“I hate remote controls”

For this weeks’ blog post, we watched videos from the series 30 Conversations on Design.  I watched the short films of Emily Pilloton, John Miletello, and Michael Lebowitz.  In the videos, they discussed where they get their creative inspiration for design and what design should address in the future.  It was very interesting to hear the different answers from each designer.  I’ll start with Pilloton.  She was mainly concerned not with the product of design, but with the process of design.  This is not a new concept by any means, but it is still a very important one to hear.  I think with any project, if you can put in as much time thinking and sketching your idea as actually executing, the quality of the project is significantly stronger.  She feels there is an opportunity to teach students about design in their early stages of education.  Design, in education, could help to shape the decision process of the students to be better problem solvers.

Next, I watched the video on John M. Miletello, a Google employee talking positively about Apple products, which I found interesting.  He points out the idea of design as evolution.  For example, before the iPad was developed, consumers had little need for a tablet, but Apple created the need.  Design is always changing.  He finds his inspiration from fellow designers.  I find similar inspiration in other’s works.  When I see the designs people can accomplish, it inspires me.   If they can do it, why can’t I.  Lastly, he discusses how design could be directed towards transportation.  Unfortunately, it might be too little too late.  If we had designers more involved with the layouts of our cities, it could have been different.  Unfortunately, suburbs aren’t conducive to leaving a minimal carbon footprint; however, design could be very useful in public transportation and maximizing access to it.  Also, making it more effective.  Plus, he hates remote controls.

The last film I watched was with Michael Lebowitz.  He discussed the importance of the touch screen.  Having his three year old able to pick up and play with the iPad, shows the value in intuitive design.  Designing things in a more humanistic way can help to make technology more accessible and efficient.  He thinks the future of design for technology lies in the software.  I think Apple is a testament to this.  There are other products with similar or better hardware; however, nobody has even come close to their mobile operating system.  This is why they will never go away.  Software allows for designers to be extremely flexible.  I look forward to seeing where design takes us with ever-changing technology.