Founder and CEO
FrogDesign Inc.
Sunnyvale, California
I don't believe that there is a list of principles that make a good design. But I do believe that a good design should reflect a sense of human history -- some aspect of where we've come from. Look at Lego, a toy that mirrors exactly where it came from -- Denmark, a country of thousands of islands, thousands of pieces. The "play" comes from putting those pieces together.
Legos embody pure simplicity. In many ways, they were the first digital toys -- all bits and bytes. But to experience the product, you have to interact with it. Part of that experience comes from what you bring to it. The word "lego" is a combination of the Danish words "Leg Godt," which means "to play well." In Latin, lego means "I study," or "I put together." I remember my dad and I used to spend hours building these elaborate creations -- circuses, cars, planes, space stations. There was no limit to what we could make with Legos.
In a sense, playing with Legos is a lot like designing: The process is slow and requires focus. A joint is missing here or there. You make mistakes. So you try something else, and that leads you to a different form, a different connection, a new discovery.
In 1969, Hartmutt Esslinger (hartmute@frogdesign.com) founded FrogDesign Inc., one of the world's preeminent consulting and design agencies with clients that include Swatch, Lufthansa Airlines, and SAP. Whether designing high-tech dentist chairs or elegant Louis Vuitton luggage, Esslinger seeks to infuse each product with his credo: Form follows emotion. Esslinger also designed the original Macintosh SE. Ole Kirk Christiansen, a master carpenter and joiner in Billund, Denmark, founded Legos in 1932.
Founder and president
Ziba Design Inc.
Portland, Oregon
There are three basic principles behind any well-designed product: truth, humanity, and simplicity. To see these three in action, look at one of the icons of the 20th century -- the VW Beetle. My dad had one of the first models -- a yellow 1952 Bug. In college, I had a red 1968 model. It was one of the few cars in which I've really experienced the feeling of driving. The driver's seat was like a real chair and totally ergonomic. The car was high, comfortable, practical, and even though I could never go very fast, I felt like I was flying.
From a design standpoint, it was an incredibly simple and honest creation. Basically, the Beetle combined three semicircles: two arcs for the fenders and one large arc for the body -- pure, simple, and beautifully proportioned. And it's so human, even down to its weaknesses -- such as the heater, which never seemed to work in the old models. But we still loved the car. What makes good design? Design is not beautification. It's a thought process -- a nonlinear, spatial way of thinking in which connections are made between seemingly unrelated things. Designers are creative visual thinkers who learn to see the world differently.
Think about the Beetle: How many objects -- and cars for that matter -- make people coo?
Sohrab Vossoughi (sohrab_vossoughi@ziba.com) founded ZIBA Design Inc., a product-development firm, in 1984. Some of Ziba's clients include Nike, FedEx, McDonald's, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Hyundai, Coleman, and Rubbermaid. The first VW beetles were built in 1938 with a 985cc engine. They were named KDF-wagens -- kraft durch Freude or "power through joy."
Vehicle chief designer
General Motors Corp.
Detroit, Michigan
Sometimes the success of a design has as much to do with its physical structure as with the emotion that it evokes. That's why the 1998 Corvette is a great design: It's a sports car that reinforces the Corvette brand and heritage, while triggering a sense of nostalgia -- the memories that people have of the Corvettes that they saw on the road when they were kids.
I still remember the first Corvette I saw. I was about seven years old, and my dad, who worked at gm, drove home in a bright-red Corvette. The car was unlike anything I'd ever seen. It looked like it was sucking up the ground! Everyone in the family took turns riding in it. And what appealed to me back then is the same thing that appeals to me today: That car just spells fun.
The design has gone through some changes since the first Corvette appeared in 1953, but you can't mistake it. It's still low and wide, with double tail lamps on both sides. But the new model has a back end that sits higher off the ground and horizontal vent slots that are reminiscent of race cars -- a look that sports-car enthusiasts love.
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