Monthly Archives: May 2014

Why Do I Design?

I design to make things better.

Design is not about the ‘creative’ – The fluffy, blue sky thinking where an idea will be magically plucked out of the air, and time is spent prettifying something.

Design is about making something for someone that doesn’t exist yet, and does something they need.

In short, design needs constraints. It needs a user, it needs a goal and it needs to be measurable.

Design must solve a problem.

For that reason design cannot and should not happen without research; lots of it.

Start thinking about who will use it, and how you can solve the problem for them. Don’t lose sight of the user. It has to work for them. They must be able to understand and be able to use it.

Design isn’t inspiration. It is observation.

Observe, learn, and understand. Always ask questions and figure out why it works.

Being a designer means constantly observing and understanding our surroundings.

Design is how it works. The whole thing. The visual part is just the tip of the iceberg.

Getting a big idea is not an act of inspiration, but one of discovery. Immerse yourself.

Observe the world around you, because design is everything. Everything.

To predict the future, we must design it.