Design Lobster

Design Lobster explores the multifaceted world of design through essays, personal insights, and analyses. It examines design principles, trends, the impact of design choices on behavior and society, and the inspiration behind innovative designs, aiming to illuminate the ubiquitous influence of design in everyday life.

Design Principles Design Trends Innovative Design Inspirations Impact of Design on Society Design and Technology Design Psychology Visual Communication Historical Context of Design Symbols User Experience Design Creative Process and Thinking

The hottest Substack posts of Design Lobster

And their main takeaways

#20 Fractals, f-holes and design morality

19 implied HN points β€’ 12 Jun 20
🎨 Art & Illustration Design Shapes Sound Ethics Tradition
  1. Design can use fractal patterns to communicate meaning, like African designers do, enhancing spatial sequences and politeness in designs.
  2. Iteration is key in design; like the evolution of violin F-holes from circular to F-shaped, small changes can significantly impact performance.
  3. Design choices have ethical implications, influencing human actions and shaping moral practices, emphasizing the ethical responsibility of designers.

#18 Nuclear meltdown, torn clothes and the astonishingly ordinary

19 implied HN points β€’ 29 May 20
πŸͺ‘ Design UX Repair Philosophy Innovation Creativity
  1. Bad design can lead to catastrophic consequences, as seen in the case of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor meltdown.
  2. Sashiko, a Japanese sewing repair technique, shows how framing flaws can enhance the overall design aesthetically and functionally.
  3. Finding inspiration in the ordinary can lead to extraordinary design ideas, as highlighted by Design Director Kenya Hara.

#17 Living together, Womb chairs & the design intersection

19 implied HN points β€’ 22 May 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Living Community Comfort Philosophy
  1. Families are exploring new living arrangements, moving away from the nuclear family setup, towards multi-generational living or shared housing solutions.
  2. Designers can rethink comfort in furniture like the Womb Chair by focusing on shape rather than cushioning, reflecting a mid-century design approach.
  3. Design merges philosophy and science, using metaphors and analogies to create and science to measure and evolve designs, balancing intuition and practicality.

#16 Carbon-negative alcohol, The Thing and design heroics

19 implied HN points β€’ 15 May 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Environment Espionage Quotes Objects
  1. Create carbon-negative products to reduce environmental impact - like carbon-negative alcohol made from waste carbon dioxide.
  2. Big and flashy design can hide malicious intent - like 'The Thing' espionage device disguised as a gift.
  3. Find heroism in the ordinary - as seen in the architecture approach of Alison and Peter Smithson using everyday materials.
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#14 Contactless cities, feather helmets & relationships

19 implied HN points β€’ 01 May 20
πŸͺ‘ Design
  1. Designers are reimagining everyday interactions to make society more contactless during the challenges posed by coronavirus. Projects like 'Here Comes The Sun' and 'Hygiene Hand' aim to visually show safe distances and reduce the risk of infection from touching public surfaces.
  2. Hawaiian Feather helmets, like the Mahiole, were intricate ritual helmets made from sacred feathers and reserved for Hawaiian royalty. These helmets were like 'Polynesian bling' made of currency feathers and were valued for their unique material qualities.
  3. Designer Richard Sennett suggests that the challenges and possibilities of design can teach us about human relationships, emphasizing how design activities can help us work better with others and improve ourselves as individuals.

#13 Empathy, billiard balls and experts

19 implied HN points β€’ 23 Apr 20
πŸͺ‘ Design User Research Design Philosophy
  1. Empathy should drive design decisions, going to great lengths to understand users' lives can lead to innovative solutions.
  2. When changing materials in design, maintaining the same satisfying feel is crucial for user experience success.
  3. Designers must recognize that users are experts in their problems, not the solutions, and aim to create solutions users didn't even realize they wanted.

#11 Cleaning the oceans, facemasks and shadows

19 implied HN points β€’ 10 Apr 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Product Design Aesthetics Innovation Inspiration
  1. Cleaning the oceans involves innovative designs like The Ocean Cleanup's plastic collector that harnesses the natural tendency of plastic to accumulate on beaches.
  2. The N95 respirator, now a symbol of the COVID-19 pandemic, originated from designer Sara Little Turnbull's connections between an industrial material and protective gear, showing unexpected design adaptability.
  3. Appreciating shadows and the beauty in darkness, as discussed by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, can inspire a broader perspective in design and creativity.

#9 Indestructible clothes, telephone boxes & unhappy customers

19 implied HN points β€’ 27 Mar 20
πŸͺ‘ Design Fashion Architecture Product Design History Customer Feedback
  1. Designing clothes to be indestructible requires thinking of them as more than just garments, but as microhabitats that could potentially meet various needs like shelter and sustenance.
  2. Taking inspiration from unexpected sources can give ordinary objects a sense of monumentality and dignity, like how a tomb inspired the design of the iconic red telephone box.
  3. Unhappy customers are valuable sources of learning and improvement, as their feedback can provide insights and ideas that may not come from those who already appreciate your work.