Michael Roller

New Category: Aesthetics

Because I’ve been writing a lot about my favorite pieces of design, I thought I should add a category for aesthetics. I hope to not only post cool looking products but also distill trends around popular forms and recommendations on how to use them.

There are many great blogs that already tell the world about the best new pieces of design.  My favorites shouldn’t be any surprise: Yanko Design, The Dieline, and NotCot.org. I also like blogs about strategic design methods and ideas. Shoutouts go to Noise Between Stations and bplusd. However, I haven’t found sites that combine aesthetic beauty with critical thinking, so that’s one theme I’ll develop on this site.

Are there any blogs already doing this that I should check out?

My Favorite Things: Four New Quadrant Maps

With a longer list of favorites, I created a new series of quadrant maps to do further analysis. Granted this whole project is very subjective, I’m starting to see some trends appear. I’m inclined towards objects that are semantically familiar, visually simple, relatively geometric forms. However, there consistently appears a small number of objects that are the extreme opposite in some way – unusual, visually complex objects that stand out from the crowd. These are mostly high design objects and furniture. The pink markers represent designs that I created myself, which mostly fall into place with the rest of the objects.

My preferences appear focused but not absolute. There is a place for something surprising or novel to break from the potential monotony of similar objects. It reminds me of how a graphic designers follows a grid system but breaks it for visual interest at key times. What do you think?

More of My Favorite Things

After getting some feedback, I decided that I needed to select a larger list of favorite products to better analyze my aesthetic preferences. I’ve tried to blend real products, concept products, and some of my own designs to get a good variety. I’ve included cars, fashion, architecture, beverages, watches, phones, chairs, and more. Check out the list, and check back shortly to see how they populate a variety of quadrant maps:

1. Saab 9X
2. Scion original xB
   
3. Honda Civic si
   
4. Vitamin Water
5. Ipsei packaging
6. Malin+Goetz
7. Vessel beverage concept
   
8. May Day Lamp
9. Grcic Chair One
10. Moroso Osorom
11. Paulistano Chair
12. Eames LCW
13. Antibodi Lounge
14. Wanders Sapphire
15. Vapour for Bombay Sapphire
16. Yes No Maybe for Bombay Sapphire
17. Artecnica tranSglass collection
18. Molo Float glassware
19. Motorola F3 MOTOFONE
20. Naoto Fukasawa’s Infobar 2
21. LINC Lifecycle Phone concept
22. Ipod
23. T-Mobile G1 Google Phone
24. Papyrus e-reader concept
25. Bell & Ross watches
26. PXR-6 watch
27. Apple retail stores
28. W Hotels
29. Beijing National Aquatics Center – “Water Cube”
30. de Young museum
31. Adidas Stan Smith
    
32. Adidas adiPure boots
    
33. Earnest Sewn jeans
34. Modern Amusement shirts
35. BP Hydrogen Fuel System concept

Mixed Media Visualization: Did I Use Design Thinking?

I recently gave a demonstration to my Design Communication students at the University of Cincinnati. I wanted to show them how to combine their 2D and 3D skills to create some new types of visualization. Designers (especially consultants) are often challenged to create concepts that are quick but visually impactful. Oftentimes, I can more quickly create a 3D model rather than sketch the form. However, 3D renderings look too refined or sterile when presenting during the middle of the design process. Combining 2D and 3D techniques creates a new tool for creating impactful, conceptual work. Here’s what I presented:

Did I just use design thinking? According to Roger Martin’s definition, I did. I had two options for visualizing concepts, neither of which were acceptable solutions for the specific problem. Instead, I developed a new option that worked around all the individual problems of a purely 2D or 3D visualization.

This example of design thinking is extremely tactical, but it is very easy to understand. Sometimes design thinking is presented in such a mysterious, complex way that we designers don’t even know when we’re practicing it.

Tags: definitions, design thinking

Roger Martin Defines Design Thinking

From Diego Rodriguez’s Metacool comes this interview with Rotman’s Roger Martin. In a video interview with Businessweek, Martin describes design thinking (integrative thinking) as a way of thinking that develops knew models. To paraphrase, if a design thinker doesn’t like option A or option B, they have the ability to come up with option C.

Click here to watch the video.

Tags: definitions, design thinking

Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research

In my short experience as a design professional, I’ve been exposed to both quantitative and qualitative research techniques. For the most part, we designers are exposed to small qualitative studies to gain empathy and identify user problems. Later in the process, big quantitative research validates our ideas and makes sure the product has a good shot at being successful. That’s about the extent of my knowledge on these techniques, but Sam Ladner has given great definitions to these two types of design research on her blog.

