More thoughts on designing from Chris Bangle

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A few days ago I came across this wonderful interview of Chris Bangle done by Hugo Becker in June 2012.  I did a lot of research prepping for my Revs Program event with Chris, but I unfortunately never saw this one — I would have done a much better job had I been able to read it.  It's really good.

Here's a wonderful passage where Chris talks about his current approach to designing things, and the thinking here has a direct connection to his amazing "the fox is pretty because the fox has a pretty tail" thoughts expressed at Stanford:

The other thing I have am trying to do –– and this I would ask your
readers to consider –– is to look at the world of design-creativity as
an endless stream with many contributors instead of a one-time
phenomenon coming from the pen of some famous-star-designer. The problem
with “the star designer” is that everybody else who is in the execution
process either does their job 100% right or 100% wrong ––like a
machine.

I’m trying to empower the people in my projects; to help them understand
they are all active participants in a seamless creative change process.
To make everyone be engaged and to somehow actually experience a
contributive participation…instead of me the designer saying: “Okay,
here’s the design, I’ve drawn it, now you take it and if you screw it up
God help you”.

I think this is a really powerful set of ideas.  It's vitally important that people engaged in the process of designing stuff make some decisions about whether they want to empower or dis-empower the people around them as they make their way through that process. 

Would love to hear what you think.

 

image: Chris Bangle Associates