Michael Roller

UC Industrial Design Group Projects

This summer, DAAP’s fourth year industrial design students undertook a group project to create a family of products. The products ranged from soft goods to housewares, with the overarching emphasis on creating actionable brand principles that translate into engaging executions. Overall, the quarter was a success, with students presenting these final boards. In addition, I’ve stressed the importance of the verbal presentation (to upper level students especially), and they all delivered enjoyable and informative speeches.

Launch by Michael Kandel, Sylvia Spencer, and Tracy Subisak

Nomad by Ed Mangum, Nick Rudemiller, and Max Schlacter

Cargo by Alicia Abend, Megan Meyer, and Jessica Wilson

S2 by Carly Hagins, Andrew McCarthy, and Sayaka Tsuda

Chimera by Cassie Cropper, Keith Messer, and Justin Wagoner

Gem by Amanda Deininger and Amanda Starnes

Drop by Steve Nelson, Aaron Ricica, and Michael Snively

Dirty Dishes by Chad Hodge, Jacob Nitz, and David Saldoff

Tags: student work, teams

Swiffer WetJet

Swiffer’s new WetJet recently hit the shelves and Kaleidoscope played a big part in the design development. The redesigned device looks purposeful and powerful; and it backs it up through new usability features.. In terms of aesthetics, we gave the design a darker, more professional purple palette and reflective wave detail to create an experience more in line with other Swiffer products. We packed in lots of usability improvements, including tent-pole construction, dual spray heads, new bottle release, stronger handle ergonomics.

From the Kaleidoscope website:

The redesigned WetJet is more marketable, easier to use, and performs better than its predecessor (which was very successful in its own right). The aesthetic improvements and enhanced performance help it win at shelf and delight in the consumer’s home, while the human factors optimizations set WetJet apart from imitators.

Tags: design making, kaleidoscope, strategic aesthetics, swiffer

This is Brilliance: An interview with strategist Neal Mabee

As a part of an upcoming project interviewing a broad range of designers, I had a particularly nice conversation with strategist Neal Mabee. Because I edited his interview for the project, I wanted to share it in full on the blog. Enjoy this uncut version!

Neal Mabee moved to New York after graduating from the University of Cincinnati’s DAAP program in 2003. For the past 4 years, Neal worked at Studio Red at the Rockwell Group doing design and strategy. More recently, he began contracting with an internal Johnson & Johnson design team. His clients include Kodak, Palm, Coca-Cola, P&G, J&J, and his true loves are mid-century furniture, sneakers, and Skyline chili.

How do you define of good design?

Measuring the success of “good design” is a challenge. We get paid to produce solutions that meet our clients’ business goals. If our work doesn’t do that then we won’t have any clients So in a very curt way I could say that good design needs to be measured by whether or not it (what’s being measured) is successful in meeting the business goals laid out for the project. Traditionally, design’s goodness is defined by very academic evaluation of proportion, poetry, function, wit etc. I would argue these are tactics, things that we believe will help us to compel consumers. We have to recognize that in an economic environment design cannot really be measured independently of related marketing and engineering efforts. All of these efforts merge to yield a solution that either compels the consumer or doesn’t. If we are unsuccessful in compelling the consumer the product fails; if we are successful, only then could you argue that the design was “good”. At that point, however, you’re really talking about the collective effort, not just the design. This begs the question of whether good design is even related to the beauty of the solution or whether good design has more to do with collaborating with our partners in a way that ensures compelling solutions (recognizing that sometimes those solutions arent perfectly elegant from an academic or pure design perspective).

In short, in our business, design is good when it sells…period. Anything else assumes that design is inherently and independently valuable detached from economics. I know that’s risky to say and a lot of people will disagree but i don’t know how you can say design is good if you basically designed it for yourself and the subscribers to ID magazine.

What is your favorite part of the design process?

My favorite part of the design process is identifying and mapping the intricate dependancies and tensions in a project. Design to me is like a puzzle – in a sense figuring out what you can’t do is directly connected to what you can do. The more things you can accomplish in a single move the better you are at solving the puzzle.

What challenges you most as a designer?

