Once upon a time, I was in college and wanted to do historical restoration. I begged my way into courses in the very exclusive School of Architecture for two whole years while they repeatedly denied me the full change of major admission that would actually let me, you know, learn how to architect things (other than nefarious schemes). I took a lot of theory courses. Each had an inevitable point where we talked about the balance of form and function. Sometimes this point was once or twice in the semester, sometimes once or twice per lecture. It’s a binary way of thinking, but since a great deal of the world seems to favor one well above the other, it’s a good thing to consider. I was surprised that this conversation didn’t happen more in business. To me, it has seemed that people are often debating which one a product or site or campaign should be. Bring up design theory, and you can practically hear the crickets as the room goes silent. Forget that. Design matters. It matters HUGELY.

The ideal, of course, is something that is both useful and lovely. Form and function are wonderful things, in that a thing that is exceptionally functional can be exceptionally beautiful. Sports cars, high-end cookware, and even those little green, plastic picks that Starbucks uses to plug the drinking hole in hot drinks so you don’t burn yourself—all of these are highly functional as well as visually pleasing.

“But I don’t do product design… I’m just in marketing,” you say.
“Yeah, me too. You should read this and let it soak into your brain,” I say. “You see, we’re outsourcing jobs that rely on linear thinking (programming, engineering), but increasingly rewarding people who can think in hybrid ways, who can bring creativity and design and intuition and the human touch into their work.” And then I hand you this book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink.

Take heart, people. You don’t have to wear all black or become a designer. Everything you have to evolve is most likely curled up, half-asleep inside of you. Once you start thinking and seeing a little bit less rigidly, you’ll find that you already know these tenets to be true. It’s the stuff of humanity, of engagement, of being compelled and engrossed. Every molecule within us feels the magnetic pull toward connection. We want stories. We ache to have our senses delighted. Give it a try. At first, you might feel like you’re swimming through mud, but once things click, it’s wonderful. It’s like the room got bigger and lighter. It’s like you can finally draw a full breath to be able to create practical, useful avenues for creativity.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 at 3:00 pm and is filed under seo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.