Desperately but somewhat clueless he was trying to unlock the entrance door with his id-card – like all of us, he had this plastic card on a practical belt clip – but the door didn’t open. I released him out of this hopeless situation by opening the door with my personal card and let him in. It was quite obvious that he was a colleague from within the company, and as it turned out, he was actually looking for me. “Why are the doors locked for company employees”, he immediately wanted to know, “there is a control right at the main entrance?” more…
Now, after many years of collaboration, I can say for sure that he’s truly favourably impressed: by design, and by designers. I would even assume that he secretly admires us, the designers.
His initially reserved and rejective stance against any member of the ‘design-species’ was resulting from, what I believe, the awareness that he could never do, what designers do, but designers might be able to do, what he’s doing – at least if they wanted to… and luckily enough, they didn’t! more…
It’s the time of the year so I was strolling the local Christmas market lately and passed by a craftsman who was weaving a basket. Somehow I was instantly impressed and stood still, starting to observe the activity of the basket-maker: his movements were swift and confident and he was even able to have a conversation with other observers, whilst craft-fully weaving this basket. All of a sudden he paused – he was about halfway finished with his piece – as if he felt something was not right: and indeed, the basketwork at the bottom had a different colour as the one at the top, also the braid seemed thinner. So he pulled all apart and started over. Upon which an old lady couldn’t resist and mention how pity this was and that she’d never noticed – and that he was almost finished anyway. “Dear Madam, he replied, you have to this work with conviction!” Baskets, he added, one should only sell, if they’re tip-top. “If you can improve, you have to improve, even if it means to start all over. You cant sell inferior crap!” he finished off in a truly convincing manner and continued weaving. The older lady patiently waited till he was done and then bought the basket. more…
He was truly ‘special’, to say it mildly… but actually he was a true choleric, hysteric and narcissistic person, narrow-minded, unforgiving and pungent according to many, many others. He would not let loose, he could be rude, direct and insensitive, but most of all he was obsessive – everything he did, and equally all others did for him, had to be perfect, nothing less. It had to be insanely great. more…
If you cannot see the forest for the trees, it doesn’t mean you can’t see at all – you just lack the focus on what’s essential. It’s just that you cannot zoom-in and cut-out all those impressions, which should not be taken into account.
This happens a lot, for instance when you scan the shelves in a store, to find the appropriate offer – in most cases, you walk-out without buying anything: overload leads to paralysis, too much information hampers recognition of the essential – it makes you uncertain. more…
It starts to irritate me, the more and more I’m confronted with it: the job-title ‘design manager’.
And the longer I spin my head around it, the more this title ends up being an oxymoron (Greek for ‘oxy’ = sharp and ‘moron’ = foolish) – next to this it’s also not clear to me, which part in the title is the ‘sharp’ one, which the ‘foolish’! more…
They are definitively different, to my opinion… or is it that I get older and fall into the same trap as my parents and their parents did before me: into the one of ignorance? With them, I refer to the youth, of course. No, the current generation is a definitively different one! more…
It was the time of the year and the obligatory visit to the largest trade show for consumer electronics was on schedule. Since many years I pay a visit to this temple of electronic gadgets, and along with me many colleagues and former colleagues in design. And every year the leaders in the industry, and those who want to push the big ones from their throne, meet up to showcase the world what they are capable of, and in how far they are better than the competition. more…
Within some companies the design, be it for products, communication or service seems to be conceived and executed by one single person: all just fit together perfectly. But we know that many design activities take place to create this perfect picture. Brands who have understood that a well-orchestrated and holistic experience across all touchpoints solidifies their identity are creating the basis for customer loyalty, and are a leading example to all other companies. Like with an orchestra playing out of tune, customers will turn away from companies, who are not able to harmonize the ‘interplay’ of their organizational parts to create a collective showing. Remember the story of the kitchen nightmare? more…
Hard to find these days, the old-fashioned post-order catalogue. Mostly you’ll find copies of this almost distinct species on kitchen tables, in crowded newspaper baskets, and for sure it’s to be found at the restroom, true?
You can browse for hours and sniff up all those beautiful products featured on glossy pages… more…