Designers need to be 3 People at the Same Time!

Designer Lifehack
Posted by DT
Aug 01, 2008
(7 comments)

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To be an industrial designers you have to be three people at the same time.

You have to be the crazy person.

Then you have to be the person who reviews those crazy ideas and says, “no, not that, and not that either”.

The third person has to be the observer who stands off to the side and managers that process.

If you fall in love with what you’re doing too soon in the process, you’re eliminating all the chances to come up with a different variation of the idea. There has to be a disinterested observer of the process.

You have to recognize your ego structure, and you have to be very humble and know that you should be sort of scared each time you start something new because it could go horribly awry.

~ Syd Mead, from a Concept Design interview in Axis Magazine, 6 June 2008, Vol. 133 (Note: I’ve broken down the original quote into paragraphs for a better read)

This fantastic quote from, Futurist and Industrial Designer, Syd Mead describes the mental challenges Industrial Designers need to take when they work through a design. It’s not easy having multiple personalties eh?




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    • Comments

    Kin
    Aug 01, 08 – 7:45 pm

    From a student perspective I laughed at the crazy person, understood the reviewer who cuts ideas and am need of creating a stronger faucet of the disinterested third person. Or more to the point, I need to get the disinterested person more interested in being the disinterested side observing manager of affairs. I like this way of thinking.

    Paolo
    Aug 02, 08 – 12:28 pm

    Great quote and i think it applies to many different aspects of life and career as well. Subscribed.

    DT
    Aug 02, 08 – 11:18 pm

    @kin Thanks for your comment, I did not quite get it at first, but after reading it a few times I kinda got it. Good Luck!

    @Paolo Thanks for subscribing, do stay tuned for more great stuff!

    Quote Catcher Website Design
    Aug 05, 08 – 5:18 am

    Great article, I couldn’t agree more. Once your project has become your ‘baby’, your in trouble. I actually try to identify 3 things I don’t like about what I’m working on each time I look at it. This forces me to turn a critical eye and see things I may otherwise overlook.

    Industrial Guru
    Aug 06, 08 – 10:58 pm

    Great post DT. It is very true, and very tiring! The dilemma of “objective self-analysis” is a bit tricky to get around.. which is why they invented red bull :P

    -I.G.

    links for 2008-08-06 | Nofi dot org
    Aug 07, 08 – 1:26 am

    [...] Designers need to be 3 People at the Same Time! [...]

    DT
    Aug 07, 08 – 10:00 am

    @quotecatcher and @industrial guru, thanks for stopping by and please keeping in touch.


    Commenting Rules: I love reading your comments as it allows me to interact and learn from you. Being critical is fine, giving constructive criticism, even better. However if you are rude, I will delete your comment. Repeat, and I will blacklist you. The world is full of negativity, so I don't need anymore on my blog, which I consider my online home. Would you encourage Neanderthal behavior in your home? Neither would I.

    Finally please use your personal name or initials and not your business name. By doing the latter, it comes off like spam, and that’s an auto delete. Thank you and I hope you enjoy being part of the conversation!


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