Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life, and Maybe Even the World [Hardcover]

Warren Berger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2009

The first book to reveal how thinking like a designer can help solve the greatest challenges we face in business, society, and our daily lives.

What can we learn from the ways great designers think-and how can it improve our world? In this highly original book by journalist Warren Berger, in collaboration with celebrated designer Bruce Mau, ten groundbreaking principles of design are shown in action-addressing business, social, and personal challenges and improving the way we think, work, and live.

Glimmer takes readers on a journey through today's fascinating world of design, where the formerly distinct disciplines of graphic, product, and social design are undergoing "smart recombinations." In the cutting-edge studios of Mau and other visionaries, everything is ripe for reinvention-including the ways businesses function, children learn, and communities thrive. Designers are solving problems at an unprecedented pace today by using improved technology and the highly practical design principles described in this book, such as "Ask stupid questions," "Make hope visible," "Work the metaphor," "Embrace constraints," and "Begin anywhere." Glimmer inspires readers to apply these same principles to their own life challenges.

While celebrated designers work on re-creating the world, Berger reveals the growing grassroots "glimmer movement" in which everyday people are emerging as designers and problem solvers. Readers will be fascinated by how "transformation design" is reinventing companies and addressing thorny social problems. Berger shares stories of how burned fingers, wrenched backs, and mixed-up pills all led to ingenious new product designs.

In a time of anxiety and retrenchment, this hopeful yet hardheaded book illuminates "the glimmer of possibility and potential-that first spark of an innovative idea or a life-changing plan." According to Berger, "This faint light is all around us and also within us, if we can learn to recognize and nurture it." The best designers already know how to transform that glimmer of possibility into the steady glow of creation and innovation-and with the inspiration of Glimmer, we're now all able to do the same.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Exclusive: What Can We Learn from the World’s Greatest Designers?

The answer to the above question is "a lot." We can learn how to solve problems better. How to look at the world around us with a fresh eye. How to think more creatively, and ultimately, how to open up new possibilities in our lives.

These are the things that great designers do every day. But the premise in my new book Glimmer is: "You don't have to be a designer to think like one." There's a whole way of thinking used by designers, and a step-by-step process they follow, that really can be embraced by anyone—whether you're in business, out there trying to contribute to the world in some way, or if you're just looking to improve your own life.

What I found, in studying some of the world's most innovative designers, is that—in addition to being immensely talented and bright people, of course—they tend to have two big things they rely on. First, they have a certain mindset that enables them to be fearless and optimistic and open to all kinds of new possibilities. And second, they have a framework they use—a proven methodology that helps them to bring their ideas and plans to life, to get things done, and to be successful. I sort of dejargonize this methodology and give lots of examples of how it works in Glimmer.

One of the things designers are known for doing is questioning everything. In fact there's a joke that asks, "How many designers does it take to change a lightbulb?" To which the answer is: "Does it have to be a lightbulb?"

It's a joke, but it's not: Designers all the time really do ask basic things like Does it have to be a lightbulb? The design process often begins with questioning the conventional wisdom about how we currently do things.

Of course, it's one thing to question the world around you-but it's much harder to begin to change it. As I write in Glimmer, if you just question everything without trying to improve it, you may end up being more of a whiner than a designer. Designers actually must take action in order to create new possibilities—that's their job. And so it's not surprising they've developed proven methods to help them do that.

I examine those methods in detail in the book, but they involve, for example:

• Teaching oneself to be open to new ideas by "thinking laterally" (which is really about tricking your brain into moving in unexpected directions, instead of the usual straightforward ones).

• Developing a better antenna for figuring out what's missing & what's really needed in the world around you—that's how designers find great opportunities.

• Learning how to bring ideas to life, and make them real. All of us have ideas in our heads, but designers make their ideas real and tangible-by sketching, by modeling, by scotch-taping things together. It's what designers call prototyping, and it's the way you take a dream and gradually build it into a reality. And this is a technique anyone can use.

• Another important thing designers do is, they "fail forward." Most of us are afraid to fail, but designers fail every day. What they understand is that every failure—if you know how to react to it and use it—can be a critical step that brings you closer to the end goal.

These are just a few of the basic tools and principles designers use. And what really surprised me, as I worked on the book, was to see just how accessible these tools are to anyone. And how applicable they are to just about any situation.

