You cannot understand good design if you do not understand people; design is made for people.
You cannot defend your design without knowing what you're designing for.
Wherefore the mere practical architect is not able to assign sufficient reasons for the forms he adopts; and the theoretic architect also fails, grasping the shadow instead of the substance.
I do think I know more about clothes than any 500 designers, because there's nothing like wearing them. You buy them, you study them, and you start to understand how they're crafted.
[Nathalie Rykiel] knows by heart the genetic codes of the brand, and she also has a very contemporary and creative opinions about it.
The broader one's understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.
A man from a primitive culture who sees an automobile might guess that it was powered by the wind or by an antelope hidden under the car, but when he opens up the hood and sees the engine he immediately realizes that it was designed.
I've learned a tremendous amount over the years by watching designers work. I now have a good understanding of what sits well on the body, not to mention the importance of a great cut and quality.
There are a lot of designers who think they understand technology and a lot of technology guys who think they understand design. But to put them together and make it robust and repeatable for the mass market? It's an art.
Unless a design is infused with a personality - and by that, I mean mine or someone else who really understands what design is all about - it will never, ever have any mystery.
Objects and their manufacture are inseparable, you understand a product if you understand how it's made.
I am troubled by the devaluing of the word 'design’. I find myself now being somewhat embarrassed to be called a designer. In fact I prefer the German term, Gestalt-Ingenieur. Apple and Vitsoe are relatively lone voices treating the discipline of design seriously in all corners of their businesses. They understand that design is not simply an adjective to place in front of a product’s name to somehow artificially enhance its value. Ever fewer people appear to understand that design is a serious profession; and for our future welfare we need more companies to take that profession seriously.
It's very difficult to design something for someone if you have no empathy.
I think sometimes I might scare the editors, because they might feel they're getting old and they're not understanding it. The problem lies on their side of the fence, not mine. I come from a different era and I design clothes for our era.
I started out taking any project that I could because you want the work. You want the opportunity to create, and I'm glad I did because it forces you to really get an understanding of your vision and your voice as a designer when you have to be scrappy like that.
All architecture is what you do to it when you look upon it.
Never talk to a client about architecture. Talk to him about his children. That is simply good politics. He will not understand what you have to say about architecture most of the time. An architect of ability should be able to tell a client what he wants. Most of the time a client never knows what he wants.
People always think that designers hate each other. And we're certainly a competitive lot, but we also enjoy each other's company. No one else knows what you're going through other than another designer.
