Interview with Blair Enns

DW: What are you looking forward to most about Design Currency 2010?

BE: Connections and the cross pollination of ideas. I'm excited about the diverse line-up of speakers.

DW: What does the conference theme “Design Currency” mean to you?

BE: The design profession is at an interesting confluence. Designs, particularly graphic designs, are increasingly seen as commodities which can be purchased online in a reverse auction, while at the same time the problems of the world - of businesses and societies - are increasingly seen as problems of design. Businesses and even governments are starting to wake up to the fact that design as a process is the ultimate differentiator of businesses and even societies. To me, Design Currency can be an exploration of this polarization of design, this combined threat and opportunity.

DW: If design was currency, who would have the most? Who would have the least?

BE: Those who treat design as a process rather than outcomes have the most. The polarizing trend is splitting the design world into poorly paid tacticians on one side and well paid advisors on the other. The mushy middle is disappearing. To be a good designer who cannot lead and advise the client isn't enough any more. The designer/consultant has all the design currency.

DW: What criteria do you use to evaluate design?

BE: Bear in mind that I'm not a designer, but to me, simplicity is the height of creativity. There are usually lots of solutions to any design challenge, but the best ones are often so simple they make you think there can be no other solution. Good design makes you think the designer found the only solution.

Blair Enns will be speaking at Design Currency 2010. Learn more about him on the Blair Enns speaker page.