In today's world, with all the challenges and problems we have to grapple with—both in our daily lives and in the world at large—we can benefit from having that designer mindset and methodology. Because the truth is, we all need to become better at facing up to tough challenges and finding new solutions.

---

From Publishers Weekly

Humanity's problems can be designed away with ingenious products and catchy marketing, according to this giddy manifesto. Journalist Berger (Advertising Today) channels the insights of celebrity designer Bruce Mau, whose grandiose projects—he's helping the University of Arizona to reinvent higher education—yield such pensées as everything communicates. He distills Mau's wisdom into high-concept glimmer principles, including work the metaphor and design for emergence, and applies them to everything from disaster relief to personal life. Berger tries to both abstract and systematize the process of innovative design and to give it a populist spin: you don't need expertise or money to solve problems, just optimism, an attentive eye and a childlike readiness to Ask Stupid Questions. Nifty gadgets are showcased, including a nut-sheller for Third World farmers and a wheelchair that climbs stairs. But much of the book is just a retread of self-help bromides (you have to be willing to grow) and familiar business buzz concepts, one that treats a pet food company's promotion of an international holiday for dogs as a humanitarian crusade. The result is an overhyped brief for a shallow approach to the world's ills. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The (October 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594202338
• ISBN-13: 978-1594202339
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #608,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

For full info on me check out http://www.warrenberger.com and my ezine http://GlimmerSite.com.

I'm a longtime journalist (The New York Times Magazine, Wired, GQ, Reader's Digest) and book author who has written about a variety of subjects over the years--creativity and innovation being particular favorites.

A few years ago, I set out to find a good answer to the fundamental question: "What is design?" Design is a fascinating subject in that everybody's interested in it, but very few have a clear understanding of what it is and how it works. The goal of my book, GLIMMER (retitled "CAD Monkeys, Dinosaur Babies, and T-Shaped People" in the U.S. Penguin paperback), is to take the best thinking and principles of the world's top designers--and make those ideas accessible to everyone and applicable to any challenge, personal or professional.

I discovered that the more you learn about design, the more you begin to see that it is relevant to, and has an impact on, just about every facet of our world and our lives. It's been a fascinating journey.

I'm currently working on a new book on creativity, as well as several other co-authoring projects. My previous books are Advertising Today, Hoopla, Nextville (co-authored with Barbara Corcoran), and No Opportunity Wasted (co-authored with Phil Keoghan), which appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. I'm also the founding editor of ONE, an international magazine focusing on advertising and design.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars for the beginners only - designers don't waste your time, May 7, 2010

By 

Mochi Mochi "Oishii" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life, and Maybe Even the World (Hardcover)

Glimmer is another in a line of books that capitalize on the current popular pre-occupation with "design thinking". This is the equivalent of a corporate-self-help movement to help industry (the corporate world) try to think more like designers in order to breed innovation in the workplace (and advance careers). While it provides a modestly interesting overview of design and a handful of worthwhile insights, it is ultimately reductive and lacking in depth. The author clearly is out of his depth. This becomes obvious in his near gee-whiz attitude to design and designers.

This is not a book for designers. This is a book for people who really know very little about design, its history, and the process of design and who would like a somewhat entertaining "can do" read about design and designers. It is a history of some interesting projects and noted designers. It is positivist and optimistic - very "feel good". It will not present any new information to most experienced designers or design mavens. It may provide some interesting reading to those who are new to design.

The book summarizes and categorizes some of the basic thought methodologies of design. It also shows, through narrative examples, how some designers work and how they consistently engage certain modes of thinking.

These modes of thinking break down to the following:

1) questions precepts and assumption - really try to completely understand everything you can about your design "problem"

2) think "laterally" - this is jargon that really means think creatively about relationships, analogies, or parallel design examples

3) empathize - use empathy to understand the problem and how the end user is affected by the problem and a potential design solution

4) prototype and iterate - don't be afraid to fail, failure is a part of the iterative process of design and it can lead the designer to a better solution

These are all perfectly good ideas. They should be well known to any good experienced designer. They can be summarized in a short paragraph or blog post. Applying them well in a design process is much harder than it might seem. There's a lot more to being a designer that is just not covered well in this book.

