Design Sojourn | Strategic Industrial Design Blog

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Particularly because I frequently like to consolidate my design thinking, and had noticed many designer anchoring their work on some kind of design philosophy or thinking. Similarly, Dieter Rams’ 10 Commandments helped define him as a designer, and perhaps by identifying these Principles or Laws could do the same for me as well.

Personally, this was something I never really thought of doing, as I often saw myself as a reflection of the trends of time. Furthermore I particularly never like imposing my thoughts on others, nor do not want to come across as a high brow know-it-all. The end result is my encouragement of designers, that I work with, to develop their own thinking instead. Hey, this perhaps is a design philosophy after all?

But as I see this blog as a great place for discussion, I thought it would be a good place to put up my working list for feedback. Do note this list is by no means definite, nor am I looking to impose my thoughts or beliefs on you. Please consider it as a work in progress, and also what I think rather than what should be.

[ Good Design ] ~

1. is a good investment.
This originally started as “Good Design is Good Business” courtesy of Mr. Watson. However in today’s business environment, I belief most people understand this concept, but not many actually see it as an investment that has tangible returns. Therefore most Return on Investment (ROI) calculations can apply here. This means there has to be risk assessments, planning, budget controls, and long term goals set out. It is not, and should never be about making something look good and flogging it for extra cash.

2. does not discriminate.
Good design is all encompassing and unifying. It should not just be about the product or look. It should include every single aspect that circulates around a product, including things like experience, usability, packaging and branding. Design thinking can and should be applied into all aspects of the business and organization.

3. does not exist in vacuum.
Nothing comes from nothing. I find the best designs are the right ones for the context it is developed in. Good understanding of user needs, a critical insight on a problem, and a well defined brief is vital for producing the best designs.

4. satisfies all requirements.
A design cannot be successful if it does not satisfies all requirements of the business and development constraints. This is to a certain extent about compromise, but it is also about prioritizing, and ensuring that you win the war not the battles. Pick your fights and learn to negotiate.

5. is beautiful.
I don’t think too much needs to be said here, but our visual sense is one of the strongest of our 5 senses. There is no justification for bad design or idea. In other words you cannot polish crap. So be self critical instead of letting the market tell you otherwise.

6. is innovative, intuitive and clever.
The purpose here is to go beyond aesthetic or focusing too much on the look of a product. (Just in case point 5 threw you off, heh heh!)

7. is strategic.
This last one, I think is the most important. Design has to be at the highest level of decision making, and part of why an organization exists. My favorite thought is that it should have a vital function in any organization, just like accounting or logistics.

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So what do you think of my Principles of Good Design? Why not have your own say by commenting or sharing your own Principles of Good Design? Talk soon!

Image by pmorgan

There often comes a time when designers gather around, give each other hugs, pass the tissues, and say farewell to the fruits of their labor. Saying farewell to designs that did not make it.

Kidding aside, this is one of the harsh realities of design and product development, despite the best efforts of all people involved, even with perfect planning and execution, design programs do and can get “axed”. The worst timing is perhaps when the product is right at your door step.

In my time as a designer, products getting “axed” happens to me on average of about 1 in every 5 design programs that I manage, perhaps more. There is no hard and fast rule on why it happens, it just does. The reality is getting a product out requires many elements to be perfectly aligned before the green light can be given.

I can remember clearly three incidents that stand out. The first, a television, failed because our vendor failed to deliver. In this case it was the choice of our contractors and due diligence of their capabilities that failed. In another instance, a sound system product completed its tooling phase, and during the testing, it was found that the electronics design was sub-standard as the engineers involved quietly hid the fact they had no knowledge in reproducing the technologies the product required. The last story was the most painful, the product was almost perfect, the industrial design well received, and the technology astounding, but the delays in development and unforeseen change in market environments, meant we missed the boat.

Sad stories all. But how do we deal with such situations when designers living and breathing the projects often become overly attached to them?

Take stock and recognizing that it’s a business decision

I think this is perhaps the biggest one here. Despite whatever is at stake, the decision to kill a project is often a business one. If you can take a step back and consider the decision this way, it makes the passing a lot easier. Often times you will need to see this issue in its entirely, something that not all designers get an opportunity to. Really, sometimes it is much better to write off half a million in tooling than to blow 20 times that amount selling a dud.

Don’t get too emotionally attached

We touched on this issue in the previous point. I know it’s often hard, but try to take a step back and look at the issue objectively. Designers sometimes need to understand that the world does not always revolve around them, or that the success and failure of the project is never always up to them. Of cause designers do play a big part, but know that elements of a successful product requires more than what a designer can do.

Also, designers tend to put much effort and love into a design, thus having to say goodbye is never easy. Like most things, it does get easier with time. Look at it this way, there will always be that next project to work on. The projects will never end, unless you let it.

Learn from it

Though it is never entirely our fault, we can learn from this experience and try to avoid making the same mistakes again. This I think is something that will differentiate the great designers from the oh-hum ones. Look at it, study it, learn from it, and grow.

One for the portfolio

Not only do you not throw it out, you display it prominently in your portfolio like a badge of honor. In most portfolios I review, I always get to see the award winners, or the the ones that made it big, but never the ones that got away.

The ones that got away always make fantastic stories, and a good laugh or cry during an interview. Tell them what you did, tell them what happened, and tell them what you got out of the experience. Trust me, you will come out ahead.

Enjoy the process

Last but not least, design and the design process is extremely, for the lack of a better word, fickle. Not only are you essentially making something out of nothing, you also have so many different constraints and elements that have to be considered. Furthermore if one element is out of place, the chance of success drops.

