimenting." The more you do, the better you get, and the more confidence you have.
David Kelley, founder of IDEO and d.school at Stanford, says that to "unlock creative potential," people must become "open to experimentation, more comfortable with ambiguity, and less afraid of failure."
Having a specific problem to solve is the best start. In Kelley's class, students "define the problem themselves through research and direct observation."
The next step is "ideation" or brainstorming and visualization. The third step is prototyping.
Kelley encourages many little experiments and failures along the way, leading to better and better solutions. He found that collaborating with with others who have "radically different points of view" leads to a better learning experience. As his students gain confidence, they become more innovative.
In their book The Innovator's DNA, Dyer, Gregersen, and Christensen say the key skill for generating innovative ideas is associating. Some people do this more naturally than others. But everyone can do more associating by "questioning, observing, networking, and experimenting." The more you do, the better you get, and the more confidence you have.
September 27, 2011
Innovation through Failure
From the Wall Street Journal, September 27, 2011:
"'Failure, and how companies deal with failure, is a very big part of innovation,' says Judy Estrin of Menlo Park, California. Failures caused by sloppiness or laziness are bad."
But failures resulting from trying a big, risky idea should be rewarded. As long as you learn something from the effort, it was not wasted. When you approach problems too conservatively, you don't have the breakthroughs that set you apart. You're doing the same tried and true things as everybody else.
Accept that having good ideas means having bad ones also.
"All innovative companies tend to be alike in certain ways, Ms. Estrin says. They encourage coworkers to trust each other, comment on each other's work and take criticism in stride. Also, managers encourage intelligent risk-taking, tolerate failure and insist that employees share information openly."
Some personal and environmental characteristics that foster creativity are:
"'Failure, and how companies deal with failure, is a very big part of innovation,' says Judy Estrin of Menlo Park, California. Failures caused by sloppiness or laziness are bad."
But failures resulting from trying a big, risky idea should be rewarded. As long as you learn something from the effort, it was not wasted. When you approach problems too conservatively, you don't have the breakthroughs that set you apart. You're doing the same tried and true things as everybody else.
Accept that having good ideas means having bad ones also.
"All innovative companies tend to be alike in certain ways, Ms. Estrin says. They encourage coworkers to trust each other, comment on each other's work and take criticism in stride. Also, managers encourage intelligent risk-taking, tolerate failure and insist that employees share information openly."
Some personal and environmental characteristics that foster creativity are:
- being last in the family, experiencing moderate family conflict and diverse role models
- being aggressive, egocentric or antisocial makes it easy to ponder ideas in solitude or challenge convention
- being competitive and unwilling to give up easily
- being able to take time off to let ideas incubate
- freedom to take risks and work on a variety of projects at once can spark flexible thinking
- while conflict and diversity trigger divergent thinking, war and anarchy are disruptive to new ideas
August 26, 2011
Quotes from Steve Jobs on Design
“We think the Mac will sell zillions, but we didn’t build the Mac for anybody else. We built it for ourselves. We were the group of people who were going to judge whether it was great or not. We weren’t going to go out and do market research. We just wanted to build the best thing we could build.
When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.” [Playboy, Feb. 1, 1985]
***
“Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works. The design of the Mac wasn’t what it looked like, although that was part of it. Primarily, it was how it worked. To design something really well, you have to get it. You have to really grok what it’s all about. It takes a passionate commitment to really thoroughly understand something, chew it up, not just quickly swallow it. Most people don’t take the time to do that.
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.
“Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have. [Wired, February 1996]
***
“For something this complicated, it’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”
“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” [BusinessWeek, May 25, 1998, in a profile that also included the following gem: "Steve clearly has done an incredible job," says former Apple Chief Financial Officer Joseph Graziano. "But the $64,000 question is: Will Apple ever resume growth?"]
***
“This is what customers pay us for–to sweat all these details so it’s easy and pleasant for them to use our computers. We’re supposed to be really good at this. That doesn’t mean we don’t listen to customers, but it’s hard for them to tell you what they want when they’ve never seen anything remotely like it. Take desktop video editing. I never got one request from someone who wanted to edit movies on his computer. Yet now that people see it, they say, ‘Oh my God, that’s great!’” [Fortune, January 24 2000]
***
“Look at the design of a lot of consumer products — they’re really complicated surfaces. We tried to make something much more holistic and simple. When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can often times arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions. Most people just don’t put in the time or energy to get there. We believe that customers are smart, and want objects which are well thought through.” [MSNBC and Newsweek interview, Oct. 14, 2006]
August 17, 2011
How to Fascinate
From the HOW Design Conference keynote by Sally Hogshead:
Everyone is fascinating in their own unique way. There are seven universal triggers (or F factors): passion, mystique, alarm, prestige, power, rebellion, and trust. Mine are passion and mystique.