The book compiles and summarizes exercises that have previously been published in other books and which are largely well known in the design industry. It provides frequent quotes and out-takes from books by Bruce Mau, and it pulls pages from IDEO's design exercise card decks.

The downside of this book is that it is simplistic and too wedded to the entertaining narrative to be useful beyond the neophyte level. Further there is a rambling disjointed quality to the book. Thoughts are begun but left incomplete as the author shifts focus. There's a lack of cohesive logic. It's more of a pastiche of events, quotes, and narratives with a lot of filler and fluff content.

The author bills the book as demystifying design. At this it just fails. Why? Because while it tells stories, it focuses heavily on design personalities. It spends much more time reinforcing the iconic design hero rather than getting into any real depth about design. It also recycles a lot of design industry jargon which seems intended to establish insider credibility but which again puts mystique around the design process. To my way of thinking this just continues the process of mystification of design and designers. It also never gets around to the hard work and important experience that designers use to guide their efforts and solutions. This book is really about cashing in on a popular concept and popularizing design. If that's what you want then this is a good book for you. However if you are not a designer and you want to get real insight into design process and thinking Glimmer will ultimately disappoint, leaving the reader with a series of superficial concepts and partially understandings. There's nothing in this book that the non-designer can take and usefully employ in the workplace or the real world, though if it encourages a few people to begin the long hard job of becoming a good designer then there's no harm. As a designer with a lot of experience this just seems like a fluffy journalistic endeavor with a hint of pop-philosophy thrown in. The book lacks real meat for the hungry designer or those seriously curious about design.

Background:

I was loaned a copy of this book for review. I am a designer and have been working in a variety of media and disciplines for the last 25 years. I hold a number of international design patents and my work has won numerous awards. I've worked in and managed creative teams in top design firms and agencies around the US. Over my career I've consulted with multinational corporations to solve some of their toughest problems and help them design their futures. I take design very seriously

Summary and Suggested Readings:

There are some really great books on design out there that would actually be useful for the experienced designer. Glimmer just isn't one of them. For those who are interested in really good books on design I would recommend the following list. I realize most of these are architectural, but they are relevant to all types of design. Design is a process common to a wide range of disciplines - not a single discipline. These books will really help challenge a good designer to be a better more thoughtful designer. Cradle to Cradle is the most accessible but is well written and smart. Leach and Delanda provide great philosophical and critical depth and are appropriate for design professionals and those who want to exercise their brain cells.

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by Michael Braungart

Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory by Neil Leach

A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History by Manuel Delanda

The Anaesthetics of Architecture by Neil Leach

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Design by Design, October 24, 2009

By 

S. Jones (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life, and Maybe Even the World (Hardcover)

And I thought "design" meant home furnishings or a snappy cereal box.

It turns out that design is--or should be- a fundamental approach to human endeavor. Berger asks us to take step back from our assumptions of how things are and how things can be. This is not a hyper-philosophical treatise; rather, it takes real world examples and analyzes how design can improve the lot of one life or many lives. The provocative examples range from the simplest water portage "systems" in the developing world to high-tech innovation. This fascinating examination encourages one to think of the interconnectedness of design in individual terms as well as the implications for society as a whole.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can A Glimmer Change the World?, October 27, 2009

By 

A.K. Cal "DCH" (Providence) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life, and Maybe Even the World (Hardcover)

This book is a nice surprise. It takes this big question -- what is design? -- and answers it in a sweeping book written in a thoroughly entertaining and readable style. Berger pulls the reader into the subject with plenty of fascinating and compelling anecdotes and interviews with a wide-ranging group of design stars. Think Malcolm Gladwell writing about design and its many facets.

Glimmer explains designers' innovative approaches to taking on -- and solving -- such disparate problems as making a readable and useable prescription pill bottle, to getting a million teenagers to stop smoking, to accessing clean water to supply a small African village. Berger uses the design philosophy of Bruce Mau (to whom everything, including one's life, is a design project) to put in context the endless possibilities of what design can achieve, and on the way, improve our lives. This book presents a fascinating and hopeful look at design, and shows us how a "glimmer" could just maybe change the world.

(OH -- and the illustrations and graphics add a very nice touch.)