From Super Yachts, to Super Cars to Super Market Trolleys
A title that immediately evoked my interest when I read about this talk being given by Brian Steinhobel, a renowned and respected global industrial designer, at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, Johannesburg, South Africa.
And first impressions were excellent, not only with the evocative title, but also due to the effort he took in bringing numerous props to illustrate & highlight the discussion. He reminded me of the numerous outstanding designers from the annual Design Indaba, were his passion for his work (not job!) came shining through. However, that’s were it stopped for me, because it became more of a ‘show’ and ‘superficial tell’, and provided no depth nor content, in terms of his thinking, his value system, his process or anything.
The few nuggets of insight and some of his perspectives, I found thought provoking and interesting, were as follows:-
- Designing requires teamwork: it can’t be done in isolation, you require strong partners who are able to translate this into the engineering tools & manufacturing process implementation
- Major companies & CEO’s “are dunces in design”
- ROI is exponential with the power of design
- It’s a three part process that flows into & feeds each other: design<=>materials<=>tools/process of manufacturing<=>
- All products can be re-engineered/designed to be superior (efficiency, effectiveness, cost etc) to current offerings
- Cutting edge of technology, provides first mover advantage
- Simplicity means & requires extreme sophistication in design, technology, implementation
- Design turnaround has moved from months to days (via rapid prototyping & other technologies)
- Industrial designers should be sitting on Boards
- IP/patents is a complete folly
Outstanding examples of insight & technology into design were:
- Plastic injection moulded wheelbarrow (negates the issues of acid, rust & repurchase)
- Qolf, a system that allows you to improve your chipping (golf)
- Vena Vessel, the menstrual cup for woman
- Environ toilet, that requires no water & dehydrates your waste
- Plastic that looks like wood e.g. ‘Stortebeker’ beer crates (& it’s future appellation into shopping trolleys)
- Sharka: pulsation on surf boards against sharks
- Steinhobel Design & NX, a siemens PLM case study on youtube
It’s interesting, that the books he had recommended reading, were already some on my to read or have read list:-
- Made in Japan, by Naomi Pollock
- The Singularity is Near, by Ray Kurzweil
- Tom Peters books, and the insight he provides in the dynamics of changing your business
So in summary, I felt his passion to industrial design & his craft, and I loved the examples he showed, however I felt it was like showing the tip of the iceberg, and being teased by its hidden depths!
Brian Steinhobel’s Brief Bio
South African, founder & head of Steinhobel Group of Companies, specializing in industrial design, focusing on consultancy and product development, across Asia, Europe & America.
Covering all industries, such as sports equipment, furniture, automotive, military & personal care, and a wide ambit of clients, including Unilever, SMK, Siemens, BMW, Virgin.
Steinhobel serves on the Advisory Council for Industrial Design & is a past president of Design SA ID. He has numerous awards, including Warwick University Technology Excellence Award, Design Institute SABS Chairmans Award, Technology Top 100 Minister’s Award.
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