Thus I always like to tell my design team, you will never know what is going to happen to a product in the end, so enjoy the process or the journey, instead of focusing on the results. And if you do get results, that just becomes a very sweet bonus at the end.

What a Mess!

About 5 or 6 months ago, I decided that I needed to simplify my life.

Due to a lot of diverse interests and that little bit of an overachiever in me, I have a bad habit of taking on and doing more than I can actually handle. Furthermore, the fact that I tend to lose interests in things very quickly or jump around on different projects does not help me one bit at all. Coupled with the stresses of my job, I was just flat out overloaded!

Mentally I was stretched and constantly tired. This was because I often had anywhere from 15 to 20 projects to attend too at any one time. My fitness went down hill as it became a vicious cycle of my mental tiredness preventing me from getting out of the house for exercise.

As a result I got nothing much done and learnt a painful lesson that I, like many other humans, do not multi-task very well.

I decided at that time, that I needed to simplify my life by closing up as many different projects as possible and, quite literally, focus on a preferred handful. The net result was that, instead of less, I was getting more things done at a reasonably good rate. Why it worked was loose ends and open issues have a tendency to take fuel away from your mental engine, and this means a reduction in the all important focus and concentration in getting things done.

The Creativity Cycle

I have currently juggle about 5 to 6 different projects (both design and non-design related) running, essentially cutting back to about a third of what I used to do. I find I can handle and work with this number of projects and my productivity has sky rocketed. This balance in the current number of projects keeps what I like to call the “Creativity Cycle” turning. This means that I am busy enough to keep my creativity flowing, but it also allows me time to breath or reflect on the creative work, which keeps the “Creativity Cycle” going even more.

Brian Clark, from Copyblogger, wrote about a similar concept in his article called “The Content Crossroads: Supernatural Success at the Intersection of Ideas“. In that article, Brian uses the example of how the Medicis, rich merchant families in Italy in the 17th century, created a creative explosion by allowing the ideas of different people and projects to feed off each other.

By attracting talented souls from so many different fields and cultures, the Medicis caused these varied artists and scientists to come in contact with one another, trade ideas, and discover the intersections that allowed for giant leaps in creativity and innovation.

The trick here is to ensure you are sufficiently loaded for this “Creative Cycle” to happen, but not to be loaded until you are burnt out.

Keep it Simple

I often find to start this “Creativity Cycle” moving, I need to be in a good frame of mind. To do this, each of my 5 projects needs to be distilled down to its bare essence so that I instinctively know what to do at any one time. My rule of thumb to keeping things simple is to describe what you need to do in 1 clear sentence.

Work is Never Ending

We need to understand that the concept of “work” and doing it, basically means that it will never end. There will always be something new that crops up that needs your attention. It is how you manage it that matters.

Really this 5 or 6 projects are the only ones I can efficiently handle at anyone time. Just like you would managing a design project, if your capacity is full, you would either not take on any more work or it will be put it on a waiting list. Why should this not be the same for your personal life? So do ensure that one project is completed or closed before you take one another.

How did I get this magical number 5?

At this time you are probably wondering, how did I get this magical number of juggling 5 projects at any time? It first started out as trial and error, but later I discovered that Giorgio Armani, before me, has also drawn very similar conclusions. Yes that Giorgio Armani.

It was a surprise to find out that Giorgio Armani had built his multi-million dollar fashion empire on this same principal. He believes that he can only work on 5 projects at any time. No more no less. It is also no coincidence that there are 5 working days a week, and that he spends each day just focusing on 1 of his projects, and doing nothing else. As a result of staying focused and keeping his work load simplified, he claims he was able to achieve success without ever having work late or on weekends. Now, you can take that to the bank!

Join the simple life!

I like to close this post with a tip of my hat to Zen Habits and Think Simple Now. My decision to simplify my life was due to in not small part the influence these two blogs had on me. Thanks Leo and Tina, you have been a great inspiration and a big help in making me a much more efficient designer.

About 6 months ago I discovered the work of Brazilian designer Chico Bicalho in, of all places, the Artist village of Leura in the Blue Mountains of Australia. I was in a rush, but the mechanical critter’s uniqueness probed my consciousness, and drove me to seek out the designer of this wonderful product.

I totally love them and managed to finally get my hands on some last week. My critters, The Cosmojetzs, are a joy to play with, even though they are neither sports car slick, or Apple chic. Instead they are so beautifully honest and simple that it reminds me of the simpler joys in life, like a smile. It reminds me that Design is and has always been about fun, and that we designers often incorrectly take our products and product development work a little too seriously.

Check out this wonderful video of all his designs in action.

With the power of the internet I mange to locate him as I was eager to learn more. An amazingly friendly person, Chico’s interview was frank, honest and as wonderful as his work. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did speaking to him.

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DT: Hello Chico, first of all thank you very much for taking the time off your busy schedule for this interview. I know like most designers we are very eager to jump right into the juicy design bits, but before that, I think it be great for you to share with us a little about your unique background and how you got into design? This would be a wonderful primer that will set-up the framework of your design profession today.

CHICO BICALHO: I have always worked with 3d. When I was a little kid, besides being fascinated with animals of all kinds, I made objects. While kids my age made drawings, I made corky objects. Some were weird, like the time when I was about six years old, and went out of the house where I lived with my mom and dad in Rio, a quiet street with houses, and stumbled on to the corpses of about 6 or 8 rather large rats, poisoned, probably. I then returned home and fetched a can of silver spray paint, and proceeded to paint each rat thoroughly, enjoying the shiny look and texture of the metallic dead rats. Later that day, the rats were removed, and an oval spot of silver paint, with the outline of each rat remained on the asphalt for a few months. Looking back, the piece could be almost looked at as “art”, but I am certain it was just fun.