The qualitative process is iterative with the going back and forth from data to sense-making or developing theory. It is flexible and can change direction easily…And the quantitative design process is very linear, and does not include an iterative component.

The point is that both are valuable, but each in their own way. Knowing which is appropriate for a given stage of a project is the key detail one must get right. Sam’s blog is a great place to start gaining this knowledge.

Tags: research

Presentations Matter

Dan and Chip Heath recently wrote a nice piece for Fast Company on the importance of presentations. In the past year, I’ve realized how important it is to plan and organize my words and images into a cohesive story. I knew it was important, I just didn’t start actually doing it until recently. One of the most important elements of a good presentation is providing the right level of detail (usually not too much). The authors remind us:

The second killer is the presenter’s need to be comprehensive. We get it: Some research went into the project, and every detail is a gem. Cutting that fifth bullet point on slide 17 is torture.

If you’re interested in learning more about good presentation preparation and delivery, I would highly recommend Presenting To Win. It provides a great reference that I have revisited many times before building the most important Powerpoint decks.

Tags: storytelling

My Favorite Things: An Analysis, Part Two

I’ve been trying to understand my personal design aesthetic to know when I should and shouldn’t be using it on projects. Because I’m an analytical person, I’m working backwards from my favorite pieces of design and populating them onto a series of scales based on the prominent aspects of each product. This is part two, click here if you want to read part one.

This group of scales has less to do with aesthetics and more to do with functionality. I needed to evaluate these products to see if there were any commonalities outside of styling. There is broad range in basic function among the samples, even a beverage at both ends. I don’t appear to have a strong preference towards products that celebrate a new technological feature. I’m not opposed to them, they enhance products with good fundamental usability and aesthetics. This isn’t exactly what I’m trying to study, but I wanted to make sure that I didn’t have a strong bias towards features that would effect my aesthetic sensibility.

The greatest consistency here is in products that are “essential.” The phone, chair, glass, and package have no novel features beyond what is commonly excepted in their categories. You drink from a glass, sit in a chair, and make calls with a phone. The major exception here is the Saab 9X, which blends the proportion of a sports car and functionality of an SUV.

In part three, I’ll try to summarize my thoughts into a strategic tool that I can use to evaluate future projects. Over time my aesthetic sense will refine and change naturally, and I’ll reevaluate the tool and make changes as needed.

Related Links: My Favorite Things: Part One

Nokia demonstrates nanotechnology

Not long ago, designers dreamed up utopian visions of mobile devices in which the interactions are seamlessly beautiful between user and device, hardware and software. Your whole digital life could live on a single device: phone, email, camera, internet, with a touchscreen! This was the standard for all concept devices for about the past ten years. Now that Apple has introduced this first tangible example of device singularity, designers must accept the daunting new challenge to figure out what’s next.

Nokia’s Morph concept accomplishes another giant leap for digital technology. Using nanotechnology, the device can be universal, flexible, and even further integrated into our lives than a standard touchscreen device. This video is a great storytelling tool explaining both how the technology works and how it benefits the user:

via Communicating Through Design

Tags: storytelling, technology

How Can I Be More Strategic?

I often find myself asking this question, and Victor Lombardi’s blog Noise Between Stations recently posted an excellent list of answers. Lombardi smartly reminds us that sometimes what we’re really asking is, “How can I convince or influence others to do things my way?” I’ll be the first to admit this is true for me at times. Click here to check out the full post, here are my favorites:

Illustrate the strategic implications of seemingly tactical efforts. If strategic = long-term, show the long-term effects.

It’s easy to get caught up in the details of a project during the messy middle. This point reminds me to start each presentation with a review of the overall project goals and implications of our solutions. It’s a great way to turn seemingly tactical work into a strategic piece of design.

Be more thoughtful, for example go beyond providing expertise to providing decision-making frameworks.

As an industrial designer, sometimes we have to evaluate the importance of various product features in order to cut costs to meet price targets. I’m reminded of an Excel tool my co-worker created in order to help our client rank features according to cost, importance, manufacturing challenges, and a few other qualities. It was a great tool and we should use it every time we work on large, technical projects.

Educate yourself. Strategy may be harder than finance, operations, and other business topics. Take the time to learn what strategists really do.

It’s okay that designers have larger-than-average egos, but we get ourselves into trouble when we take on projects that are beyond our capabilities without getting some help. This point reminds me that we can’t just say we’re strategic, we need to back it up with experience and the right skill set. I often bounce ideas off of the marketers at Kaleidoscope to learn more about how to be a strategic thinker.