In partnership with IDSA NYC, Yeh IDeology hosted the 4th annual Design Summit on February 27th. This year’s design summit featured a panel of cross-disciplinary design leaders including Erica Eden (Founder of Femme Den and Global Director of Design Innovation of PepsiCo), Rich Thrush (Director of Kaz Incorporated), Mei Mah (Deputy Director of Education at Cooper Hewitt), Dan Grossman (Deputy Design Directory of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia).
Photo from Paige Mullis at Glen Raven
Our theme of Making It Real was rooted in understanding design as an ever-expanding discipline that is actively shifting both creative and business cultures. We questioned the role of design in today’s complex business landscape? How do different design fields cross-pollinate? How will this shape the future of design? Are these trends here to stay or go?
Dan Grossman shares with us a similar frustration with “all these different levels of design [and having] to label it was always confusing.”
In response, Erica Eden reveals the downfall of design that is this competition between different design disciplines, “I don’t like this competition between Interaction and Industrial Design. Interaction comes from Industrial Design. We all do the same thing [that is] solving a problem.“
The challenge for designers is to know everything and be good at it. Rich Thrush explains that designers must grasp the fundamentals of design (i.e. traditional ID skills) and also “know [their] superpower.”
Eden’s advice, “be shameless” and take risks exploring and discovering. When you know your super power, hold onto it and remember to design to solve the problem.
Share with us your thoughts!