Yves is the founder of Fuseproject and one of the most influential industrial designers of our generation, having also lead teams at the iconic firms frog design and Lunar Design. His clients include Herman Miller, GE, Puma, Kodak, Samsung, Prada and a host of others, and pioneered the paradigm of designer/entrepreneur as the co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of smart lock company August and CCO at Jawbone. He’s also a passionate advocate for sustainability and social good, contributing to a variety of projects like One Laptop Per Child, Ver Bien para Aprender Mejor and the SPRING Accelerator program.
He’s been super influential in design, but also in business and culture as an advocate for design and designers having a seat at the table. If you’ve noticed design become much more highly prized in business over the last decade or so, he’s one of the people responsible for that shift in thinking- as he talks about in this episode, when he arrived in the Bay Area in the 90s design was seen as window dressing, but thanks to the efforts of people like Yves, IDEO, frog and their peers we now have a very different view of design and see it as integral to building a successful business.
Today on the podcast,
- He talks about how – contrary to what many think – the best way for designers to get a chance to have a seat at the table is to double down on their craft and become world-class at one thing
- We talk about how to turn off your brain when needed, quieting that relentless critical voice that all creators have
- And we also get into more detail on the evolution of design culture in the US- how companies like Apple and Target helped make designers more visible and more valued as core members of the team at the center of the business
Enjoy!
“Design is the manifestation of human intent”
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Some Questions I Ask:
- What’s the backstory? How did you get where you are today? [1:04]
- Were you classically trained as a designer? [1:54]
- What was the first project you did out of school that you found meaning in? [2:05]
- Are there some cultural milestones that have brought design to the US? [3:16]
- Outside of Apple, have there been cultural shifts that contribute to the design movement and how will that affect the future? [5:10]
- Do you feel like the US is now exporting design as we have been other aspects of culture? [7:25]
- When did you first acknowledge your own creativity and how did your childhood form your career? [11:00]
- Tell me a story about you having to convince yourself or your friends that it was a worthwhile pursuit. [13:24]
- Talk to me about the risk involved in pursuing the traditionally safe career paths. [15:48]
- Talk about some of your favorite projects. [18:05]
- What kind of struggle and grit have you gone through to get where you are now? [20:08]
- How do you sell the idea that creativity and design are foundations to the businesses and things that people are making? [22:30]
- Are there any daily habits that you have? [24:50]
- Do you have any advice for young designers? [27:17]
- If you had something written on your wall that you had to look at every day, what would it be? [30:14]
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
- Yves’ simple formula for creating the best designs. [1:42]
- How Apple impacted the way design is thought of in Silicon Valley. [3:25]
- Why designers might be the US’s best ambassadors and why design is our best export. [5:30]
- How the accessibility of design is helping people make choices in their lives. [9:55]
- How Yves had to convince both his entourage as well as himself that pursuing a career in design was a worthwhile pursuit. [11:34]
- Because Yves wasn’t a naturally gifted artist, it took him years to consider himself proficient. [13:50]
- The power in being a designer. [15:17]
- How Silicon Valley’s appreciation for change unlocked Yves’ brain. [16:30]
- How exciting it is to work on projects that are firsts of their kind- from the first wearables to laptops for children to chairs that don’t have a frame for the back to AI for the aging population. [18:16]
- Why you need to be embracing struggle and failure. [21:01]
- How design is a partner in our humanly pursuit for greatness. [24:00]
- How design is like a sport and why you’ve got to be positive when you’re on the field. [25:13]
- Because being a creative is inherently hard, it’s important to give yourself a bit of grace and mental space. How to find your zen. [26:07]
- Why being really good at one thing is better than being a generalist. [27:58]
- Why you need to start your creative projects with intent. Ask yourself why. [30:44]
- “Be good. Work hard.” Why there’s no room for talent in design. [31:34]
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