I built weird boxes with hinged doors leading nowhere, small catacombs for dead lizards, I also melted lead, and dripped it in cold water, cast weird things, built dangerous slides, and played with my mom’s Polaroid camera from an early age. Later, I studied sculpture at RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), and, ironically, the sculptures I made were absolutely flat, and 2d. I became interested in public, site specific art, working with large painted areas on grass, working with different forms of light projection, and, eventually, came to the conclusion that sculpture and photography were the same thing, since one always (or almost always) photographs objects that have mass. I then got a MFA in photography from NYU realizing I would eventually have to earn a living.

I made over 4,500 Critters by hand, and sold them to two stores only; MXYPLYZYK in the West Village, and The Guggenheim Museum Store.

I did manage to live as a portrait, and architectural photographer since about ‘87, and in ‘92 I began to develop the windups now distributed by Kikkerland Design. Critter, the first one, began its wired existence as a hand made product, based on a Japanese gearbox bought in quantities from a surplus store on Canal St. NY called Canal Surplus, now defunct. I made over 4,500 Critters by hand, and sold them to two stores only; MXYPLYZYK in the West Village, and The Guggenheim Museum Store. Since 1997, Kikkerland Design began to distribute Critter, and production moved to China. Since then all other windups sprouted, and, in the near future, LE PINCH, and MXYKIKKER will be introduced, bringing the total models to 17.

DT: Wow I love the story about the Metallic rats! I can see you had a great inherent curiosity about life and things when you were a child. For my next question I like you to share your passions, and what inspires you as a designer?

CHICO BICALHO: I believe the reason why I come up with these windups, it is because I want to create objects that is both humorous, and unpredictable in behaviour. But, most importantly, I see, mirrored in each one of them, a certain passion I have for creatures that are not looked at with “respect” by humans, such as insects that have no particular aesthetic appeal. I see them as some of the world’s most endearing creatures, mostly because we oppress them, as much as we do oppress just about every other form of living thing. I train myself to respect every form of life on Earth, and believe they are just as important as we are. I don’t like touching animals that don’t like to be touched. I realize this discourse sounds demagogical now days, but it is absolutely true. The difference being, we have the strength to destroy the planet, and no other animal does, meaning, we, humans, if seen from a distance have taken the form of a plague, infecting the Earth. Sounds ugly, but it is the truth; we are the scum of earth, if viewed by any other form of life on the planet, aren’t we? Since there is no point whining about the planet’s destruction, I have chosen to work against it, or try to “do my part”, by undertaking a modest reforestation project in Brazil. Since 1996, I have been working with a small group of friends to recover a 20 acre area of Atlantic Forest destroyed in the late 1970’s http://www.projetomilfolhas.com. Over 110,000 trees have been planted the past 12 years, and, another 200,000 shall be planted the next 10 years.

Sounds ugly, but it is the truth; we are the scum of earth, if viewed by any other form of life on the planet, aren’t we?

Reforestation has given me incommensurable pleasures, and a lot of work as well. One thing that struck me some time ago was that a circle was completed, since reforested areas became, in a sense a kind of “public art” that encompassed a much farther reach of “public” than I could ever imagine. Among my favourite “viewers” are birds of all kinds, insects galore, porcupines, skunks, armadillos, lizards, bats, bromeliads, and the occasional orchid as well, all attracted to the new forest.

DT: That is a fantastic vision and I can see that all your work ties into a great common personal philosophy. With your Critters, could you tell us a little about the design process you use and how you created with the many wonderful mechanical contraptions?

CHICO BICALHO: Curiously enough, the creative process has never been repeated from one windup to another in the seventeen products created so far. The first ones were created physically, by getting pre existing gearboxes and attaching the legs by placement of the wire, and booties, then sending the “hand made prototype” back to the factory. The keys were designed using Quark Xpress, believe it or not. Some were created by taking a photo of the gearbox, and using Photoshop, another odd approach, I must admit, then I used Auto CAD for a couple of them, and later Vellum Cobalt 3d modelling. No matter what happened during R&D, the process has always been different from one to the next, and, as samples were sent form the factory in Hong Kong, improvements were made via e-mail and digital photography. Indeed an unorthodox approach to product design.

DT: I think that is a fantastic approach. I notice designers today tend to get caught up in the world of 3D and computers and forget the more hands on approach to design in the past. Personally I used to design all my products in Auto CAD or in Illustrator as well.

This leads me to my next question. What about working with the other people in the product development process? For example do you work with engineers at your factory in Hong Kong? What about Kikkerland, how do you work with them? Does Kikkerland do your marketing, or product planning, or are they just a distributor?

CHICO BICALHO: I really like the idea of collaboration between designers, and I always look forward to sharing a product development with people I love and respect. There are two designers whom I have always hoped to work with, my good friends David Dear, and Jozeph Forakis. We have frequently talked about working on something together, but it hasn’t happened yet. My experience working with Guga Casari, a fine Brazilian designer, and woodworker now living in Italy couldn’t have been more gratifying, and successful. We came up with ZéCar, conceived from the beginning to have all its royalties (plus now a matching fund from Kikkerland) towards our reforestation project. Thanks to ZéCar buyers we have planted over 100,000 Brazilian trees the past eight years, and will continue to plant for many years, until a unique and richly diverse forest is standing.

