TINA EISENBERG ON CREATIVITY AND BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR

Very inspiring talk by Tina Eisenberg at the South by Southwest festival. She has started a whole bunch of cool projects and well worth watching her talk about why she loves what she does.

Here is her list of guiding principles:

Invest your life in what you love
Embrace enthusiasm
Don’t complain. Make things better.
Trust and empower
Experiences are greater than Money
Surround yourself with like-minded people
Collaborate
Ignore haters
Make time to think and breathe
If an opportunity scares you, take it
Be someone’s eccentric aunt

WHY DESIGN? HERMAN MILLER DESIGNERS TALK ABOUT THEIR PROCESS

A very inspiring series of short videos on the design process, from Herman Miller. “The design process is a journey into the unknown-or as George Nelson once quipped, ‘I have never met a designer who was retained to keep things the same as they were.’ ”

I couldn’t agree more!

TALL TALES FROM A LARGE MAN

Aaron Draplin telling it straight, no chaser, Design talk-o-rama, from Sweden with love.

Draplin is a rockstar in his own right though, thanks to his design talents that have brought him from his modest upbringing in his hometown of Detroit to the designing logos for the U.S. government and Hollywood legend John Hughes. Draplin’s message is decidedly about staying small, and sticking to the American values of integrity and adventure as it applies to design.

ICE CUBE SALUTES CHARLES AND RAY EAMES

Ice Cube celebrating the American National Treasures, Charles and Ray Eames

Doesn’t get any better . . . listen up.

WHAT CLIENTS DON’T KNOW AND WHY ITS YOUR FAULT

Great talk by Mike Monteiro of Mule Design Studios on “What Clients Don’t Know” and why it is the job of the designer to communicate clearly and with empathy to the clients, so they understand the design process and why it will assist them in achieving their goals.

When in-house or external clients go out in search of design they often have no idea how to describe what they need, measure what they’re looking for, or evaluate who they might work for and subsequently, the work that’s produced. As designers it’s our job to help site owners and stakeholders figure these things out and to give them the tools and knowledge they need to evaluate whether what we do is what they need. Without that insight clients have nothing to go on but good instinct and subjectivity. Learn how to give your clients and stakeholders the mental tools and vocabulary they need to help you create more successful sites.

Always inspiring talks from Mike.