| If there is anything distinctive or unique about my | | | | turn objects around so that I could discover their |
| design philosophy or approach, I don't think it is clearly | | | | meaning. |
| evident when looking at the finished products I | | | | But I came from a family that taught me to see |
| designed. I can sum it up, however, with the following | | | | beyond circumstance, find value and create usefulness |
| principles: | | | | out of need. The legacy I inherited required that I make |
| Esthetics | | | | myself useful - as a son, man, husband, father and |
| I strongly believe that things should not be forced to | | | | artist. If I were to share one thought with the design |
| look a certain way. Appearance should evolve or | | | | community of today and tomorrow it would be to |
| come about naturally as a result of function. The visual | | | | remember that your purpose - your gift to the world - |
| statement should express a harmony with why the | | | | is to provide straightforward solutions to real problems |
| product exists - what it does, how it is made, what it is | | | | for living, breathing human beings. As an industrial |
| made of - and look pleasing if not beautiful. | | | | designer especially, your audience is neither history nor |
| Ingenuity | | | | fame, but a couple who worked hard to buy their first |
| I believe that design should search all possible ways to | | | | home on a quiet street and would love just one more |
| maximize the usefulness of the result. This built-in | | | | hour of sleep in the morning, even on trash day. Your |
| versatility means that it may provide more than one | | | | muse is the kid who needs something to occupy his |
| function. If it is a product, the materials and | | | | mind and hands during that long drive to grandma's |
| manufacturing process used must be creatively | | | | house. Your biggest critic will be the struggling mother |
| explored and mated in a way that incorporates all | | | | who can't afford to keep replacing her kitchen |
| opportunities. | | | | appliances every time a little piece of ornate but |
| Sincerity and Honesty | | | | useless piece of plastic breaks off. |
| These design principles speak to lasting value. The | | | | Know the difference between deep satisfaction and |
| honest designer must be conscious of not introducing | | | | simply delivering a 'wow.' The latter is fancy and |
| fake or insincere elements - imitations of natural | | | | derives from simply delivering the unexpected. On the |
| materials or components such as knobs or handles | | | | other hand, I believe that deep satisfaction arises when |
| that don't work - that may add visual interest but have | | | | you find an elegant solution to a problem that has, until |
| no connection to function. For me, this disconnect | | | | now, had a hindering effect or negative impact on a |
| defined the difference between simple cosmetics and | | | | person's quality of life or experience. The elegant |
| genuine esthetics. | | | | solutions I am talking about should be executed in such |
| And when one designs a product, the effort must | | | | a straightforward manner as to nearly scream their |
| enhance the quality of peoples' lives. In other words - | | | | presence to the world. |
| and I firmly believe in this - contribute what you can, | | | | Function should be obvious - a straightforward solution |
| excluding trickery, cuteness, imitation or | | | | to a meaningful problem. If I humbly submit my life's |
| misrepresentation. The intention is to strive for a | | | | design as an example of anything, I would dare say |
| straightforward, clear and simple solution. When intent | | | | that I have shown, through conscious effort and |
| is adhered to throughout the design process, the end | | | | accident that human beings are the most creative |
| result will project the image that the product "belongs" | | | | when we encounter the unexpected. Software will |
| and is there to help and contribute. | | | | give you exactly what you ask for. Corporations drive |
| When considering my life's design, I have to say that | | | | toward the bottom line, and sometimes the lowest |
| as with the works that I have tried to create, shape or | | | | common denominator. On the other hand, a pencil and |
| improve, form has arisen from use. And use, or | | | | paper might throw you a curve. A lack of job security |
| usefulness, has gone beyond mere circumstance and | | | | may cause you to find security deep within yourself. |
| has had its root buried deep in the soil of need. | | | | The afternoon sun may literally shed light on a problem |
| Circumstance dictated that a boy from the rural South, | | | | in a way that you may not have seen at daybreak. |
| a black boy whose family lived on the fine edge | | | | Being the odd man out may give you the right |
| between poverty and doing all right, was destined to | | | | perspective. Learning to fish without a pole might just |
| neither amount to nor contribute much. Add to that a | | | | change your life. |
| condition that forced me to train my mind to literally | | | | |