Design Sojourn | Strategic Industrial Design Blog » Design Articles

What are your Principles of Good Design?

DT — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:27:08 +0000

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.

Oh No! Another Design Bites the Dust…

DT — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 15:53:19 +0000

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.

How I Simplified My Life and Became a More Efficient Designer

DT — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 10:34:47 +0000

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.

Mechanical Critters, an Interview with Chico Bicalho

DT — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 04:45:42 +0000

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.

How to be a Design Superstar!

DT — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 10:43:55 +0000

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.

The Corporate Designer’s Survival Guide

DT — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:01:58 +0000

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!

Let’s talk about Design Strategy and Sustainable Behaviors

DT — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 16:01:22 +0000

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.

Six Tips for Managing Design or Specification “Creep”

DT — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:45:18 +0000

One of the issues industrial designers, often working in a high level strategic roles, face is the dreaded "Design Creep" or some call "Specification Creep". Year after year it's the same old unproductive story, and I hazard a guess probably 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.

Innovation is Everybody’s Responsibility

DT — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 11:35:40 +0000

A few times a year most companies tend to start or relook 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 Innovations 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?"

Essential Websites for Industrial Designers

DT — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:23:58 +0000

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.

The Importance of Mastering Materials Use and Manufacturing Processes

py — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 04:34:07 +0000

Our guest contributor py brings us this week a very informational article on how a designer can get better in the use of materials and their manufacturing processes. As usual it is very well researched, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks py!

A strong understanding of material use and manufacturing processes is essential and needed in the Industrial Design industry today. Materials are an important consideration for any product design that needs to be realized. Therefore the right selection of materials and manufacturing processes is important in enabling a successful product launched to market. Due to the advancements in modern technology, the range and variety of materials have increased way beyond basic materials such just wood, metal and plastic. So how then can we choose the right material for our products?

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Industrial Designers: Final Sunday

DT — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 05:45:39 +0000

Our final Sunday's habit of effective Industrial Designers is that they are "able to wear many hats".

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Industrial Designers: Saturday

DT — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 06:15:20 +0000

Saturday's habit of effective Industrial Designers is that they have "Strong communication and people skills".

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Industrial Designers: Friday

DT — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 06:11:26 +0000

Friday's habit of effective Industrial Designers is that they have the "Ability to sell well".

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Industrial Designers: Thursday

DT — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:12:12 +0000

Thursday's habit of effective Industrial Designers is that they have "A Renaissance outlook in life and unique specialist interests".

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Industrial Designers: Wednesday

DT — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 08:04:03 +0000

Wednesday's habit of effective Industrial Designers is that they have "Good general management skills".

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Industrial Designers: Tuesday

DT — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 07:40:37 +0000

Tuesday's habit of effective Industrial Designers is "Proactive, passionate, motivated and truly loves what he/she does".

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Industrial Designers: Monday

DT — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:03:41 +0000

Monday's habit is that effective industrial designers are "Creative problem solving instead of problem creating".

The future of the Industrial Design Discipline

DT — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:41:45 +0000

Every once a while I like to look back to see what sort of trend predictions research companies made, that have come true. In 2002, some clever researches from British Telecom published in BTexec that in 5 years time, ie 2007, lifestyle brands will dominate. I must say unlike many other predictions these [...]

10 Tips for Guaranteed Concept Development Success

DT — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 08:12:40 +0000

Sketch by Michael Bretherton The concept development phase can be one of the best or most frustrating times a designer can experience during the design process. Furthermore managing the concept development work from both from an Art directors or designer’s view point can also be no easy task. Managing creativity is almost like an art form, [...]