Walt Disney “We don't make movies to make money. We make money to make more movies.”Walt Disney Steve Jobs “If you keep your eye on the profit, you’re going to skimp on the product. But if you focus on making really great products, then the profits will follow.”Steve Jobs Ayn Rand "I don't intend to …
Clues to timeless visual symbols
"We are definitively against any fashion of design and any design fashion. We despise the culture of obsolescence, the culture of waste, the cult of the ephemeral. We detest the demand of temporary solutions, the waste of energies and capital for the sake of novelty."Massimo Vignelli, the Vignelli Canon We want our creations to last …
From a spoon to a city
An architect must be able to design everything from a spoon to a city. I have always been fascinated by people who display a broad range of creative output. Our culture pushes us towards specialization and labels, hence it can be a bit hard to explore diverse interests. But when people do, they create great …
The human behind the computer
Isn't it strange that we live in a world where being able to think about humans is a specific skill or talent? Picture by Averie Woodard Again and again I come in contact (and sometimes conflict) with intelligent, educated and experienced people running companies who have no clue that there is a human being sitting …
When you start, you suck
Over last few weeks I have been reflecting on my past work, and one big idea which hit me - when you begin something, anything, you really, really suck. We see the very final polished versions of products and ideas when we consume them, hence it is hard to imagine how raw, unformed, and fragile …
You are on mute
“If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.” Ralf Speth You are the CEO of 1.5 Trillion dollar company (yes, Trillion with a 'T'), and you are being questioned by lawmakers about a potentially hostile country's spying on you. The lawmaker leans in to the microphone. Do …
Ideas Coming to Life
Designers enjoy some unique privileges in our society. Designers are paid to care about the human experience when others worry about system performance, targets, budgets. Designers get rewarded for their taste - something we all want, but doesn't necessarily have. And designers have the responsibility of inventing from a blank page, almost everyday. But one …
Beaming in…
The transition to remote life is upon us. You are probably using Zoom or Google Hangouts or Microsoft teams to get work done, and maybe also connect to your family members. The internet is abuzz with memes which convey these ideas much better than I can express in mere words. Well-edited artwork aside, if you …
You have a powerful brain
But maybe you don't know its power yet. Our long term memory is practically infinite, and we almost never lose it. This is why humans can keep learning and compounding their knowledge. This is why there are so many people with jaw-dropping productivity. This is why there is such a huge range in the productivity …
Low Floors, High Ceilings
Making tools Seymour Papert, the educationist and key thinker in the field of Artificial Intelligence, believed in a principle called "Low Floors, high ceilings". “When discussing technologies to support learning and education, my mentor Seymour Papert often emphasized the importance of “low floors” and “high ceilings.” For a technology to be effective, he said, it …
Curated Intelligence 