I think we take it for granite, how much of an influence design has on our daily lives. 
Everything we do, interact with, live in, and use just to accomplish a daily task has had the influence of a designer to some extent. Just sitting in my apartment I can see that design was used to create this building, and create the layout of each room, it was used to create the furniture I bought or utensils in my kitchen, it was used to create the pattern on my bed spread or the whiteboard hanging on my refrigerator. Every element, from the most complicated to the most simplistic has had the influence of a designer in one way or another. This assignment, Thirty Conversations on Design, allowed me to gain insight as to how other designers think, process, are inspired and view the world around them.
I think in order to be a good designer you have to be willing to think outside of the box, to take a risk and be willing to see something from another point of view. If we always stayed in our little bubbles there would be no new designs or ideas, every product would look the same and every problem would be solved the exact same way. I loved when Emily Pilloton said the childhood ‘thing’ that influenced her design skills the most wasn’t even a thing but rather a fictional character; MacGyver. Emily spoke about how MacGyver was constantly building something from nothing…but not just something..something amazing. I personally have only seen a few shows of MacGyver, but it is inspiring to watch someone take something as simple as a paper clip and supposedly transform it into something amazing. Although, a lot of the devices are impossible to create the way MacGyver did, it shows that you have to be willing to take a risk and think of obstacles in a different way in order to over come them and have something new and exciting.
I was really surprised to see Tony Hawk as a featured designer…and to be talking about a product that wasn’t even his, Apple Computers. Although I fought it forever, you can’t ignore the fact that Apple is the leading company in terms of design. I can remember being in elementary school and the computer lab getting the big bulky colored Apple computers and thinking they were the coolest things, and then when the slimmer all white computers replaced them they were even cooler. Apple has been the first to take technology design to the next level not only with computers, but with phones, the iPod and iTouch, the iPad and other devices and accessories to go along with them. It now seems that every other technology company is trying to just keep up. Apple designs are chic and unique, easy to use and incorporate into our daily lives, and something we are proud to show off and work with. A computer is something we use almost every day so you want it to be nice to look at as well as nice to use.
Believe it or not I love hearing from other designers, artists programmers and the accelerated professionals in this field…I would actually prefer to hear the negative rather than the positive. Watching these videos gave me an inside look at how accelerated designers process, think and work in order to create something great. Studying what they find interesting and applying their design thoughts and processes to my work can only allow for improvement and better designs.