From An Egg To A Studebaker And Greyhound Bus, Mapping A Design Process. Designing is a conclusion of ideas, a realization, a time to put pen to paper or ask your bank manager for a loan. The most difficult thing for a creative thinker is administering ideas and managing processes, the two ways of thinking are poles apart.
Discipline
Self discipline is the only way to overcome weaknesses, it’s something you can’t be taught, you have to learn it through practice. You have to prepare yourself to take the rigors of every day business activities, jab with your left and hook with your right, just like Ali did. Taking all your ideas and converting them into business propositions. This in its self is hard enough. Trying to get financial backing for blue sky is even harder. So, again you have to transpose your ideas into a logical, tangible context. Bank managers don’t want to see pretty pictures; they’re analytical and just want the facts and figures. Give them a business strategy.
Think Business Alignment
Develop a concept and visualize the organizations that link with your ideas, this creates a mappible course from beginning to end. Are your ideas and concepts in demand? Begin with the end in mind, research and be flexible enough to make modifications along the way, nothing is set in stone; often, it’s best to conscript knowledge and collateral from established industry members, so you can piggy back on their strengths. This is a proven method to get your foot in the door. It’s the difference between a cold calling and an introduction. “It’s not what you know, it’s about knowing who can advise you best” This fits with business alignment, because each step leads you closer to your goals.
The Fundamental Law Of Economics
Achieving your goals in the most powerful way is through influencing others and utilizing the strengths that you yourself are lacking in. In economics we learn about maximizing resources, its governing law is greater return for less effort. This comes into play through continuous improvement, doing the same things in a better way concludes less time and effort to achieve the same result. At this point your percentage of profit increases
The Beginning And The End
How does a bird egg influence the design of an automobile? Inspiration can come from anywhere, at any time. The 1950 Studebaker - Commander, The Greyhound Bus and the 1939 Pennsylvania S1 locomotive were all inspired by the egg. Renowned industrial designer Raymond Loewy insisted that the egg was the most naturally aero dynamic form, so he put his theory to successive practice in locomotive and automobile design. Further and less forgettable, he designed the Coke bottle, the Shell logo, the Kelvinator. In fact he delved into every industry, fashion and architecture, and in my opinion his stylized buildings (Greyhound Bus Terminal Louisville Kentucky) are second only to those by Frank Lloyd Wright.
A Creator
As a creative thinker and designer, I draw inspirations from historic reflections. To learn about something, you can read and do, but to exercise and expound worth and knowledge you must write. It’s a bit of a culmination, the things learned through reading and doing you can easily put in words, and it’s kind of like carrying on the tradition, the more you write on a subject the more proficient you become in the art, and, the more you learn about the subject you are writing about. You can see, it is really a cyclical process, one thing leads to another. It’s business alignment.
I like the story of Art Deco, because it was more of an era (1910 to 1940 to be precise) than a defined style. A revolution would better describe this movement.
My Current Project
This has become my latest study, my core subject matter. There are shed loads of articles, book and images recording art Deco’s precise history. I have images of architecture, automobiles, fashion, furniture on my desk and a few textiles draped over my couch, so I am continually inspired. The outcome must certainly be a benchmark in
floral designer silk ties and
handmade cufflinks; stylized.
