I like to wish all readers a Merry Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Edit: I am also taking the opportunity during this quiet holiday season to redesign and update my website. This initiative came about due to a few strategic decisions I have made from both a career and personal branding standpoint. I am also looking to improve and optimize my website’s reading flow and implement a number of user requests like full RSS feeds. So do stay tuned, the look site should be up before the year is out!

This has to be the world’s most useless hook. This hook, I noticed on a tour bus, does not stick out far enough nor is it deep enough. Feels very much like an afterthought.

I was doing my usual weekly “talk back” engagement session by answering my reader’s comments and questions when I stumbled over this. One of Design Sojourn’s readers left a question in the “comments” section of my design article “25 Bad Habits of Industrial Designers“. The reader Rogue asks:

DT,

I was curious to know if you could elaborate more about your list topper:

1) Looking at other products for inspiration.

Also, does this encompass the products which are evaluated to inform one’s self about the pros and cons of the current competitive landscape?

I thought this was a good question. In fact, I felt it was so damn good that I decided to reproduce my reply in this post.

First off, Rogue thanks for asking and taking the time to leave your comments.

In short the answer deeply depends on how you intend to use the information derived from your competitive study.

If your intention is to use the results of this research exercise or market audit for “foresight” purposes then please go ahead as it is the right thing to do. For example, you first look at what is going on out there in the marketplace. After that you use that data to synthesize a trend. Finally you use that trend to predict what is going to be the next big thing so that your new design concepts reflect that.

The problem is designers tend to use this information for “hindsight” purposes. In other words using this information to see what has already done, so that they don’t “copy” what is out there. So my point that designers should not “Look at other products for inspiration” is by doing so, you might create work that, by the time it gets produced, will likely compete with an existing product. What is worst is that if your development cycle is long, your design could be seen as “so last season”! The net result is your designs will always chasing the competition not leading it.

At the end of the day there is nothing really wrong at “looking”. It is how you use that information that matters.

Image from YES Design

The books, reissued as part of the Penguin on Design series, include Munari’s 1965 book, Design As Art; McLuhan’s 1967 classic, The Medium is the Massage; Berger’s seminal Ways Of Seeing from 1972; and Sontag’s 1977 essay, On Photography.

Penguin has republished 4 great books on design with new covers with the help of YES studio from the UK.

Check out the full creative rational on Creative Review’s CR Blog.

Via: Aisle One.

Many brands are seeing the light.

From Nokia, Apple, Levis, Nike, Nintendo, to Bose, Samsung and Sony, companies today understand the power of branding and know that to allow consumer to fully experience their brand they must create an environment where the consumer is surrounded by the brand experience. Nothing does this better than putting the consumer in a direct sales environment or what we commonly call a “Concept Store”.

Within a “Concept Store, a you can fully manage the brand experience from the decor, design of the product placement, the background music, and even the smell! You can now create a truly 360 degree brand experience for your customers.

With a “Concept Store” you are able to filter out the “noise” of your competitors and now have the perfect opportunity to ensure your product is placed in the best possible light. No more have to deal with situations such as getting your product chucked on the floor just because the shared Point of Sales (POS) shelf has run out of space.

Really, this “Concept Store” marketing strategy allows you to build your brand equity in very authentic manner. You might, even sell more product while you are at it! (Notice selling comes at the very end?)

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Image from BusinessWeek, original camera image comes from Ralph London of the London Collection.

Check out this interesting article on Wired.com on how Bill Buxton, a Microsoft Researcher has complimented Jony Ive and how Jony has learn from the success of Kodak’s Vest Pocket camera line.

In a letter published by BusinessWeek.com, Microsoft Research’s Principal Scientist (Bill Buxtom) suggests it’s no mistake that the golden era of American industrial design happened between 1927 and 1929, on the verge of the Great Depression. Tough economic times, he says, have a habit of bringing out the best designs from the most talented individuals: “Firms employed these folks because they brought real value. It was about survival, not visual lollipops.

Amused, I went to BusinessWeek for more details.

Did Apple steal the idea from Kodak? Not at all. Was Apple aware of the Vanity Kodak, and the what and the how of Teague’s contribution? Without a doubt: Jonathan Ive is an outstanding designer, and the Vanity Kodak is one of the classic examples in the history of industrial design. What Apple did was learn from history, and adopt, adapt, and assimilate past success to current context. That is simply good, intelligent design in action. It is also a very good lesson: an obsession with the new and original, without a deep literacy and appreciation for the past, leads to a path of missed opportunities.

All right, I’m not sure if Bill’s claim about Apple being inspired by historic designs are true, but I fully agree on his observations about how the best Industrial Design come during times of trouble and greatest need, just as the article describes during the verge of the Great Depression in 1927-1929.

Very similar to the economic crisis we are all facing today, much of what we do in design will go into rounds of consolidations, and hard decisions will have to be made. As the businesses focus on the important things, we get an opportunity to really look at our design contribution, especially in areas where it can add value and/or make a difference for the consumer. I encourage all of you to grab this opportunity and push your design’s contribution within your organization to the next level.

If you have not already, check out my recent article on “10 Useful Cost Saving Design Strategies for these Troubled Times” to get you going!

We can’t get good at something solely by reading about it. And we’ll never make giant leaps in any endeavor by treating it like a snack food that we munch on whenever we’re getting bored. You get good at something by doing it repeatedly. And by listening to specific criticism from people who are already good at what you do. And by a dedication to getting better, even when it’s inconvenient and may not involve a handy bulleted list.

~ Merlin Mann, 43 Folders, on “Real Advice Hurts”

How have my design tips been for you? Were they useful? Managed to apply it in your daily work yet? If so, have they helped or were they useful? If not what are you waiting for, do it baby yeah!

Via: Skellie’s Twit.

As part of Google’s Authors@Google, Kenya Hara discusses his awesome book “Designing Design” and his new book “White”. Warning, it runs for 53 mins and is about 78 MB!

If you have not already get the book here on Amazon:

Designing Design – Kenya Hara

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I received a few blips of news in my inbox telling me that HTC has purchased 100% of One & Company Design Inc for $USD 4.82 Million in Cash. One & Company Design was involved in the Touch Diamond series of HTC Smart Phones in 2006.

I am always excited to hear of such mergers and acquisitions, of which I think the last big one was the purchase of a majority stake in Frog Design by Flextronics in 2004 for USD $30 Million. I wonder how this partnership is doing?

I think this is a very positive sign for our Industrial Design industry. It shows that companies are starting to realize the value and impact of design towards their business. As a result companies may decide acquire the design ability or skills by purchasing it rather than starting one fresh internally. Another way to look at it is companies, such as HTC, are protecting their investment in design, especially if One & Company had quite a major role to play in creating the very successful HTC Touch Mobile Phone. Logically HTC would not want them to share their skills and insights with anyone else.

Finally, I think this is great news for entrepreneurial designers looking to start their our consultancies or studios as such acquisitions means that they have a potential pot of gold at the end of the tunnel to pay off for all their years of hard work building a company. Not to mention the side effect of extra design jobs for all of us!

If you cant see the player please visit the original site here.

At the 2008 Serious Play conference, designer Tim Brown talks about the powerful relationship between creative thinking and play — with many examples you can try at home (and one that maybe you shouldn’t).

I love the idea of creating an environment where people felt safe to play. Very enjoyable and inspiring. Do watch it friends and I hope you enjoy your time playing here at Design Sojourn!

Via: TED Talks