My latent F factor is prestige. Gain prestige by owning a realm, staking out your niche, becoming the authority. Create the ultimate [something] even if no one ever buys it.
Build anticipation and excitement to add value. People will pay more for an emotional experience.
Attention span is 9 seconds. That's all you have to captivate.
You always have to sit on the “throne of agony” to reach an epiphany. No agony, no epiphany. So embrace the agony.
More at SallyHogshead.com
Everyone is fascinating in their own unique way. There are seven universal triggers (or F factors): passion, mystique, alarm, prestige, power, rebellion, and trust. Mine are passion and mystique.
My latent F factor is prestige. Gain prestige by owning a realm, staking out your niche, becoming the authority. Create the ultimate [something] even if no one ever buys it.
Build anticipation and excitement to add value. People will pay more for an emotional experience.
Attention span is 9 seconds. That's all you have to captivate.
You always have to sit on the “throne of agony” to reach an epiphany. No agony, no epiphany. So embrace the agony.
More at SallyHogshead.com
How to Build a Better Business
From the HOW Design Conference panel discussion with Peleg Top, Rochelle Selzer, Kevin McConkey, and Shannon Carter
Be prepared for opportunities by constantly upgrading your skills.
Money = Respect. Ask for money, be prepared to walk away if it is not enough. Charge more money to get more respect. Be an investment, not an expense. Be able to show that your work makes money for your clients.
Narrow your market focus. Know what types of people and businesses you want to work with. Look for potential. Build relationships. Make a human connection.
Get the client excited by showing what is possible. Use your own voice and passion. Be real.
Keep in mind that you get paid for thinking, not for producing. You can be a designer without doing the production.
Hire well and wisely. Be a leader, not a manager.
Be prepared for opportunities by constantly upgrading your skills.
Money = Respect. Ask for money, be prepared to walk away if it is not enough. Charge more money to get more respect. Be an investment, not an expense. Be able to show that your work makes money for your clients.
Narrow your market focus. Know what types of people and businesses you want to work with. Look for potential. Build relationships. Make a human connection.
Get the client excited by showing what is possible. Use your own voice and passion. Be real.
Keep in mind that you get paid for thinking, not for producing. You can be a designer without doing the production.
Hire well and wisely. Be a leader, not a manager.
How to Use Design Strategy in Your Business
From the HOW Design Conference session by Rochelle Seltzer
“Design strategy is a process that powers brilliant design.” Following a good, solid process leads to a good result. Having a design strategy also allows objective evaluation of the creative solutions.
1. “Investigate deeply.” Interview the client, research their market, identify the goals.
2. “Review and synthesize.” Design team uses the information to write the proposal to the client. Media, visual direction, timeline, budget, metrics. Once the client signs off, the proposal guides the critique.
Advantages: client understands the reasoning behind the creative, requests fewer revisions, feels invested in the solutions
Try using a card sorting game. You present cards with descriptive words and the client puts them into piles: what we aspire to be, what we are, not us. Then distill down to 4 or 5 key words that will direct the tone of the design.
Design strategy sometimes uncovers business problems that design alone can't solve. The process can be extremely valuable to the client.
Use hard facts and anecdotes to measure success of the design. Make checking results part of the timeline.
A strategy-based designer rises in credibility and value. You are not a commodity.
“Design strategy is a process that powers brilliant design.” Following a good, solid process leads to a good result. Having a design strategy also allows objective evaluation of the creative solutions.
1. “Investigate deeply.” Interview the client, research their market, identify the goals.
2. “Review and synthesize.” Design team uses the information to write the proposal to the client. Media, visual direction, timeline, budget, metrics. Once the client signs off, the proposal guides the critique.
Advantages: client understands the reasoning behind the creative, requests fewer revisions, feels invested in the solutions
Try using a card sorting game. You present cards with descriptive words and the client puts them into piles: what we aspire to be, what we are, not us. Then distill down to 4 or 5 key words that will direct the tone of the design.
Design strategy sometimes uncovers business problems that design alone can't solve. The process can be extremely valuable to the client.
Use hard facts and anecdotes to measure success of the design. Make checking results part of the timeline.
A strategy-based designer rises in credibility and value. You are not a commodity.
August 7, 2011
How to Influence Business through Design Thinking
From the HOW Design Conference Session by Matthew Loyd.
