Easy answer . . . we are not digital creatures. I am an industrial designer because I am a sensual being, just like you. We use our senses; seeing, tasting, touching, hearing and smelling to experience our world. Digital adds a layer and changes our brain waves. The interconnected world wide experience is digital but the wake up, stretch my arms and kiss the one I love experience is not. I touch the floor with my feet when I walk. Even if my steps are being counted and shared around the globe, I allow that connection to happen using my phone or my bracelet or my glasses. That is just it . . . how do we accomplish the things I want? We use objects made by real men and women, who use their hands. Those objects might include layers upon layers of code but a person wrote that code using a keyboard. It was a keyboard that someone designed, a keyboard that fingers touched.

I am fascinated by the physical experience of the everyday. Most of what I design is about setting a tone. I might design a clock or a speaker that allows you to do something like hear recorded music or tell time. While I am designing, I am seeing you in your kitchen. What do you like? How do you define your own sense of style? How does the clock I design allow you to express yourself? Are you trying to impress your neighbor with your new speaker? Will you use the clock to teach your child how to tell time?

We live in a world where mass production dominates. Woodworkers who specialize in fine cabinetry are regularly buying doors from a factory. As an industrial designer, I work with the factory. I fit into a chain of production that was forged by men like Henry Ford. That was a beginning. Today, digital is seeping into so much of our production. Soon your cabinets will be doing your shopping for you. I will be the person worrying about how you will experience that kitchen. When you open that door how will you put away your shopping so that the right message gets to the store? How can I perfect that mundane experience?