Design Discussion – Week 5
Dyson Launches New Product – James Dyson
– Video and Reading Discussion –Thoughts on Dyson and His Design Work:
Growing up Dyson had always been a familiar name in my household. Deeply concerned with keeping spaces clean and tidy, my dad constantly stressed the importance of effective and productive cleaning products, products like Dyson vacuums. Still, despite hearing the name and watching his commercials often, I never before took the time to take a closer look into the creator of the brand. However, after watching his interviews, browsing through his products, and exploring his website, I can’t help but to have a newfound respect for him and his dedication to his innovative work.
When defining innovation, Dyson explains, “Innovation is bridging on a new product or service that drastically changes the way something is done and does it better. It’s really the performance of something, how something works that is true innovation…technical improvement.” Above all else, for Dyson, the products’s productivity and capabilities come first. Having studied design in school, he highlights that, “I suddenly realized that the interesting things about products wasn’t particularly how they looked … it’s how they work, it’s the technology used in them and the engineering that’s important.” Dyson’s approach to design is one centered around technology and the continuous invention of new and revolutionary products.
Moreover, Dyson states on his website that, “Success tells you nothing. Failure is interesting – it’s part of making progress. You never learn from success, but you do learn from failure,” going on to add that, “…has devoted his life to developing products and companies that solve problems.” He titles his ideas as “wrong thinking,” but carries on to clarify that it is through this mindset of not being afraid to make mistakes that opens up room for new concepts and takes you to unexpected places through a different approach. In spite of facing many challenges when starting out, he worked hard to overcome them through trial and error, as well as perseverance. I think what represents this mindset best are his 5,126 prototypes. Through the process of always aiming to make improvements to even the smallest details, he is not only working towards making a product better, but also making new and innovative discoveries. He adds that in business, “The people who are going to survive are not necessarily the people who can make the thing the cheapest, but the people who can make something that works the best.” Innovation comes with a big risk, but it is only through failure and exploration and analysis that major breakthroughs and developments can be discovered.
Lastly, one major point of Dyson’s that particularly stood out to me was his response when asked why it is important to be innovative. Here, he emphasizes that, “It’s very important we do improve everything all the time, it enhances our lives, makes our lives more enjoyable, better allows us to do more, to have a greater scope to our lives.” His fixation with efficiency comes from the motivation to improve the quality of life for people through the production of high quality tools. He is an artist and designer concerned with good design for the benefit of humanity. There is no one right way to pursue industrial design, with each individual designer applying their own unique ideas to their individual processes. Nevertheless, as one of this generation’s most successful designers, through his remarkable approach to human issues and efficient problem solving, Dyson proves the importance and significance of his perspective to the world of industrial design.
Reflections on Dyson’s Designs:
1) Designs I liked:
Dyson Supersonic™ hair dryer
I liked this because other than its aesthetic design, it focuses on all the intricacies and obstacles that come with the experience of drying hair. Besides having various speed, heat, and cooling settings, the device also comes with many magnetic attachments: Flyaway attachment, styling concentrator, diffuser, gentle air attachment, and wide-tooth comb. In most of his designs, it is clear that Dyson aims to tackle all the details and thinks deeply about all the ways in which separate issues can be solved in the most effective ways.
However, I will say one major downside to many of his products is the price. Although you are paying for long lasting and high quality products, most reach prices well above thousands of dollars making them less accessible to the majority of people. To me, this makes his products come off more as luxury goods rather than effective and go-to tools for everyday issues.
MyDyson™ APP
I thought it was extremely thoughtful and thorough of the Dyson team to not only focus their attention on hardware, but also software. Developing an APP that helps buyers organize and learn more about their products opens up new forms of engagement and connection. For example the APP’s description explains, “Join the Dyson Community…to share knowledge and useful tips from their own experience of Dyson machines.” Through this tool, Dyson works to build a united and cooperative community, something that can only be beneficial towards public perception of his company and products. Additionally, the description also adds that, “If you have multiple machines, the app is ideal to manage them all.” Not only can the APP manage and monitor multiple Dyson machines, but it can also control and activate several Dyson products remotely. This design opens up the opportunity for multitasking, ultimately providing users more freedom without the need to disregard their other responsibilities.
2) Design I Didn’t like:
Dyson Zone™ Absolute+ noise-canceling headphones (with attachable travel visor)
I know that above all else Dyson places efficiency as his number one concern, but in this case I feel that he could have put more thought into the visual design of the product. Although it is very well made and serves the purpose it’s intended for, visually I just don’t like it. Firstly, the aesthetics aren’t very pleasing, and it is very bulky. It almost seems like you have a vacuum cleaner on your head. The attachable mouthpiece only makes these features stand out more and seems in ways very unnecessary. Overall, I feel that this product has several elements that contradict the main industrial design themes that he tends to emphasize and focus on.
Other Innovative Designers:
Eisuke Tachikawa
Before this class I was never too familiar with the industry of industrial design, but as time passes I’ve been able to learn so much more about the flexibility and possibilities open to designers in the field. Everyone defines innovation differently, and the main points that individuals are drawn to varies greatly. In completing this assignment, I came across a Japanese industrial designer named Eisuke Tachikawa. Despite being mainly an industrial designer, he also works in a wide range of creative fields, where he aims to promote “Evolutional Creativity” through each of his diverse products. From my perspective, I believe this designer is an innovator because he is considering present day issues and tackling them in subtle, but effective ways. Not all problems are related to physical limitations. By understanding this and exploring those ideas, Tachikawa chooses to focus and target emotional issues through his designs as well. Some products that I believe represent this best are his THE MOON and Re.ing designs. Both of these works revolve around the relationships and connections that humans develop and experience. Having a small product that may not be tackling a huge goal may seem irrelevant to some, but I believe that designs like these can still be very comforting and beneficial without the need to be grandiose. Concentrating on “design alternatives for a hopeful future,” overall, he showcase innovation through creative and unique problem solving, as well as experimentation with new technology to develop creative and original products.
Interesting Designs:
Re.ing
THE MOON
