Episode 18 - 10 Essentials Designers Should Know
10x Essentials for Designers In this episode of Design Office Hours, I revisit Michael Sorkin's 250 Things an Architect Should Know (which Curtis Mikkelsen introduced me to in episode #18 of DOH) and reframe a set of Sorkin's "statements-as-wisdom" for designers and innovators.
Rather than a checklist, this is more a way of passing down lived experience—more about judgment and humanity than rules and technique.
Curtis and I started this exercise together but didn't finish our picks. I wanted to come back and run through mine in a more holistic way—what I think they mean, and why they feel especially relevant right now.
My picks (and what I think designers should take from them)
1. The feel of cool marble on bare feet
I think we over-glorify the virtual. I'm trying to remind myself (and you) that we're analog beings shaped by physical sensation.
2. The distance of a whisper
Ideas start fragile. I've seen too many good ones get stamped out because they don't sound rational fast enough. I think designers have to protect the whisper.
3. Something about Vastu (or Feng Shui)
I trust the body's read on a space. When the energy is off, we usually know immediately—then we talk ourselves out of it.
4. The color wheel
I think we're becoming afraid of color. I want us to relearn its emotional and energetic power—especially in a product world that's getting increasingly bland.
5. What the brick really wants (material intelligence)
I care deeply about material intelligence—what a material wants and doesn't want. Just because we can manufacture something doesn't mean we should.
6. Why
I try to stay connected to "why" because it changes. If I can notice when I've drifted, I can pivot earlier and with less pain.
7. The reason for your tenacity
This one reminds me to ask: am I persisting out of courage—or ego? Not every hill is worth dying on.
8. The need for freaks
I believe design needs to be weirder again. And teams need antibodies—diversity of mind, temperament, culture, and background.
9. It is possible to begin designing anywhere
I love this because it gives permission. I don't think there's a single correct starting point. You can begin with a detail, a hunch, a sketch, a whisper.
10. How to ride a bicycle
I see the bicycle as a near-perfect system: simple, efficient, elegant, joyful. It's a great metaphor for what good design can feel like.
11. The thrill of the ride
I've learned that the process matters. If I can access play, I get access to better ideas—especially in high-pressure environments.
12. Several other artistic media
Some of the best designers I've worked with create beyond design. I think working in other media expands taste, questions, and range.
13. What to refuse to do even for the money
This one is personal. I've watched people stay for the paycheck while everything else in them says "leave." I think knowing when to say no is a core life skill.
14. The golden (and other) ratios
I don't think we should worship proportions as dogma—but I do think we should learn them, challenge them intelligently, and break them on purpose.
References:
250 Things an Architect Should Know — Michael Sorkin [https://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Fifty-Things-Architect-Should/dp/1648960804]
The online "250 Things…" list [https://www.readingdesign.org/250-things]
Got a question or a topic for a future episode?
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