by Jacquie Ang

Author-designer-educator Petrula Vrontikis attempts to make sense of something so intangible, yet so powerful. She raids through treasure chests of 19 globally acclaimed designers and throws up questions that she, through a glimpse into the minds of these geniuses, answers clearly and succinctly.

Are designers creative hunter-gatherers? Is there a method of inspiration? Or is it random?

Then again, it’s not so much of what they have in their chests. Rather, what gave it potential to be a stimulus? How does one differentiate between a rock and an unpolished gem? What did Stefan Sagmeister see in the girl doing her math homework in the subway? How does fear motivate Saul Bass? What in Wolfgang Weingart’s childhood inspires him? How does Aporva Baxi derive his ideas from nanotechnology? What does wild dancing do to Maxey Andress? What did Vrontikis herself discover in chance meetings? (Yes Marion, stimulants don’t only come in vials and syringes.)

“I don’t know,” replied Primo Angeli. So brutally honest and unpretentious. And maybe other design leaders agree with him. Perhaps it’s just something that clicks so naturally, you don’t think about it until you’re asked. Milton Glaser sheds a little more light: “It comes from the most unlikely places. Usually when I pay attention to something I haven’t paid before.”

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JACQUIE ANG
Junior Assistant Editor of TAXI Design Network

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