The most challenging part of my job is related to the part I enjoy the most. Most designers would recognize that “designing” stuff isn’t a linear process. To really produce a great solution someone (ideally everyone involved) is able to see the whole picture, all of the variables, at once, and be able to recognize and manage all of the tensions, dependancies, and compromises in real time. On top of that you kind of need to be able to do it IN YOUR HEAD. Diagrams and strategic maps are only tools to help you remember and communicate your thoughts, ultimately you have to manage this stuff with your gray matter. That is a lot to ask of a human, but this IS the trick.

Brian Wilson claims to be able to manage six simultaneous harmonies in his head and adjust relative to one another without writing down a note. This is brilliance. The design equivalent is understanding all of the variables and managing them in your head all at once in real time.

I believe true brilliance to be the ability to see all things at once, brilliance is clarity. This is the hardest part though. Figuring out ways to manage massive amounts of information and all of the potential scenarios at once. It has been said that Mozart could hear the whole song before he wrote it. Brian Wilson claims to be able to manage six simultaneous harmonies in his head and adjust relative to one another without writing down a note. This is brilliance. The design equivalent is understanding all of the variables (consumer behavior and reaction, engineering realities, business goals, operations and distribution limitations, the impact of new productts on the market place) and managing them in your head all at once in real time. I will personally probably not get there but I try every day.

In short, understanding the connections between all relavent variables and being able to propose a solution that will optimize those variables is the hardest, and most enjoyable, part of my job.

In the context of your job, how do you define success?

Success really is different than whether the design is good. For us to stay sane, success has to be measured on multiple levels. On one level you have to ask if your efforts were successful relative to what was asked of you by your client (or yourself). This can happen not just at the end, but throughout a project. Obviously you can measure market success but a lot of projects never hit the shelf. We have to be able to celebrate the wins along the path. It is here that you might be able to say that a product that doesn’t sell is “good” design.

What has been the most unexpected part of being a professional designer?

Finding out that I actually like the business, not just the designing. Also (and maybe it’s just New York), where the hell are all the old designers? I better find something else to do. Everyone is 20-30 something….it’s scary actually.

Thanks, Neal!

Tags: definitions, interviews, philosophy, strategy

Ziba’s Strategic New Office Space

Ziba recently moved into their new, beautiful office space in Portland’s Pearl District. Lots of writers have already covered the space, designed by Holst Architecture. There’s lots of good coverage by Core77, including this video:

Inside Ziba Design’s New Headquarters from Core77 on Vimeo.

More interesting than the space itself, an inspiring and attractive studio is a strategic move. There are a few drawbacks to a space like this, mainly that the investment might not attract the types of clients and projects they’re looking for, but I’m pretty confident that won’t be a big issue. I’m going to take some guesses here, but I’m pretty sure Ziba created this space for one or more of the following reasons:

• To attract and retain the best design talent (Who wouldn’t want to work in that office?)
• To attract the coolest clients (both new and existing), probably ones who care about a strong aesthetic point of view
• To generate a more consistent and diverse revenue source through the first floor retail space
• To inspire themselves to do their best work
• Walking the talk; showing the value of investing in design to their clients first hand
• To become a more visible part of the Portland community
• Proof of their long track record of successful projects

What do you think of Ziba’s new office? What do you think is the best reason for design consultants to have a good space?

Tags: architecture, consulting, interior design, strategic aesthetics

On Display at Red Tree Gallery

Starting this weekend, I’ll have three paintings (including Twelve Apostles Windy, above) in the Red Tree Gallery’s show Scapes. If you’re in town, check out the show at their new gallery, close to their old one on Madison. Thanks to Red Tree for exhibiting my work!

Tags: art, australia

Let’s Brainstorm: Product Design Hub

Recently, my article How to Win a Design Competition was republished over at Product Design Hub. The site was born out of Product Design Forums, where a global group of designers come to socialize, share ideas, and inspire one another. I’m going to start collaborating more with them, focusing on articles and interviews that will help uncover secrets of design specifically for students and recent grads.

Do you use Product Design Hub? Tell me what you think!

What should I write about?

Work by Tom Gernetzke

Tags: student work