To create something desirable, feasible, and viable, use:
Empathy—think about the client or end user
Creativity—solve a unique problem
Rationality—the idea must be strategic and defensible
BEST IDEA: the one-page brand
Summarize your brand on a single page: culture, values, mission, promise, experience, attitude. Write a cocktail speech. Identify your competition and advocates. Define your goals.
Permeate design thinking deep into the organization (or community) with the principles of authenticity, integrity, and innovation. Non-designers see the world differently. To teach design thinking: learn, listen, then act.
GOOD POINT: A social mission requires social media. If there is no social mission, no need for social media.
Step back. Begin anew each day. Each moment has its own unique possibilities. Even dull and rote tasks can be made fresh by inserting strategic design thinking. How does everything tie into your one-page plan?
To create something desirable, feasible, and viable, use:
Empathy—think about the client or end user
Creativity—solve a unique problem
Rationality—the idea must be strategic and defensible
BEST IDEA: the one-page brand
Summarize your brand on a single page: culture, values, mission, promise, experience, attitude. Write a cocktail speech. Identify your competition and advocates. Define your goals.
Permeate design thinking deep into the organization (or community) with the principles of authenticity, integrity, and innovation. Non-designers see the world differently. To teach design thinking: learn, listen, then act.
GOOD POINT: A social mission requires social media. If there is no social mission, no need for social media.
Step back. Begin anew each day. Each moment has its own unique possibilities. Even dull and rote tasks can be made fresh by inserting strategic design thinking. How does everything tie into your one-page plan?
How to Find Inspiration All Around You
From the HOW Design Conference Session "Galumphing, Goats on Roofs and Other Revelations for Inspiration" by Sam Harrison
First “take off your cool” and allow yourself to be silly and playful. When you find yourself in the “zombie zone,” remember the smells, sights, and sounds of childhood. Be a beginner again. Your “play zone” is more of a mental place than a physical one. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes; Dyson made over 5000 “mistakes” before he invented his vacuum.
You are by nature intensely inquisitive, but can become numbed by monotony. Remember to see the surprises in this unruly world. Get outside of yourself and what you already know. Throw away your first 3 ideas; those are the ones everyone has. Ask one more question.
“You don’t have to be a creative person. You get to be a creative person.” Don’t give up, don’t give up, don’t give up. You have your own style that no one else can duplicate. Celebrate it.
First “take off your cool” and allow yourself to be silly and playful. When you find yourself in the “zombie zone,” remember the smells, sights, and sounds of childhood. Be a beginner again. Your “play zone” is more of a mental place than a physical one. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes; Dyson made over 5000 “mistakes” before he invented his vacuum.
You are by nature intensely inquisitive, but can become numbed by monotony. Remember to see the surprises in this unruly world. Get outside of yourself and what you already know. Throw away your first 3 ideas; those are the ones everyone has. Ask one more question.
“You don’t have to be a creative person. You get to be a creative person.” Don’t give up, don’t give up, don’t give up. You have your own style that no one else can duplicate. Celebrate it.
June 27, 2011
December 9, 2010
Variations on a Theme
When you have a good idea, get more mileage out of it by creating variations on the same theme. That is the foundation for ad campaigns, houses in a subdivision, a series of paintings, and a symphony. The theme itself must be strong for the variations to be successful. Some elements remain constant throughout the group, but each variant stands on its own even without the others.
Variations on a theme are desirable for establishing a common identity among the discrete parts. When you bring about a positive response to one instance, it usually transfers to the rest. That is why the concept is so important to corporate image.
When generating ideas in the creative process, variations can be part of that phase. Perhaps one variation will stand out as being better than the rest. In the execution stage, you might want to create some variations to be able to offer choices to your client.
Variations on a theme are desirable for establishing a common identity among the discrete parts. When you bring about a positive response to one instance, it usually transfers to the rest. That is why the concept is so important to corporate image.
When generating ideas in the creative process, variations can be part of that phase. Perhaps one variation will stand out as being better than the rest. In the execution stage, you might want to create some variations to be able to offer choices to your client.
Patterns and Anomalies
Patterns are formed by repeating elements. Repetition can become tiresome, so patterns are often used in the background rather than as the main focus. However, patterns can be exciting and interesting unto themselves.
Once you have established a pattern, you can create an anomaly. An anomaly is something unexpected and will draw attention to itself. It can be subtle or pronounced. There can be more than one. You can intentionally lull your audience into accepting a pattern, and just as they start to tire of it, hit them with a bold anomaly.
Once you have established a pattern, you can create an anomaly. An anomaly is something unexpected and will draw attention to itself. It can be subtle or pronounced. There can be more than one. You can intentionally lull your audience into accepting a pattern, and just as they start to tire of it, hit them with a bold anomaly.
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