The Definition of Success

The goal of all our endeavors is success. But what really is success?

To achieve the results that we imagined in the beginning of our efforts is great, but may ignore the value of the things we learn along the way. Sometimes our failures are just as important as our achievements. They open our minds to possibilities that we would never have imagined otherwise. Missing a train, for instance, and meeting the love of our life as a consequence.

In the sixties, they used to use the word, "serendipity" that is, a lucky accident, something found quite by accident or coincidence, that turns out to be better than something planned. That's what the imagination is for, seeing value and beauty in places we never thought to look. To make things ever better, ever more beautiful, ever more simple, ever more creative. That's what good design is about. Like the textbook says, "form follows function."

Imaginative Design

To be a good designer takes an unusual degree of imagination. We all have imagination, just like we all have biceps. But like any other muscle, imagination gets stronger with exersize.

Making things happen, and letting things happen can both be valuable skills. Both require practice. A good designer has got to know how to do both. He has to listen, observe, and dream.

Being creative within given parameters is the challenge of every designer. The product we create is a tool that may be useless, or it may be useful beyond our wildest dreams. It may also spark the imagination of someone, awaken an inner vision that we didn't know we had.

History is guided and directed by imagination. Nothing is achieved without it. Imitation, without imagination, is a dead end.

Leonardo Had Two Brains

The most influential and creative people in history had imagination. They were curious. They reached for ideas and the words to express them with. And they used their whole brain. To touch another's imagination is to touch the self, the soul, the mind, the heart.

There has been alot of talk about the right brain versus the left brain. We all have both sides of our cortex, and that funny corpus collosom which allows one side to talk to the other, kind of like a marriage counselor. Apparently, one side of the brain likes to exert control, while the other side likes to "let it be." One side likes right angles and parallel lines, while the other side likes curves, and maybe even scratchy lines. One side likes shiny, new, metallic perfection, while the other side likes antiques with rusty patinas and peeling paint. Both are human. Designers have to use and appeal to both sides of the brain.

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