Paul’s presentation illustrated a clear understanding of our purpose, and of the people who practice it.  He explained the purpose of an Industrial Designer as the key to balance between Marketing and Engineering.  While a team of only Marketing and Engineering could create a successful product, an Industrial Designer is the glue to the team.  Having experience and fluency in both worlds, the designer can bridge concepts and translate needs between both sides.  Between the realms of Marketing and Engineering, designers allow both sides to continue their own work without having to be concerned with the other.  We create a cohesive bond between the two realms that would otherwise be conflicted.

“Every designer is different, every project is different.”

Within this concept, Paul presented the idea of ID-DNA.  Essentially, ID-DNA is the makeup of each designer regarding a set of key traits.

• Verbal
• Logic
• Mechanical
• Spatial
• Visual
• Dexterity
• Gut Feel
• Empathy
• Innovative

Paul showed off a great chart that illustrated these traits for individuals, relative to others.  In theory, by clearly defining the ID-DNA of team members, or employees, the manager would be able to craft a complementary team.  This method would allow team members to perform exceptionally well in their strengths, where others would be able to do the same for functions that one would otherwise be weak.  It is definitely a thought provoking concept that has the potential to shape the productivity and bond between a team.

From his presentation, we were able to get a picture of his design workflow.  The techniques that were used to translate a concept sketch over to a digitally painted rendering were so simple, yet fantastic.  However, a lot of the techniques relied on the software package.  One technique that he showed was using the tool set within Alias Studio.  There are tools that let you define curves to change a sketch’s proportion (stretch and pull) without destroying the image.  Unfortunately, this is not available outside of Alias Studio at this time.  Some of the other techniques were universal, like the use of brush presets.  David showed how to create a brush preset to easily place commonly used items within a rendering.  A simple example was that of a screw head and stitching.  It is a simple concept that is very easily implemented, but it can save a significant amount of time.  One of the other software pieces that he showed off was Mudbox.  It is basically a tool that is heavily used in the video game industry to sculpt characters.  David, however, showed how one could use it to digitally sculpt a product design.  With tools that are similar to physical clay sculpting, it is an intuitive way to digitally sculpt an object in 3D, while having a truly organic sense about the design.  It was extremely impressive to say the least.

From the slide photographed above, one might ask what exactly an experience is and what kind of methods can be used to have one.  Steve explained that there are several different types of experiences when it comes to meaning.   Some of those are:  Economic, Functional, Emotional, Status, and a Meaningful Experience.  To the point of the slide above, competing solely on the basis of a functional experience would be extremely difficult, as everyone has it.  In order to truly separate an offering, or product, one must have a meaningful experience.  This kind of experience does have an inherent lack of control, where the end user can interpret to their desires, but it can be designed.  The potential is within the design of a meaningful experience, and where you derive the basis for the experience.  Applying the results of comprehensive design research to the design of the experience could yield a very thorough competitive framework.  Overall, Steve Diler’s presentation was just a tease.  I, personally, felt like there was so much more that I wanted to learn about this process.  Maybe I’ll have to buy his book.

Towards the end of the presentation, he did reveal one bit of relevant information.  He started to discuss some of his design philosophy that he is currently developing.  The concept was called “Proximity Based Design” and was relatively thought through.   He provided a basic list of the components:

1. What you see first
   • Silhouette
   • Proportions
   • Stance
2. Value Graphics
   • A nice comparison on the significance detail.
   • i.e. Black windows on a black limo vs. black windows on a white limo.
3. Surfacing
4. Line Graphics
5. Materials
6. Info Graphics
7. Color
8. Texture