WEBEXPEDITION18 Never Stop The Exploring

As TED tells us ‘Ideas are worth spreading’, TED is a annual conference which inspires huge numbers of people with great talks and speakers every year since 1984. The quality of each speaker is so high that you find yourself inspired each and every time, no speaker brings up a talk which isn’t relevant, their presentations are top class and will open up new areas of your mind for thought.

I hope to show to you 5 of the best talks which discuss issues related to the disciplines of Product (& Industrial) design, design philosophy and future design thinking.

Some of the speakers you will know and be familiar with, but most importantly I hope all will inspire and get you thinking in new and exciting ways.

1. Ross Lovegrove: The Power and Beauty of organic design

Leading designer and self confessed scientist Ross Lovegrove discusses his philosophy of fat-free design and shows us an insight into several his extraordinary design thinking. He including the Ty Nant water bottle and the Go chair, and how his design philosophy dictates the form and function of his designs.

2. Tim Brown: Urges Designers to Think Big

Tim Brown says the design profession is preoccupied with creating nifty, fashionable objects — even as pressing questions like clean water access show it has a bigger role to play. He calls for a shift to local, collaborative, participatory “design thinking.”

3. Mathieu Lehanneur: Demos Science-Inspired Design

Naming science as his chief inspiration, Mathieu Lehanneur shows a selection of his ingenious designs — an interactive noise-neutralizing ball, an antibiotic course in one layered pill, asthma treatment that reminds kids to take it, a living air filter, a living-room fish farm and more.

4. Janine Benyus: Biomimicry in Action

Janine Benyus has a message for inventors: When solving a design problem, look to nature first. There you’ll find inspired designs for making things waterproof, aerodynamic, solar-powered and more. Here she reveals dozens of new products that take their cue from nature with spectacular results.

5. Janine Benyus: 12 Sustainable Design Ideas from Nature

In this inspiring talk about recent developments in biomimicry, Janine Benyus provides heartening examples of ways in which nature is already influencing the products and systems we build.

Authored by Jared Thompson

Jared Thompson is a keen product and graphics designer. He has a passion for the works and designers of the Bauhaus movement and strongly believes that ‘less is more.’ Jared is currently studying Product Design at the Northern School of Design. I run my own design site over at http://www.designjuices.co.uk and you can also find me on twitter as http://www.twitter.com/jthompsondesign