If you have ever tried to describe your career as a professional designer give a thought to those of us who cannot always demonstrate a physical outcome.

Read "What the Hell Have We Done to Design?" article at dmi.org >>

Experience Based Design from thinkpublic on Vimeo.

How could this small product (top right) be better designed to create real value for the receiver not a bin-full of rubbish?

I recently saw this advertisement in a magazine advertising clothing from a fashion label called Hubert and Rhymes (www.hubertandrhymes.com).

This image brought back a lot of memories to me, as my father was the designer of these pannier bags back in the 1950s. Utilising the new material (at the time) vinyl, these bags were designed as a simple way to transport items on a bicycle. My father, a bicycle salesman, never considered himself a designer yet came up with an elegant and functional solution to a common problem. We still have this problem and we’d like to see your ideas.

Thanks to Emma Smith (www.emmasmithphotography.com) and Hubert and Rhymes for the photo.

Original article here: twurl.nl/77whoe

This article from Mark Dziersk from “Brandimage-Desgrippes & Laga, one of the world's largest design and branding firms” highlights the ten things you really need to know to make design thinking work in practice. This is a pragmatic and sharp take on the place of design thinking in the business world. It’s simple, understandable and relevant. But if you read the comments at the bottom, one individual takes exception to the article and feels it is more about ‘thinking about design’ than it is ‘design thinking’ – see twurl.nl/lvlrry. I asked this blogger what the difference really was, but got no clear answer. The article she wrote that the link sends you to has some interesting concepts, but is a little esoteric. She ends with a great quote though, and on this I agree…

“[Design is] the ability to see things differently – to see the implicit and make it explicit.“

This video is brought to you by TED Talks. Visit TED now >>

Thanks to our ‘spotter’ Rachel Prosser at Liketothelark.com for this example of great design thinking.
Click here to read more >>

1. Pick the odd one out any one?
2. When shoes and sticks no longer interest your dog make a trip to your local market for pup cakes
3. Clever new coffee-making technology or wasteful pain in the proverbial? Plastic trays of foil-covered, single serves providing great income for the courier companies
4. Great scenic inter Island ferry terminal
5. So New Zealand or so sixties?