Thanks to ZéCar buyers we have planted over 100,000 Brazilian trees the past eight years, and will continue to plant for many years, until a unique and richly diverse forest is standing.

For five years I have been working in collaboration with my wife Isabella Torquato, and the team work is generating very interesting results. Isabella is very creative, down to earth, and organized; we have filled each other’s gaps, and grown together as a team in amazing ways I never suspected would be possible. We met ten years ago working; she hired me for a photo shoot for an ad campaign she was working on, back then, which was very successful, and we did a few other campaigns together as well. For the past five years, Isabella and I have had a business that covers essentially three things; graphic design, photography, and product design. We get along very well, and have developed a relaxed system of living, and working together, which is very helpful for business, and love. Just recently, Isabella has been working with me developing wind-ups. Her vision has opened up a new space, and approach, which I believe will take the wind-ups (it has already) to a new level. The new products, Le Pinch, and Mxykikker have Isabella’s thumb all over them, and I am very proud. We both are huge admirers of Charles, and Ray Eames, and we’d love to be a small fraction of what they were some day in the future. We are also dedicated environmentalists, and we love travelling together.

The company in Hong Kong that develops the wind-ups has a lot of participation in the development of each product. We have an approach, whereby we not only let them come up with the technical aspects, and solutions for each product (the way gears and sprockets are arranged), but we give the chief engineer, and owner the freedom to “design” certain aspects, meaning, I don’t get very uptight about small details from a philosophical standpoint. Sometimes a mechanical solution becomes a design aspect. I am a fan of Marcel Duchamp, and I like to think sometimes we have to give chance a chance, and see what other people will come up with, in a sense getting a form of “readymade” from the factory, and see if the mechanics of their solutions work for us aesthetically, and it often does. Sometimes we have to make touch up adjustments, but it always works out nicely. I know for a fact the people at the factory, the owner especially, loves to work on our windups, because they don’t end up concealed behind a plastic, or tin shell. For them it is fantastic that the gearbox is fully exposed, paying eternal tribute to their work. I have had a magical interaction with the owner and chief engineer at the factory we work with, and, two months ago, his wife came all the way from Hong Kong, and visited us in Rio for a couple of weeks. We like to joke that we are “long lost cousins” because they came originally from Macau, and I am 1/16 Chinese, my ancestor, also coming from Macau. I am part Dutch as well (from Pernambuco, Brazil), and Kikerland being a Dutch company, I love to think, maybe Goddess put us all together.

I am a fan of Marcel Duchamp, and I like to think sometimes we have to give chance a chance, and see what other people will come up with, in a sense getting a form of “readymade” from the factory, and see if the mechanics of their solutions work for us aesthetically, and it often does.

Kikkerland does all the distribution for our products. There is no planning, except, which product should be introduced when. In fact, my approach is to get a concept approved with them, then I work with Hong Kong, and avoid involving Kikkerland as much as possible, because they are a busy bunch out there. When the product is fully developed, and the colors figured out, I ask them to send samples to New York. It works out great for them, because they get the whole thing finalized and digested. The rest is up to them, like paying for molds, orders, etc.

DT: Chico, those were just some of the most wonderful and insightful stories about of your relationships with designers and the people around you. It is very true that nothing can happen on it’s own and you have shown how ideas can become great if it connects with the right people.

I like to sincerely thank you very much for taking the time to be part of this interview. As a closing, perhaps you could give some advice to designers looking to make their own very special products for the world?

CHICO BICALHO: You are very welcome Brian; it’s been a pleasure. Please let me know when the interview goes up on the site.

My advice to young designers would be the same I would give anyone willing to work creatively. Get to know yourself, because, sometimes, the work most meaningful to you is right under your nose, and if you don’t know who you are, you will end up searching in places where you will exhaust, and frustrate yourself. Keep an eye on yourself and another eye on your public, but, most of all, the work has to excite you, because if it doesn’t, it is unlikely it will excite other people. Learn to love your product from beginning to end. Do not be afraid to come up with absurd concepts, just think that every absurd, wild idea can be tamed, and made feasible. Do not leave stones unturned. Push concepts and explore every aspect to the most minute detail. Always strive for quality of material and durability in your products. While working on R&D, press for the highest quality possible of material, craftsmanship, and finish. Learn to love every step of the process, remember the process has to be exciting to you on every level, because the important thing is the journey, not the destination. When the product is finished, it is no longer yours, so, nurse it during R&D like a loving mother. Make sure your work has meaning, even if the meaning is just to make people smile.

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You can check out more of his toys at Kikkerland.

Bono Glasses by killkenny

That’s right everyone just wants to be a Design Superstar? Oh really? No the fact of the matter is, when all else is equal, Superstars get hired, and boring designers don’t. The main difference between the two? The Superstar has the ability to sell his/her brand of design and if you want to be a Superstar, correction, a hired designer, you should seriously consider doing the same.

A designer’s guide to self-branding

Of all the professions out there, I think there is no other one that can benefit from “self-branding” as much as a design professional. That is because it is a profession that is almost solely driven by talent. The equation is very simple, in design it’s not about how many certifications or affiliations you have, but what gets you ahead is the quality of your portfolio as well as your plain raw talent.

Before we go on, you might like to take a look at the basics of “self-branding” or what Tom Peters calls “Brand you“. Smart guy that Tom, he has been talking about it since 1997. Briefly, in a world where the consumer product market is so saturated and most products are essentially the same, the only proven way to get ahead is by branding. Not only just about branding of products but a holistic 360 degree effort including everyone else in the process including the design agencies used to create such products.

