“…Beauty is skin deep, and so is our evolutionary response. Nothing wrong with that. It’s a layer of decision making we need… If you make something everyone loves, that’s a mark of mediocre design, not great design … I don’t want to control my DVD, I want to watch a movie…”

“For nearly 30 years Dieter Rams served as head of design for German appliance company Braun. Until his retirement in 1997, Rams designed all types of products, from radios and record players to coffeemakers and calculators, many of which entered the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art… Dieter Rams: ‘I have distilled the essentials of my design philosophy into ten points. But these points cannot be set in stone because just as technology and culture are constantly developing, so are ideas about good design.’”

“MBDC is articulating and putting into practice a new design paradigm; what Time calls ‘a unified philosophy that — in demonstrable and practical ways — is changing the design of the world.’ Instead of designing cradle-to-grave products, dumped in landfills at the end of their ‘life,’ MBDC transforms industry by creating products for cradle-to-cradle cycles, whose materials are perpetually circulated in closed loops. Maintaining materials in closed loops maximizes material value without damaging ecosystems.”

“designboom has grown to become the foremost european design e-zine, launched on april 2000, the independent site evolved into one of the largest and most popular destinations on the web. designboom connects the international design community by offering its designers, architects, manufacturers and other design interested people all over the world useful articles on design history and on the contemporary creative scene.”

“The Design Council’s purpose is to ‘inspire and enable the best use of design by the UK, in the world context, to improve prosperity and well-being.’ It helps people and organisations in business, education, public services and government understand design and use it effectively as part of their strategy. By working directly with businesses, the Design Council is aiming to demonstrate the methods and processes behind design success, making them easier for other companies to adopt.”

“The Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) are dedicated to fostering business and public understanding of the importance of industrial design excellence to the quality of life and the economy and showcase the best industrial design from across the US and around the world.”

“Ever notice how often a product that makes a huge splash at tradeshows fizzles in the marketplace? The story goes like this: Product is introduced at show to much fanfare. News media gives Product lots of press, and consumers everywhere express interest in Product’s features and capabilities. Product hits store shelves … and stays there. Some early adopters purchase Product, but it never penetrates into mass consumer markets.”

“Kansei is a japanese term where the syllable kan means sensitivity and sei means sensibility. It is used to express the quality of an object for producing pleasure through its use. Therefore, there are objects with much kansei, and others with little or no kansei at all… Professor Mitsuo Nagamachi developed, back in the seventies, a technique to incorporate these issues in the industrial design methodology. This technique, named Kansei Engineering, has already been put into practice by several companies quite succesfully.”

“One can feel happy about the car that functions properly, aesthetically pleased by the gentle curve of a mobile telephone, proud of possessing a particular necklace, feel indignant because the intelligent product used seems to have a (stupid) mind of its own, and angry because the drawer makes a grating sound. Research in this area investigates what critical factors of human-product interaction contribute to an emotional experience.”

“The most important event in thousands of years has happened: We have contacted extraterrestrial life… The alien ambassadors will be staying in the finest hotel in New York. However, their bodies are quite different from ours, so many of the things in their hotel room simply will not work. We need you to redesign these objects for the ambassadors. You’ll need to apply the principles of industrial design to make sure they are comfortable and safe.”

“Virginia Postrel, the author of The Future and Its Enemies, writes the Economic Scene column for The New York Times business section every fourth Thursday. Her new book, The Age of Look and Feel will be published by HarperCollins in June 2003. In the book, she explores the economic, cultural, social, personal and political implications of the growing importance of aesthetics in business and society.”

“[Craig] Vogel is a professor of design. With Jonathan Cagan, a mechanical-engineering professor at the university, he teaches a course in product development. The two academics research and consult on the subject of new product design for such companies as Ford Motor, Motorola, and Whirlpool. This is what they’ve learned so far: Companies don’t do a very good job of developing new products.”

“To demonstrate its process for innovation for an episode of ABC’s late-night news show Nightline, IDEO created a new shopping cart concept, considering issues such as maneuverability, shopping behavior, child safety, and maintenance cost.”

“…IDSA held one of their National ‘DesignAbouts’ in Manhattan, with hosts Symbol Technologies. The conference theme, ‘Innovation,’ attracted about 100 of ID’s best and brightest… A few take-away points: -Simplicity takes ages to master; -Rekindle the loss of childhood imagination with the “mastery of play” as a tactic for innovation; -Sasha says, ‘If you don’t want to see something, open your eyes.’”

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