Hasta La Ideas

I truly hope that Steve Jobs is in heaven. In many ways, he certainly deserves it. For tech fans, I don’t think anyone has brought more joy to the world than Mr. Jobs and his Apple Computer colleagues. However, he ruined my life.

I’m an industrial designer who has been working since 2002. For people who measure time by Apple products, that’s right when the 2nd generation iPod was launched. As a designer, you might think that I would be inspired by Apple. Maybe even in awe of their awesome design might. I am, but they’ve also made my job so much harder. Unfortunately, I don’t mean in terms of raising the standard of design.

Talk to any design consultant in the world and they will all have a story about the client(s) who walked in the door and said, “I want to make the iPod/iPhone/iPad of my industry.” The first time they heard this, their eyes widened. Their pulse quickened. Finally, could clients have come to realize how industrial design adds real value to their products? Could 100 years of design history finally lead to this? Would we actually be left to concentrate on the core design abilities, like creativity and form development instead of fighting clients to let us actually give their customers what they wanted?

“Yeah, I want my widget just like an iPod. Well, in plastic because we have six injection presses in the factory. Oh, and the finish has to be matte, because we don’t have time to adjust the mold to eject quality glossy parts. Oh, and we need huge draft on the parts and huge part lines, because, again, we don’t have time or budget to work out high tolerances. Other than that though, just like an iPod.”

So, no, the design world didn’t change. A new golden age didn’t begin. In fact, I think it was retarded. Remember the gay ’90s? When Rubbermaid was on the cover of Business Week as an example of a brave American company letting designers find new market opportunities? When a struggling Iomega company listened to designers to create the Zip drive? Herman-Miller had the guts to launch the radical Aeron chair? Business has really started to listen to designers. Then Steve Jobs returned to Apple.

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