Drawing similar branding parallels from the consumer product industry, we are our now well past the new millennium and into a knowledge economy driven by talent. Competition within the talents for the top job is very high, and logically the only way ahead is by the talent branding themselves in some way. You see the crux of the matter is, every single positive influence adds up to putting you ahead and a personal brand is one big factor.

1) Do a SWOT analysis on yourself.

Remember the design methods class you fell asleep in? Well its a pity, especially since no one told you that a SWOT analysis could and should be done on yourself. Just like a company and its ability to generate revenue, I encourage designers to see themselves as a “business entity” that can generate income as well.

Therefore you need to identify your own Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities (to apply your strengths) and Threats (to your weakness) as a designer. So that when faced with the question of what are your strengths, you should never have a problem. Finally it is always good to have a short, medium and long term plan for yourself and career. It shows prospective employers what you want to do and that you have a vision for your future.

After you have listed all these points, you now have a list of keywords that can be the bases of creating your own personal brand and brand values.

2) Get a hair cut.

No seriously. I believe you are what you design. Many people get insulted when they are told they need to dress like a “designers” to be taken seriously. They figure that its a rude comment and encroaches in their personal style and space. That is further from the truth. Just like a consumer has only 3 seconds to size up a shelf of products, your prospective employer will size you up in that same amount of time.

In any case its pragmatic. Simply, that first impression is the most important. You will be surprise of the amount of control you have if you understood the stereotypes people associate with designers, and by looking like one you can use that to your advantage. Just don’t turn up for an interview in a beanie.

So carefully use your Strengths you have identified in Point 1 to style your own look. Your hair cut, sense of dressing, your watch (for guys), shoes (guys and gals) are all clues to a picture that you want to paint of yourself. It’s all part of your personal brand and something that should be part of your physical presence when you walk into a room. Remember every single positive point counts.

3) Buy your name as a dot com

I cannot begin to tell you how important this is. Not only for identity protection, but what you want is to turn up at the top of a Google search if a prospective employer or employment agency is doing research on you. As the Internet gets more and more integrated in today’s business world, the chances of you getting Googled is very high. I know I do it all the time.

4) Re-Brand your Portfolio

Now that you have identified your personal brand “keywords” and objectives in your design career, its time to “re-brand” your work. Just like a company’s branding initiative, you need to ensure that the documents you leave behind reflect your personal brand as well. Your portfolio, name card, resume, and perhaps that website design needs to reflect this through and through. This is especially important if you are putting your portfolio online.

On a slightly different but related note, do you then create a personal logo or monogram that reflects this personal brand? Personally, my feeling is don’t do it unless you spend some serious time working on it and that it looks good according to everyone who sees it. Most of the time I find personal logos or monograms very ugly and not well considered. A clear name card with just your name in a suitable font is good enough. But at the end of the day if you decide to create a personal logo, do ensure it reflects your personal brand values.

5) Start a blog

Now that you have a website that show cases your design work why not start a blog? The reaction on this, at this point in time, is mixed. There have been instances that people were fired when employers did not like what was written on their employees blogs. But these cases are rare, and if you keep your blog away from office politics you should be fine.

A great reason for starting a blog is to have your “voice” behind your work. Many times you can’t tell a designer’s personality by just looking at the work. But if you are able to share your thoughts, you will be better positioned as many employers often feel that they just don’t have enough time to determine an employee’s personality during those few interview sessions. Another great reason for a blog, is that it allows you to connect with other designers through the posting of your thoughts and by responding to comments left on your blog.

6) Join design networks

Get out there and market yourself! There are tons of great portfolio networking sites like Behance and Design Related. Just sign up, post your work, make friends, ask and respond to comments. Don’t forget that discussion forums on design are a good way to network with other senior designers as well.

Finally, don’t underestimate traditional non-design social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook as a means to share your work and network with other design professionals.

7) Win design awards

While its not the end of the world if you don’t win any, I always say you have nothing to lose by entering, and winning one gives you eternal fame an glory. Well not entirely eternal, but it is a great marketing tool for yourself and a confidence booster to be able to know that your work has been recognized by your peers.

8) Don’t oversell

At the end of the day, you need to be careful of all your different tools that you can use to sell yourself. The important thing to do is not use the wrong tool for the job and worst still end up by looking like you are overselling yourself. For example, don’t bombard people on your social network with every single job you did in your 15 year history as a designer; leave that for your resume. Don’t stick all your beautiful high resolution images on your portfolio website making it hard to navigate, just leave that to your face to face meeting instead.

9) Do good work!

Always, I say ALWAYS do good design work. Even if you hate your job or your boss or the project, make sure that it is the most beautiful design you can make it be. A good reputation is hard to build, and it is just too easy to lose.

10) A different take?

I like to close this post by getting you to check out a few tips at Fast Company’s 2004 update of Tom’s Brand-you Article as a different, more corporate, but relevant take on this issue of Self-branding.

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As you can probably guess becoming a Design Superstar is not easy and requires a lot of hard work. It does not happen overnight nor is it something you become. What it is, is that it requires is time before it can happen. Simply because with time, you will do good work, acquire more knowledge, build an interesting portfolio, rinse and repeat, again and again. Best of luck in your design career!

A designer in corporate life is not that easy. It does has it pros and cons, but the reality is not only will you have to do good design work, you will have to navigate the corporate ladder as well as all its related traps and pitfalls. Many in-house designers almost wish for the worry free environment of working in a studio where they can just focus on doing the design work. Well worry no more this survival guide is your key to getting ahead!

