the ineffable allure

just got the latest issue of STEP magazine and there is an interesting article about automotive designers ("a breed apart"). In the introduction there is this paragraph:

"Car buyers want performance and safety, but what propels them far more than anything else is the ineffable allure of the new car, the emotional rush...that which makes it call out to the human heart and appeals to the human yearning for beautiful form. This is the realm of automotive designers, and it is where they find their greatest challenge."

who's reading Donald Norman?

This was in last saturday's funnies (cincinnati enquirer)

(by the way, my mom (proabably your grandmother's age) still uses the toaster she got as a wedding gift (1953). I'm sure it's a collector's item but it still works fine).

Emotional Design & Design Portfolios

While working at P&G one of my tasks was to sort through a filing cabinet full of design firms portfolios. My boss told me to write down in a spreadsheet some of the information about each company. He wanted a list of information so that they could send some emails out. He told me to feel free to look at the portfolios and if I didn't think some were impressive that I could skip over them and throw them away. One of the portfolios I looked at had a really bad print job and you could feel the ink on the pages. It gave me the feeling of fingernails on a chalkboard. I threw the portfolio away. Their work wasn't really bad, but I thought that they should have put more detail into the emotional response that their possible clients would have from the horrible print job. Just thought that it was interesting.