Kit Henrich, in the short film “Bare Bones,” answers the question “What problem would you like to solve using design?” His answer, “airport security.” Designers have the ability to do more than convey a message or organize in aesthetically pleasing combination. Successful design can solve problems. Henrich suggests that the government can hire an industrial design firm to bring the “arcane” security system into the twenty-first century. Remove the 1950s conveyor belts and washtubs, and create a more fluid process by using sound industrial design.
John Militello, in “Brains & Beauty,” is inspired by not only obvious greats like Leonardo DaVinci, Raymond Lowy, Apple and Google but also un-named designers everywhere. He is inspired by people he doesn’t even know. When he sees their work, whether it be a spoon or a pen, he appreciates that it works. It simply works, and works beautifully. It takes a collective “design-mind” to solve problems world-wide. It is almost like nature itself. The design-mind has a power to look at things in a different way. Militello suggests that the design-minds coalesce to solve the transportation problems we have today without creating a negative affect on nature, the environment and other peoples ways of life.
Deborah Adler, in “The Heart,” is most inspired by the Pieta by Michaelangelo in Saint Peter’s Basilica. She was first move by its beauty and emotion when she went to Rome in 1987. She returned recently and found that she remains just as moved by the raw emotion that Michaelango captured in his sculpture of Mary holding her dying son. Adler feels like aiming for that raw emotion should be a goal for all designers. Appreciating the audience and their response to your design is key to successful design.