Before we continue though, I like to state that my use of the term “Designer” here, is in a very broad sense. This is because in-house designers can be actually found residing on many levels or in many roles within an organization. Some examples include:
1) Traditional design types working in in-house studios,

2) A Design manager that relate to stake holders,

3) Project managers who manage design consultants,

4) Product managers with-in marketing departments,

5) R&D engineers who manage innovation,

6) and finally very Senior Managers that problem solve with creative methodologies

Therefore for the sake of this discussion, they will all be clumped together as a “designers”. Furthermore I do hope that this article could provide an interesting perspective should you be a consultant or freelancer that has to work with corporate representatives. This could highlight many considerations that could get in the way of getting your designs approved.

With out further adieu, I present what I think are the fundamental “soft” and “hard” skills a successful corporate designer needs to have to survive the corporate jungle.

Reports to the Top

If a company is serious in successfully implementing and using design as a strategic competitive advantage, it must run its design/creativity think tank from the top. Hence the designer needs to be either at the top or at the very least reporting to the top.

While I understand this is never entirely possible in most corporate organizations, the designer would need to somehow position himself to at least report to a decision maker of some standing. The worst is for a designer to be pigeon holed under the Marketing or Engineering departments. As these departments achieve different functions, it will be likely that designer will not be operating at peak efficiency.

If you are working in a situation where reporting to the top is not possible, then you have to see if the reporting structure can change, of decide if you are happy to be working under such conditions.

Have a Strong working Partnership with the Top

Despite the frivolous nature people often gripe about the Fashion industry, the one thing they have perfected is the management of working relationships with designers and talent. I’m surprised, why we don’t try to learn from that aspect of that industry.

In the recent Fall 2007 Style and Design supplement to Time magazine, one common recurring theme that I found in the business of Fashion is that CEOs of fashion brands are “Partners” with their Creative Directors. This partnership is often highlighted as the reason for the success or failure of any Fashion brand.

Sure like in all partnerships (or marriages?) there are fights and disagreements, but the point here is both partners understand that their’s is a close working relationship and good communications between each of them is vital. Does Steve Jobs speaking to Jonathan Ive many times a day sound familiar? Well they have been doing that in the Fashion industry for many years now.

Anticipation

A successful corporate designer is also a master of anticipation. This is often a result of the 2 above points, which is essentially a great relationship with the person that steers the organization, and the designer involved cleverly puts this information to good use.

The ability to anticipate means the designer is able to understand and combine corporate DNA, senior management’s plans, design trends, and predict or anticipate directions an organization can take. This is especially important when it comes using design as a strategic competitive advantages.

In other words, the designer would have already thought through or researched all possible design strategies so that he can be effective during corporate discussions.

Always Ready to Move

A successful corporate designer that anticipates well, is always ready to move when faced with a new design challenge from management.

It is unfortunate that, despite designers getting in very early in the planning stages, the decision to move in a design direction often comes very late. A good designer that can anticipate well will be ahead of the competition when it is time to move. The market waits for no one.

Keeps busy during down time

In this hurry to wait, wait to hurry environment especially in large organizations, the thing to do in between corporate approvals is to keep at the trend research or development of other project work. This again allows successful corporate designers to be well positioned and prepared when it is time to move.

Gets the buy-in effectively

I’ve written extensively on strategies on getting the buy-in and approvals for your design work. But needless to say this is one of the most import assets of a successful corporate designer. The ability to work with all stake holders, often heads of the different departments, and then develop a product that satisfies all their criteria is of paramount importance.

Do check out my extensive 2 part article on “Why do I always get rejected? 10 Tips on how to get the design buy-in“.

Are Entrepreneurial and Understand that Cost Matters

Many scoff at the idea of being entrepreneurial within an organization, but for successful corporate designers this is a very important trait to have. This simply means, being in the mind set to see business opportunities and having the ability to apply design strategies to take advantage of it.

Not only that, they would also be savvy enough to understand the cost impact their design decisions would make to the organization. Better still, they can turn this design cost into an advantage, by selling their ideas in the language that the business can understand.

Understands that Design should make the Company Look Good, Not the Designer

Finally the successful corporate designers understand that their work is but a cog of a greater system, and design here should not just be about personal expression. He understands that his design is a representation of the organization, its people, its believes and most importantly its brand. It is in reality a much bigger discussion, and should never only be about the design.

Mario Vellandi author behind the very excellent Melodies in Marketing, spent the last couple of weeks conducting a hard hitting interview on my views on the future of industrial design, design strategy and sustainable design. It was a great discussion with very high level content and interesting ideas exchanged between Mario and I. As I am committed to being part of Blog Action Day (which is today!), I thought it would be great timing to post this interview as part of Design Sojourn’s commitment to green design. This interview is also jointly posted an his site.

On with the Interview!

MV: 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 work 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.

MV: 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 travelling 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.

MV: 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 theory, 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, though not required, could help 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.

MV: After looking over the classic design strategies previously covered, I noticed I hadn’t included Sustainability (which I’ll have to go back and fix). 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 behaviour is a difficult thing to do.

MV: 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 lifecycle 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 amount of e-waste purchased, consumed, and discarded…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 with, that ultimately 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.

[Note as final question and response to summarize conversation]
What do you think about this?

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed our conversation about design strategy and sustainability in product development. Do you have any predictions or desires on what may lie ahead of us in the future regarding education, materials innovation, or other important topics?

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 worst. The psychology of this touches on whole “keeping up with the Jones”, the haves and have not, and the constant need to be ahead of the rest and own something new. Again this is a behaviour thing and (no offence) 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 wont 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 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.

