Hasta La Ideas

Steven M. Johnson (not to be confused with the popular science author Steven Berlin Johnson) is the self-proclaimed “whimsical designer”. The endless array of sketches in his book “What the World Needs Now”, published back in 1984, and the updates on his website are as much comic-strip satire as they are design and invention – a real treat for creative minds.

As a former urban planner, Johnson has a keen eye for social issues and the day-to-day oddities that shape our lives. At the age of 36 he released his potential in embracing these interests through conceptualising and sketching, something that he describes as a “thirty-five year side trip” exploring the “value in ludicrous ideas.”

Fun and play in creative thinking is something being embraced by several leading design firms, not least the creative powerhouse IDEO. Examples of Johnson’s it’ll-never-work inventions such as the “Armbrella” (pictured above) and other such as the “self-maintaining shoe” and the “lunch pail helmet” could be just the inspiration many creatives need to open up their minds and think not only out of the box but even out of this world. We can only imagine the havoc Johnson’s work is going to cause for the historians of the future.

“What the World Needs Now” by Steven M. Johnson is available for preview here.
Newer works can be seen on his wryly named website www.patentdepending.com.

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