I am Not Easily Squished
Where do podcast ideas come from? Kyle explains how the influences of two brilliant designers — Sir Jony Ive and Hillman Curtis — helped form his design philosophy foundation.
Lessons from Sir Jony Ive
- Encouraged informal questioning and inquiry, tolerated mistakes, and promoted innovation.
- Make your studio into an “ideas factory” with brainstorming sessions at least two times a week — No exceptions!
- Create a space that allows ideas to not be so easily squished.
- Constantly simplify and do away with as much as possible (Less is Better).
- Make things that express your appreciation for people you will probably never meet.
Lessons from Hillman Curtis
- You need to make 100 bad designs before you discover a good one.
- Take the ideas that are in your head and do something with them.
- Keep your mind fertile with personal interests, experiences, and curiosity.
- Ideas originate from a mind free from distractions.
- Your job as a designer is to make the invisible visible.
Notable Quotes
“While ideas ultimately can be so powerful, they begin as fragile, barely formed thoughts, so easily missed, so easily compromised, so easily squished.”
— Jony Ive (Apple)
“The goal of a designer is to listen, observe, understand, sympathize, empathize, synthesize, and glean insights that enable him or her to ‘make the invisible visible’.”
— Hillman Curtis
“Be prepared to reinvent yourself. Be prepared to go out on a limb occasionally, and be prepared to do things that you feel strongly about.”
— Hillman Curtis