Thanks for this discussion, I totally enjoyed it and hope we can keep in-touch and perhaps in future collaborate.

What did you think of the interview?

I hope you enjoyed reading this interview as much as I did writing it. I love to hear what you thought about some of my points as well as if you like to see more interviews with other designers here at Design Sojourn?

One of the issues that Industrial Designers, working in strategic roles, often face is the dreaded “Design Creep” or some call “Specification Creep”. Year after year it’s the same old unproductive story, and if I hazard a guess, it is probably the same for you as well. When a project starts out everyone is happy, loves your design and are rearing to go. But as time goes by, things change and people start to waver.

This often happens when you have been developing a program for many months already, that certain changes in the external environment starts to influence the scope of the product. They may loose confidence in your design, or like a hot new market leader or trend setter, or just want to get their money’s worth and pull out the shopping list. At the end of the day its all the same, “Design Creep” is when someone wants a change as he feels that your work may not good enough (for various reasons), or just wants it to do more that is currently does. This could result in either he/she just wanting to add new things or worst change your design!

Such changes in external environments that can influence your designs could also include changing market forces, technology advancements, government and certification changes, or something as simple as a change in the ownership by stake holders and the new guy has his own ideas. Going forward the trick is to ask are such environmental changes severe enough to make the changes in your product specification, particularly if its very late into the development process? Occasionally “Yes” but most of the time “No”. So how would we ensure that this is well managed?

1) Ensure you have as a detailed product brief as possible, that explains the entire process and the reasons for why a product exists within the overall strategic objective and framework. If necessary update it as you develop the product, and especially when your product gets more real in the detailed refinement phase. This is your life line with clients both of an internal or external nature.

2) Ensure that all stake holders have signed off on the document and its updates. This ensures unwavering commitment especially late in the process when all hell breaks loose.

3) Manage the expectations of all stake holders and keep discussions open. Get the buy-in early and ensure everyone has their say. Deal with new “Creep” issues quickly and decisively.

4) Know the design process like the back of your hand, and that milestones are really for finalizing issues and agreeing for things to be set in “stone”. When a design is “frozen” it is “frozen”.

5) The old adage is true, never give an inch, as you will have to take a yard. If necessary, I like to tell them instead, “Let us combined all these changes and make a version 2.0 as soon as possible”?

6) But be realistic, if it will mean the end of your product due to a failure in the market place, lets cut losses and make the change.

I like to conclude and say that most product development cycles can last 1-2 years or more. Thus such “Creep” can be a real unproductive problem if not well managed. Worst still you could have happily gotten the work done and then get slammed for not being “good” enough for considering it in the beginning. But hindsight is always 20/20, and I always remind people that the design decisions that were made were to the best of our knowledge at that time. We have to live with it and it is nobody’s fault. You can avoid and minimised this possibility with lots of experience in project management and by ensuring you plan and push your design concepts as far as possible in the first place. So how do we do this? That my friends is another story for another time.

A few times a year most companies tend to start or re-look at their Innovation and product development cycles for the following year. Often involved in such matters, I’ve experienced that most of the time elements of the answer involves innovation and some of the time it also includes design. Ultimately though it often boils down to the one perennial question: “So fellows, what are we going to make?”

Before we continue lets take a look at a few wonderful quotes on innovation:

“At Microsoft there are lots of brilliant ideas but the image is that they all come from the top - I’m afraid that’s not quite right.” ~ Bill Gates

“Learning to leverage the creative thinking skills of every individual, regardless of their level, creates the sustainable competitive advantage every corporation is striving for.” ~ Jim O’Neal

“Most people think of innovation only in terms of R&D or new product development -– but taking an idea and turning it into cash is an effort that involves almost every part of a company. The challenge is thinking about and managing this extremely broad set of inter-related activity as a unified process.” ~ Hal Sirkin, Boston Consulting Group

I’m sure by now most of us are well aware of the power and importance of innovation as a strategy to come out ahead in today’s market. Anyways back to the story, this year for me the discussion is no different. However, instead of just letting a few managers and R&D people decide, I thought why not make innovation everybody’s responsibility?

Subsequently I suggested to top management to open it to the entire organization and leverage it as a huge resource.

Advantages
And why not? Here are some of the advantages.

1) It involves everyone from the tea lady to the CFO in the life blood of an organization, the creation of its products.

2) If 2 heads are better than 1, can you imagine if you got everyone involved in problem solving? You are tapping on the collective mind power of a large resource.

3) The best ideas come from different perspectives or view points of the problem at hand. You be surprised what ideas my former manager of Logistics could come up with. That guys was brilliant.

Disadvantages
What discussion would not be complete with out a list of disadvantages?

1) No one would participate. Depending on the corporate culture, people may not love their organization enough to help out. Most people go home at 5pm anyway and may not want additional responsibility.

2) You might get tons of unworkable ideas. No idea is bad, just some might be hard to make it work or not meet corporate strategy.

3) People could use it as a means to complain. Angry or unhappy people are often “navel gazing”.

Suggestions
So with this in mind here are some suggestions.

1) Create a control document and circulate it as a template for ideas submission. Ensure it encourages submissions to have some kind of estimated Bill of Materials (BOM) and some idea of costings. This forces the employee to really think the idea through before sending it in.

2) Point one might not be so easy for some, if for example they are from non-technical departments. So get employees to form product or idea teams. B&O has been very successful in this as a means to get varied perspectives and yet maintain some kind of control in the greater scheme of things.

