We have too many designers and too little design thinking. The same can be said about too many business strategists and not enough innovations. Look around us, we see ugly looking products with poor form and function. Read these corporate releases we see a lot of talk about innovation but you hardly see anything innovative coming out from these companies. Strategist copying each other the same way designers copy and modify each others' designs. It is disappointing.
So, many of our everyday things are ugly. Laptops are probably the worst (Apple is the exception of course) and coffee makers are ugly, including some of the high end ones. 90% of all automobile designs coming from Detroit are ugly and it's these companies that are to blame for what 's happening. It's no wonder their cars are not selling. One thing I don’t understand is how possible that HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo and many others still fail to improve the aesthetics of notebook computers. Every time I see the launch of a new ugly notebook, it always makes me wonder how this could be possible. Where are the designers when we need them?
Designers are everywhere. Giving some choices of color does not automatically improve the product appeal. Here’s one example, a Lenovo Olympics special limited edition laptop. Yike! What a waste of a what could be a very cool idea.
There are two reasons 1/ Computers makers see a laptop as a laptop; there is absolutely no imagination. 2/ Designers suck, mediocre ones suck more, there are too many mediocre designers that are insensitive to what’s going on and some are simply arrogant. Unless you have a really good designer, you may be better off go “undesign”. Democratization or design is inevitable and is not stoppable. Mediocre designers will concern if there is still a job waiting for them as everyone with a bit of taste can learn to design. The design generation (meaning everyone) will become conversational and social. Who needs designers?
Companies including LG see the important of design and is committed to make superior in aesthetic design a core part of its corporate strategy. LG was selected as one of the 12 “best of the best” design concept winners by Red Dot Award (the three most respected design awards in the world) for its futuristic laptop PC design, which has a wide screen and operates on eco-friendly alcohol power.
The future laptop, dubbed “ebook,” uses organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels for display instead of the current liquid crystal display (LCD) panel. Unlike LCD, OLED does not need a frame around it, and it consumes less electricity. It also features a transparent cylindrical hinge that is used as storage for clean fuels such as methyl alcohol. The keypad will also be made of a singe OLED panel, like the one used in LG’s Chocolate Phone, which was copied by Samsung for its cell phones and MP3 players.
Another pleasant victory for LG over its rival Samsung is taking place in the refrigerator and washing machine market. In the summer, both Samsung and LG challenged fashion designers to produce cover designs for refrigerators and washing machines. The result was a huge victory for LG. According to retailers Himart and Etland, LG sold more than 1,200 Dios refrigerators that have flowery patterns borrowed from painter Ha Sang-rim, while Samsung sold less than 500 units.
Dell (the company who makes boring computers) is getting innovative. They are producing laptops designed by award winning artist from Africa. Picture above is designed by Siobhan Gunning, born in Mombasa, East Africa and as an artist has had the opportunity to visit many of the unique locations in Africa, like the Great Rift Valley, the Serengeti Plains, the Ngoro Ngoro Crater, and even traveling up the Nile to its source. During her travels she has been privileged to observe wildlife in their native habitat and visit with tribes like the Masai and Samburu.
This one is designed by African artist Joseph Amedokpo, an artist in east Africa and supports his family through painting, using locally produced oils he blends by hand, on canvases made from recycled flour sacks. While painting, Amedokpo chats with frequent visitors and listens to a short wave radio, gaining a global perspective on peoples’ failures and weakness, as well at their core strength and hope, which is reflected in his work.
Smart idea Dell, still ugly machines. Do something about it please.
