DESIGN LESSON 1:
"Figure out what's important, give it form, and make it work". That's a direct quote from a college professor I had
in graduate school design. The formula is one of the most important lessons I have ever learned about
the process of design.
There are so many internal and external influences that come
to bear on any given design project that the journey through consultation and research can sometimes obscure the destination.
I agree with my professor that at some point much of what is learned through ground- work and study about a project
must be laid aside and the most important discovery(ies) must drive the process forward.
The form a project takes is it's visible, physical manifestation of the design process.
The re-presentation of what a project building or landscape ultimately wants and asks to be is where the true creativity of
interpretation on the part of the designer lies.
Making it work is the thoughtful process of ensuring that
vehicles and people can easily move through the site or building, that it is safe and has adequate illumination, that storm
water flows away from it, and so on.
DESIGN LESSON 2: "Listen to what it
tells you what it wants to be." It sounds mystical I know, but it really has to do with developing a keen sense of quiet
listening. Here's how I discovered this lesson.
I once sold a car to the owner of software design company. When he wrote
me the check I went to get the title from the glove box and I accidentally locked the keys in the car. While I
was waiting for AAA to come and unlock the car I took the opportunity to question him about how he approaches design in his
line of work. He said he had something like 24 software designers that worked for him. He told me that when someone
would bring him a portion of the completed prototype software he would work with it and ask himself "Is this how
it wants to be?" As part of his process of design he would actually ask the conceptual and development work
what form the actual final product wanted to take. I was impressed by the method and never forgot it.
DESIGN LESSON 3: This one I got from
my son. When I was in design school and later when I worked from home I would draw on a drafting table and work
on the computer in my basement. Quite often both of my kids would come down and ask questions about what was on the
board and what I was working on. I got in the habit of asking my children what they thought of certain drawings or concepts.
I think mostly they didn't know how to answer. But, one time my son emphatically said to me "That's bad!"
I thought that was a golden concept. If, at the very least, you have a good eye for what is generally bad you have won
half the battle of design. That's what erasers and the Delete button are for.
