Curious about Design: How Important Is Design to You? And How Often Do You Design – Especially Your Life and Activities?

Definition of Design: To draw preliminary outline or main features of; to sketch for a pattern or model; to delineate; to trace out; to draw. To create or produce, as a work of art; to form a plan or scheme of; to form in idea; to invent; to project; to lay out in the mind; as, a man designs an essay, a poem, a statue, or a cathedral.

“If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” - Jim Rohn, American businessman

I chose “design” for this week’s theme, because it touches so many areas of our lives and businesses. We design our days, our schedules, our plans – marketing, health and fitness, education, finances, our appearance, our surroundings, social activities, and so much more.

Even if we feel that we are not artistic, we all have a sense of our design preferences. We all have certain colors and styles to which we are drawn. Personally, I feel that we should all remain true to ourselves – our own likes and dislikes. I found so many wonderful and empowering quotations concerning design – there were 14 different pages – so you can imagine the job of picking and choosing.

So, let’s get started:

• “I don't start with a design objective, I start with a communication objective. I feel my project is successful if it communicates what it is supposed to communicate.” - Mike Davidson, American designer
• “Web users ultimately want to get at data quickly and easily. They don't care as much about attractive sites and pretty design.” - Tim Berners-Lee, English Inventor
• “What is design? It's where you stand with a foot in two worlds - the world of technology and the world of people and human purposes - and you try to bring the two together.” - Mitchell Kapor, American businessman
• “Design, in its broadest sense, is the enabler of the digital era - it's a process that creates order out of chaos, that renders technology usable to business. Design means being good, not just looking good.” - Clement Mok, American businessman
• “Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition.” - Freeman Thomas, American designer
• “Good design is making something intelligible and memorable. Great design is making something memorable and meaningful.” - Dieter Rams, German designer
• “Graphic design is the paradise of individuality, eccentricity, heresy, abnormality, hobbies and humors.” - George Santayana, American philosopher
• “I design for real people. I think of our customers all the time. There is no virtue whatsoever in creating clothing or accessories that are not practical.” - Giorgio Armani, Italian designer

And, some more:

• “I design for the woman who loves being a woman.” - Diane von Furstenberg, Belgian designer
• “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” - Steve Jobs, American businessman
• “Design is the method of putting form and content together. Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; there is no single definition. Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that's why it is so complicated.” - Paul Rand, American designer
• “Design must reflect the practical and aesthetic in business but above all... good design must primarily serve people.” - Thomas J. Watson, American scientist
• “Design must seduce, shape, and perhaps more importantly, evoke an emotional response.” - April Greiman, American graphic designer
• “I don't design clothes, I design dreams.” - Ralph Lauren, American designer
• “Color does not add a pleasant quality to design - it reinforces it.” - Pierre Bonnard, French artist
• “Design can have such a positive impact on the way people live and on their relationships and moods.” - Genevieve Gorder, American designer

And, just three more to set the design tone for the week:

• “All those years of skating and dancing have carried over. I can't design anything without thinking of how a woman's body will look and move when she's wearing it.” - Vera Wang, American designer
• “Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing... layout, processes, and procedures.” - Tom Peters, American businessman
• “Also note that invariably when we design something that can be used by those with disabilities, we often make it better for everyone.” - Donald Norman, American scientist

So, what are you designing right now? I submit to you that all of us are always designing. We can make it fun with a successful outcome or we can struggle. How about you?