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Q – The products you've designed have focused a lot of attention on your design philosophy. We selected several quotes from news stories and the fuseproject website and would like for you to elaborate on them. The first quote is: "Designers have a responsibility to show the future as they want it to be – or at least as it can be, not just the way an industry wants it to be."
Yves – Designers are in a unique position. They can think strategically and they can also visualize what they think of. That’s the difference between designers and industries. Designers have the capability to envision these things. The problem is, most of the time, the briefs that come from industry include known quantities -- things they have imagined themselves, not the things dreamed up on a wider spectrum. It’s a responsibility of the designer to develop visions of what is possible, what things can be and not just things that are requested of them.
Q – You’ve been quoted as saying that you are “trying to make technology disappear." How are you doing this ?
Yves – I try to work more and more on projects that include technology but without technology being a burden to the user. The idea is that technology should be intuitive, tactile, and there when you want it to be. So there are more and more possibilities to make technology invisible rather than in your face. A lot of people will use this notion that products have to be smart. But I’d much rather have products that are subtle and intuitive than smart and intimidating. Smart often means complicated to me.
Q – What’s an example of a smart, intuitive product you’d like to see more of?
Yves -- Everybody I speak to feels that cell phones are very complex. And when I ask people if they’d rather have a smart or stupid cell phone, 90 percent say stupid. What they are looking for is something so simple you can be stupid operating it – a cell phone for dummies. It’s an example of things we use every day that should be a lot more intuitive to use and connected to the way we live.
Q – Another quote we’d like you to expand on is: "Ideas without the support of manufacturing knowledge can kill solutions."
Yves – When you work on such a diverse number of projects as we are and when you want to challenge the status quo by bringing interesting possibilities to the table, it’s essential to have the kind of knowledge that backs up your ideas. Whether we work with external engineers or do that research internally, the projects that have been the most successful and innovative are probably the projects where we’ve been able to truly partner on innovation. More often than not, you need to be a solution provider, not just bring visions to the table.
Q – You’ve said: "Innovative design should do more than provide physical comfort. It should also address our emotions. It should inspire us and feed our sense of eclecticism." Anything you’d like to add to that?
Yves – Somebody was saying on the radio the other day that the best stories are understood and remembered when there’s an emotional component to them. It’s very much the same with design. Designing a product is not just a grouping of functional solutions but it’s also a way to make a product integrated with our life. We tend to want to keep around those things we can emotionally relate or connect to. THIS APPROACH is essential in any type of product making.
Q –You've also said: "The time of the designer as master is over. Now, the designer is a partner – with a point of view."
Yves – There was for many years this notion that a designer is this person that you have to climb up a mountain and go meet in this very isolated cave. I don’t see myself as a master at all. In fact, in order to master some of the challenges today that we’re given as designers and that industry has to address, creative partnerships with your clients and other creative resources is very much the only way that creative and interesting work can happen. In order to innovate, you need to work closely with all the different people in this product development chain. Whether it’s your client or manufacturing or the way a product is shipped or the kind of technologies that are integrated, it’s only by mastering all these different levels of complexity, while keeping a very strong point of view in a very strong direction, that one can achieve a good result.
Q – Another quote we found interesting is: "Products are core to our understanding of the world. It isn't the advertising or marketing that creates lasting experiences but the qualities designed into a product."
Yves -- Companies did spend the last 25 years mostly building their brand through advertising and marketing. Finally, we’re coming back to a place where people realize that the longest lasting experience is actually the product experience. And unless a product delivers on all these elements, these companies will not be building a strong brand. We’re just now coming back to a place where the product is the first line of experience that needs to be addressed. It’s a much better time for designers than it was a few years ago.
Q – You obviously believe in the power of design to bring stories to life. When did you first connect storytelling with design?
Yves – When I started fuseproject in 1999, I clearly saw that most product design was being done more as a product development endeavor. Technology was driven by technology. Engineering is driven by some mechanical innovation. But nobody thought about the other dimension, which is the experience and the story and how that connects with the brand. The main problem with technology products is that they tend to be engineered to integrate the latest technology, and not consider user needs and desires. So that’s when I decided to bring these two notions together, essentially creating better designs and better stories for the companies we work with. |