3) Create a committee, run by the main product stake holders (for example Sales, R&D, Design, and Management etc.) as a final arbitrator of the idea and to see if formal product research and development can start on it.

Have a go and see what you come up with? I’m still learning and am always pleasantly surprised.

Original Image by: Labnol

There are just so many websites out there these days, so how do Industrial Designers determine the ones that are worth looking at, and relevant to the wide range of topics covered in the Industrial Design profession? Therefore I have decided to create a living resource that lists what I think are some of the best Industrial Design related websites out there.

So before we hit the list, lets take a quick look at how these sites in this article made the cut? First of all I have not included sites that only report design news or the latest eye candy from the design industry, there are just so many out there (Core77 or Moco etc.) that any will do as they will all eventually report the same thing. Next the sites I have included here genuinely provide original content from which designers can learn from, and finally at these sites, there are ways for designers to be part of a community and have means to have an open communication with the authors. In particular I have left out sites that have comments disabled as I find one way communication just defeats the learning process.

Blogs:

FrogBlog
Started in Nov 2006, this is the blogging arm of one of the first Industrial Design consultancies out there. They were very quiet at one stage after peaking with the old Apple computers, but seem to recently come back strong in Industrial Design scene again with a few notable products. The FrogBlog mainly focuses on a strategic application of design as well as the business end of the Industrial Design profession. It’s nice for a change, to read about designers fluent no only in style but in business speak as well.

reBang
Created by my harshest critic and someone I consider a friend, csven, and is about insights on the confluence of the real and virtual environments and everything living in between. I am the first to admit that I don’t always understand what it is all about, but it is an interesting read as we can catch glimps of the potential future of consumerism.

Design Observer
A group blog written by a team of an all stars in the Graphic Design world. Not the best in product critiques, but a fantastic source of discourse on the culture in and around design.

Freelance Switch
Though focusing on a freelancing environment, it can be a good source, even for employed designers, for tips on getting better in design. Other than my blog there are hardly any sites out there that focus on getting better in the technical aspects of a design profession.

Ideas on Ideas
Focusing on branding, Ides on Ideas can give designers insights on ways to bring their products to the next level by communicating brand strategy.

Nussbaum On Design
Even though the blog’s author Bruce Nussbaum often displays a lacking in the understanding about technical aspects of what it takes to do good design, the key take away is that his blog’s audience includes senior level managers that run businesses. Therefore it is worth keeping an eye out at the site as it does provide a perspective that reflects a group of people who do not have a background in design but needs to use it to make a difference, ie the profile of many of the buyers of design services today.

Logic + Emotion
One of my recent favourites, David Armano explores branding, marketing and one of the most important aspects of a good product the experience design.

Design Boom
Though mainly focusing on furniture, their interviews of famous designers are a great source of insight into the minds of our best and brightest. I don’t really bother reading much of anything else unfortunately.

Ted Talks
This is also one of my favourite sites as it covers the latest in cutting edge technology presented during their conferences. Don’t think there is any more I can say but to bookmark it.

Seth Godin
Seth’s blogs walks the cutting edge frontier of marketing, with a lot of fantastic “riffs” that Industrial Designers can get ideas on positioning their design solutions and building loyal customers. The blog gets updated many times a day, too often for my liking, so I have decided to just read his book instead.

Trend Research:

What forward looking designer would not want to know what is coming up next in the wide wonderful world in consumerism? There are quite a few great blogs run by trend research companies. Cheskin and PSFK, are good examples, unfortunately due to the nature of their business, it always seems that they are holding something back. My pick, however would be Trendwatching. Their monthly newsletters are actually based around a spotted trend and past trends reports are constantly kept up to date. By visiting their site you can get a good birds eye view of what they think will be coming up next. Their site has been a invaluable resource to my team and I in the work we do.

On a small note, I like to also recommend Jan Chipchase’s site. He has graciously shared his research work done for his employer Nokia and is a rich source of information on how people use personal devices.

Portfolio and Networking sites:

A few years ago there was only one Coroflot, but in the last 2-3 years a whole myriad of sites have popped up, from which you could almost find one targeted to each and every design discipline. Designer ID, Design Related, Creative Hotlist, Carbonmade are all sites you might like to consider. I am a member of almost all the sites listed, however my personal favourite and the one I find that I keep on going back to is the new Behance Network. It is a great site as not only does it allow portfolios to display different media (even video clips!) its main focus is the cross pollination of ideas based on an open communication and interaction between members. It is open to all design disciplines, and has one of the best interfaces I have experiences on portfolio sites.

Also for Industrial Designers it is almost vital that you have something on Coroflot, the whole world is there, and most ID talent spotting agencies frequent that site first. As a closing to this segment, I do recommend that all designers join Linked In as well. It is more focused towards businesses in general and a great place to list a CV. For designers to be successful in industry they will need to cross that business line and this site helps bridge the gap.

Forums
Finally designers should occasionally frequent discussion forums. Though not really necessary these days with blogs, but the few I visit include Core 77 Forums, Product Design Forums and IDAsia.org.

Core77 used to be filled with “flame wars” but have since been cleaned up with better moderating and is now a good site for help. It is thought very US centric. Product Design Forums covers the European market, however the site tends to lean towards a more how-to environment with lots of advice and tutorials on technical design skills. Finally IDAsia.org, a site that I manage, aims to cover a much smaller Asian industrial design scene.

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I hope you enjoyed this list as much as I did compiling it. It is by no means complete or intended to be comprehensive, but it is meant to be a living resource that is open to suggestions and additions or deletions. Please let me know if I have missed out any sites or if there is a site that I should also consider?