If it is not useful or necessary, free yourself from imagining that you need to make it.

If it is useful and necessary, free yourself from imagining that you need to enhance it by adding what is not an integral part of its usefulness or necessity.

And finally: If it is both useful and necessary and you can recognize and eliminate what is not essential, then go ahead and make it as beautifully as you can.

The rule of thumb for Shaker creations from the book Shaker Built: The Form and Function of Shaker Architecture by Paul Rocheleau, June Sprigg, and David Larkin

Why do designers often claim that corporate executives think differently from them?

We’re trained as engineers. We have MBAs. Because we believe that business is a reductionist activity, rather than a holistic activity. Mistake number one is treating design as a veneer issue rather than a soul issue. The dumbest mistake is viewing design as something you do at the end of the process to “tidy up” the mess, as opposed to understanding that it’s a “day one” issue and part of everything. (Peters, 2001, p. 2.11)

The above quote is from an excerpted interview of Tom Peter’s in @issue magazine, which was produced by Potlatch Paper to explore the interaction between design and business. The interview begins by talking about the intangible values that design can bring, quoting Steve Job’ aphorism that “design is the soul of a man-made creation” and moves on to the analogous example of the undefinable emotional resonance found in music. I found the passage above to be a useful articulation of a common misunderstanding of design’s potential. I wonder what is the best way to help clients think of design as a “soul” issue?

Here are some ways to address the gap between perceptions. If we begin to look at each other as necessary collaborators and work on communication to identify and satisfy needs, it is the best place to start. As well, considering design as a process rather than an outcome will help smooth working expectations.

—

Peters, T (2001). Design does matter, (Ed.) Russell, B. & Olivieri, G. Mt Laurel, NJ: Teknion.

In this course we call a colour bias an OVERTONE, a term borrowed from music. When a C string is plucked on a harp or struck on a piano, the string vibrates at a specific rate that causes our ears to hear a C. But in addition to the C, we also hear a weaker vibration: a G and (more subtly) an E. In fact, a diminishing succession of subdivisions always accompany the strong pitch of a plucked string. As when colours are mixed, when individual musical tones are combined, so are their overtones. The result is a denser sound than one might expect. Adding a third and fourth note thickens the harmonic texture. The role of colour bias in mixing paint parallels this acoustical phenomenon. (p. 15)

via David Hornung in Color: A workshop approach, 2005, Laurence King Publishing, London.

Why? How? What? This little idea explains why some organizations and some leaders are able to inspire where others aren’t. Let me define the terms really quickly. Every single person, every single organization on the planet knows what they do, 100 percent. Some know how they do it, whether you call it your differentiated value proposition or your proprietary process or your USP. But very, very few people or organizations know why they do what they do. And by “why” I don’t mean “to make a profit.” That’s a result. It’s always a result. By “why,” I mean: What’s your purpose? What’s your cause? What’s your belief? Why does your organization exist? Why do you get out of bed in the morning?And why should anyone care? Well, as a result, the way we think, the way we act, the way we communicate is from the outside in. It’s obvious. We go from the clearest thing to the fuzziest thing. But the inspired leaders and the inspired organizations—regardless of their size, regardless of their industry—all think, act and communicate from the inside out.

Let me give you an example. I use Apple because they’re easy to understand and everybody gets it. If Apple were like everyone else, a marketing message from them might sound like this: “We make great computers. They’re beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. Want to buy one?” “Meh.” And that’s how most of us communicate. That’s how most marketing is done, that’s how most sales is done and that’s how most of us communicate interpersonally. We say what we do, we say how we’re different or how we’re better and we expect some sort of a behavior, a purchase, a vote, something like that. Here’s our new law firm: We have the best lawyers with the biggest clients,we always perform for our clients who do business with us. Here’s our new car: It gets great gas mileage, it has leather seats, buy our car. But it’s uninspiring.

Here’s how Apple actually communicates. “Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?” Totally different right? You’re ready to buy a computer from me. All I did was reverse the order of the information. What it proves to us is that people don’t buy what you do; people buy why you do it. People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.

~ via TED

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

- Mark Twain

–The XIV Dalai Lama

I enjoyed hearing his thoughts on photography and image making, on the voyage of creation.