I’m still in bed. I’m just watching all the Interesting North presentations from bed. You can be my conference buddy.
This one has got me thinking about my current theory of why design is becoming so important.
I think to misquote Matt Webb, the Argos catalogue is the greatest example of evolutionary product development. They’re just making 10,000 of something, sticking it into the Argos catalogue and seeing what sells. The emphasis is on the manufacturer to turn cheap oil and cheap design into cheap products to lower the cost of the bet on this product being the next iPod.
Of course the problem with this is that cheap oil won’t last forever. Each bet suddenly becomes a lot more expensive, and that’s when designers and design process becomes more valuable.
We have a decreasing amount of oil and an increasing number of brains.
