Daniel Pink's Six Senses: Design

This is my Design contribution to a collaboration website featuring Daniel Pink's The Six Senses segment of his insightful book: A Whole New Mind.

Design is "utility enhanced by significance" - Daniel Pink The first of the six senses highlighted by Daniel Pink in his book A Whole New Mind, is Design. He maintains that we are moving from an era which stressed functionality, to an era which stresses creative design. Functional Design The creation of inexpensive mass production has resulted in cheap, functional goods available to the masses. It is also resulted in the movement and loss of jobs to overseas production. Daniel Pink states that creative design is part of what will propel us into a more creative age where products become more "beautiful, whimsical or emotionally engaging." The Democracy of Design "Today we must all be designers" - Daniel Pink Daniel Pink highlights a charter high school CHAD (Charter High School for Architecture) where all students apply architectural design to all subjects they study. If Daniel Pink were writing his book today, rather than in 2005, he may well be citing the ability of anyone to design, create and market objects from jewelry and art to tools and household items. These objects can be printed on one's own prototype machine, or at a facility such as Shapeways above. According to Ray Kurzweil, current efforts to incorporate electronics into designs will result in the ability to design and email a toaster, or other product to another who can then print it. Functionality + Personal Design! 3 Reasons for Design 1) Thanks to increased prosperity and advanced technologies, good designs are widely accessible by the public, and more people can take advantage of superior designs. 2) Abundance creates pressure on businesses to differentiate their products from purely functional products, by combining superior design with functionality. The Nest thermostat at right is one such product. It learns your temperature patterns over time and adjusts automatically. 3) As more people embrace a sense of design, we can use this to "change the world." Design Means Business / Business means Design Daniel Pink expands on the 2nd reason for design listed above by highlighting companies in traditional industries that view design as the one element that differentiates them from the competition. Although Pink highlights GM, Sony and BMW, Apple is clearly the star of this category.

The Design Portfolio Keep a Design Notebook Design Notebook Buy a small notebook and carry it with you everywhere. Note both good and poor designs. Channel Your Annoyance Recognize poor design by noting objects that annoy you. Redesign it and send the redesign in to the company or person who created it. Something good may come of it, like being hired by Bill Gates to redesign PowerPoint presentations! Read Design Magazines Sharpen your design instincts by reading magazines that highlight great design Suggested titles: Ambidextrous: A Stanford University Project exploring design principles Dwell: A magazine devoted to shelters. Public service and the environment themes. HOW: A business magazine with design as a central theme iD: Award-winning, with an Annual Design Review competition, this magazine is ideal for new and up-coming designers. Metropolis: Construction design magazine featuring sustainable design concepts. O Magazine: Oprah Windfrey produced magazine. One of Daniel Pink's favorite magazines for both design and content. Print: Large graphic design magazine Real Simple - Design with utility in mind. Be Like Karim Karim Rashid is one of the most prolific designers of his generation. His Karimanifesto is a document featuring his design philosophy. Become a Design Detective Look at home designs by dropping by open houses. Note what designs appeal and what turn you off. Evaluate the emotional and physical appeal of the designs. Consider which designs elements you would like to incorporate into your own home or workplace. Participate in the "Third Industrial Revolution" Design something yourself. To extend Daniel Pink's suggestions, consider designing a product using Makerbot's software and selling the design using the thingiverse online shop dedicated to the sale of 3-D object designs! Visit a Design Museum Many major cities have museums dedicated to Fine Art and Design. Here is a top 10 list provided by Pink: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum (New York City): Major works in the design field are featured, including Cooper-Hewitt's. Design Exchange (Toronto): Featuring the best of Canadian and international designs. Design Museum (London): Great designs from both the 20th and 21st centuries. Eames House (Los Angeles) - Featuring the famous furniture designs of Charles and Ray Eames. The museum is the home that they designed which contains many of their 20th century works. Herbert Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography (New York City): This center is devoted to preserving great works of graphic designs. Museum of Modern Art, Architecture and Design Department (New York City): Also known as MoMA. Permanent collections of a variety of designs: cars, furniture, posters, appliances and more. National Building Museum (Washington, D.C.): Exhibits on architecture and urban designs. Victoria and Albert Museum (London): Huge national museum of art and design covers two thousand years of design. Vitra Design Museum (Weil am Rhein, Germany): Features the top industrial designs of Europe. William F. Eisner Museum of Advertising and Design (Milwaukee, Wisconsin): Contemporary museum highlighting print design and some industrial design. CRAP-ify Your Graphic Design Robin Williams' book at shown here is a wonderful guide to simple design basics and examples. Put it on a Table First place objects with which you have a deep emotional bond on a table. Examine them to explore the following questions: 1) What does it make you think of? What are the feelings it conjures? 2) How does it affect your five senses? 3) Think of how you made the sensory connections to the object and the ways it made you feel. Do the same with objects you don't have an emotional pre-attachment. Be Choosy Choose classic designs or high-concept designs, but realize that they can never be as important as the interpersonal relationships you form with family, friends and yourself.