A design for life: NewDealDesign’s Gadi Amit looks to the future beyond “product design”
- Companies of all sizes are banging down the door of NewDealDesign. But founder Gadi Amit seeks true impact — and has become selective in who he works with.
- “We do both projects that are revolutionary and evolutionary for both large and small clients. The real test for me is the ability we have to make a difference”
- Are we heading for a more broad and complex world of creativity?
Gadi Amit, the award-winning designer of the Fitbit, has managed to keep his firm NewDealDesign reasonably small. That may sound like an odd achievement, but when you’re one of the world’s most sought-after design studios, it can be hard to turn people away.
And rather than being the place that companies come for every kind of design problem, Gadi, who is speaking at TOA 2017, wants NewDealDesign to be the go-to place for the big issues — the ones that could have design solutions that may end up changing the world.
But Gadi — on top of eschewing the term ‘industrial design’ — thinks designers should do more than design. Rather, they should view their profession as one relevant to the many facets of our lives — one that can contribute to our economies and influence society like any other.
Because why should that only be the domain of bankers and businesspeople?
With a line-up packed with bleeding-edge thinkers, makers, and doers like Gadi, it’s time to make TOA your go-to festival. Ticket prices increase on June 1st — so grab one now and see the future today…
When you’re interviewed, hands, touch, and tactility are always mentioned— and your designs reflect this, and invite touch.
How did you end up with such a simple but distinctive approach?
Gadi Amit, NewDealDesign: I see sketching and modelling as integral to the thinking process. It’s the age-old, human way of thinking that was curtailed by misleading messages about the ‘right’ way of thinking — rational, verbal, abstract.
The ability to view the work, touch it and yet leave on the side is exceptionally important for both the creative individual and the team around: it allows anecdotal discovery and serendipity in interaction with the problem.
The process of discovery and design is never linear and computers are not set well for that.
The idea of touch and tactility is not something we necessarily associate with technology, which we seem to instinctively want to keep ‘perfect’.
While people seem to actually want things that feel pleasing in their hands, a lot of design is cold and minimal. Looking forward, do you think a variant of your aesthetic will become the norm?
GA: To the contrary, I think we do associate technology and its prowess with tactile, sensual qualities — the sounds of a car driving, the feel of an iPhone case and subtle cues of an app (visual, vibration) — all are proven mechanisms to enhance the usefulness and appreciation of the technology.
I agree that we are told these qualities are superficial or irrelevant by people who really don’t know how life goes about. I think today the experiential side of Tech is recognized as essential and yet many technologists are not trained or knowledgeable about how to use it or create it.
I do agree that the cold/rational/minimal design era has been dominant in the past 10–20 years, yet it is at the end of its ‘shelf life’ as people understand its limitations. Still, as mentioned previously, due to lack of education, knowledge and such, the tech community doesn’t know much better, so it sticks with the tired and familiar.
One of your decisions — despite NewDealDesign being highly sought-after — was to be choosy, and only take on projects that truly interest you, and offer scope for big problem-solving.
It’s a bold decision. Was there one event that helped you arrive at it and what are the rewards for doing this?
GA: It’s more nuanced than being ‘choosy’: we want to create impact for good.
We do both projects that are revolutionary and evolutionary for both large and small clients. The real test for me is the ability we have to make a difference and to influence society and economy for the better.
It is obviously putting us at some disadvantage against large or small agencies that will take any work for money, yet it creates a very good focus and value system in the studio that is highly beneficial to me personally and both my team’s careers and lives.
Your design explorations, like Scrip, aren’t necessarily about producing a “final” product, but about taking bold leaps and risks without knowing the result in advance and the exact reward.
What are your feelings on this type of innovation? Is it a strategy of long-term reward over short-termism?
GA: I think designers have an intellectual and societal role beyond their commissions. We can and should address larger problems than the ones our clients present us with. In my case, my visibility in the tech industry allows me to reflect and address some issues that are not addressed through the normal product development cycle.
So we do these proactive explorations to send a message out, as if to say: “can we think about this topic differently?” I don’t think I need to commit to this form of expression in either the long or short term.
It’s simply as it comes and when it tends to be relevant. We will react when we feel we’ve got something substantive to say.
Finally, what is your ideal future of product design?
In ten years, if things were designed in a way more in tune with tactility and a pleasant user experience, what would our day-to-day experience be like?
GA: I think it’s beyond product design. I think we are moving into a more broad and complex world of creativity, where mediums are interlocking and designers must know many more layers and facets to be impactful.
But as they gets to grips with all of these things, they now have a relevance beyond that of creating an object or an experience: they are relevant to every aspect of life … so, in an ideal world, designers (and other creatives) are equal partners in addressing all the key issues of society, using their unique brains and talents, and are respected as such.
I don’t think it should be that generals, businesspeople, bankers and lawyers should be managing our lives. I’d love to see a movie director, a designer or a musician become president.
At TOA, you connect with, and learn from, top-tier entrepreneurs, artists, and scientists — at a beautiful location. Join us this July in Berlin.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
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Originally published at blog.toa.berlin on May 28, 2017.
