Science + Art

Well dammit. I just listened to an interview today and went to look the guy up, and he's dead. Sheesh.

Charming British fellow, captivating speaker (maybe it's the accent), recipient of a lifetime achievement award for design, author of two books - the latest one he discussed briefly on the podcast interview.

Okay, so Bill Moggridge, industrial designer, was interviewed on Design Matters podcast. He explained his goal is (was) that every student should have some sort of chance at design experience by age 12. That if people understood that everything they touch, every physical item around them, has all been designed ...

Well it was quite a good interview. And someone needs to carry on spreading this message.

Science plus Art equals Design.  And everybody can design something. Everyone interacts with things and experiences and tastes and senses. We are surrounded by design. It's all about how a thing is designed that makes an experience stellar - or completely invisible.

The invisible or unnoticed design is the most perfect - because it doesn't interfere with one's natural actions.

Art is so very closely related to engineering, and I have come to realize there are a huge number of young folks passionate about art, and yet the message I had in my mind even just a decade ago was "art is a hobby, not a career." I was so wrong.

To anyone interested in art, explore it fully. Art isn't just creating an attractive surface on a canvas, it is the very thing driving our economy - and the economy of the entire planet. Cars, planes, trains, automobiles, cell phones, robots, prosthetic limbs, hearing aids, shoes, seatbelts, door handles, computer interface devices, solar panels, telescopes, materials like Kevlar, ALL of the man-made things we can touch or see around us have artistic input!

So don't give up on art just because math is scary. We have computers to do the crazy math anyway. And even you don't want to be an engineer, business needs artisans, designers!