The Top 10 Things They Never Taught Me In Design School by Michael McDonough

1. Talent is one-third of the success equation.
Talent is important in any profession, but it is no guarantee of success. Hard work and luck are equally important. Hard work means self-discipline and sacrifice. Luck means, among other things, access to power, whether it is social contacts or money or timing. In fact, if you are not very talented, you can still succeed by emphasizing the other two. If you think I am wrong, just look around.

Read the other nine here.

Intelligent Designs

When information needs to be communicated, Edward Tufte demands both truth and beauty.

Why the overwhelming numbers of design flops?

The odd thing is that no one sets out to design something that's mediocre. So why does design go wrong so often?

Photographs

What makes a design a flop?
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Interview with iMac designer Jonathan Ive

Listen to an interview with Apple's great designer, Jonathan Ive.

Design House Stockholm

The Swedish company works with local and international designers to offer affordable products with a Scandinavian aesthetic.

Thomas Heatherwick

Heatherwick Studio exists to make unique design projects happen. Established by Thomas Heatherwick in 1994, it is recognized for its work in:

• architecture
• sculpture
• urban infrastructure
• product design
• exhibition design
• strategic thinking

SANAA : kazuyo sejima + ryue nishizawa

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa have been working
collaboratively under the name ‘sanaa’ since 1995.
Sejima studied architecture at the japan women's university
before collaborating with architect Toyo Ito.

Other site for information on Kazuyo and Rue

Gagosian Gallery

Browse around the Gagosian Gallery.

Patricia Urquiola

“She’s like a volcano,” someone said during the Milan furniture fair in April. “A hurricane,” according to another. Read about, Patricia Urquiola.

More information about Patricia.

Are Designer Collaborations Dead?

With ever more retailers tapping fashion's biggest names, the once-hip strategy is becoming cliché and savvy designers are focusing on other markets.

Bottom Line Design Awards

Beauty is more than skin-deep. The winners of our annual design competition are also versatile, elegant, eco-friendly, and--most important--successful. (more)

Intelligent Design

"Our founding goal is to make good design less elitist and more accessible," says Charles Trotter, founder and executive producer of CA Boom, a trade show that exposes the public to envelope-pushing independent designers.

Freespace

The video says it all.

2006 Masters of Design

Is design a craft, a tool, or an obsession? These days, it's a bit of all three.

No Accounting For Design?

It's the design world's dirty little secret. Despite the growing consensus that "good design is good business," most companies lack objective financial metrics to help them calculate whether increased investment in design will, in fact, generate increased profits. Does it matter? Chuck Jones, Whirlpool's design chief, certainly thinks so.

Paula Scher

For over three decades Paula Scher has been at the forefront of graphic design. Iconic, smart and unabashedly populist, her images have entered into the American vernacular.

Paula has developed identity and branding systems, promotional materials, environmental graphics, packaging and more.

Additional information regarding Paula Scher:
1-Interviewed by Ellen Lupton, August 10, 1995.
2-Hillman Curtis Quicktime movie clip.

Innovative Design Inspired by Accessibility

The Web provides unprecedented access to information for people with disabilities. People who are blind no longer wait for 25 pounds of braille to be printed and delivered or for a volunteer to read. People who have...

Smart Design

Almost three decades ago Smart Design began practicing a multi-disciplinary approach to design, establishing ways to emotionally connect people with products and experiences. Today their strength is a unique ability to encode a brand’s personality and values into every aspect of their work. The result is a design solution that builds bonds between companies and their customers.

Designing the Future

In a new interview series, NEWSWEEK talks to a leading ecological architect whose goal is nothing less than eliminating waste and pollution.

The Changing Face of Design

frog design's Senior VP of Creative, Mark Rolston, talks about the changes afoot in today's creative world.