I was already a pretty ambitious designer when I went to the Aspen Design Conference years ago. Mary Catherine Bateson, Margaret Mead’s daughter, spoke and I heard things that hadn’t occurred to me. She talked about designing life and how to create and build the rituals that celebrate the journey of living.

Then, I met Milton Glaser. From him I learned to take everything personally; to connect with the things I create in a real way. His definition of design has always stuck with me: (more…)

For my first guest post, I thought I would indulge myself with a topic that’s been haunting me for the last month or so – the nature of design and what I feel is its inherent (and necessary) idealism.

I’m sitting in an airport, having just dropped off my son, Harry, at Wesleyan University, where he’s about to start his first year of college. I can’t help but be mindful of beginnings and endings and
change. (more…)