As a proud alumna of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where I did my masters degree in product design, I was thrilled to return to the Windy City for 2 days of road show excitement. Some of my old teachers and from the school- Helen Maria Nugent, Sarah Mallin, Lisa Norton, and John Eding- had scored us a sweet spot in downtown Chicago, right in the middle of Millennium Park, where we parked on Sunday against the backdrop of the Chicago skyline and of course the beacons in the park (Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate “bean” sculpture and Frank Gehry’s bandshell). Since I left, the skyline has changed a lot, including a new skyscraper by Jeannie Gang (who stopped by to visit!), the Trump Tower, and more.
On Monday, we opened the doors at 10am after taping a radio spot with Chicago Public Radio’s 848 program (hear the podcast here). Because it was a gorgeous day and we were so centrally located (hard to miss!), we attracted hundreds of passers-by, tourists, and curious folks wondering what the heck the shiny “bus” had inside. A gaggle of school children stopped by as well, excited to get to play with the objects and full of questions, though left the exhibition sort of a mess and spilled pickle juice in the front corner of the trailer.
Messy exhibition shelves after dozens of school children toured the trailer!
Groups of Illinois Institute of Technology and School of the Art Institute of Chicago students came out over the course of both days. It was great to hear about what they were working on that related to design for social impact: charcoal compressors for Haiti, community gardens and urban farming on the west side of the city. It provided more proof in my mind that the next generation of designers will be stubborn in changing the way we design, proving that design can change the world and not just fill our houses with stuff.
At 4:15 pm we headed to the 112 S. Michigan building for the lecture, which took place in the beautifully ornate ballroom. Helen Maria introduced me and Matt and we proceeded with our presentation. I was thorough in talking about my time at the School and hopefully instilled a bit of inspiration in the ears of current students, encouraging them to get out of the studio and actually do real work, not just student projects that fill portfolios.
My sister Molly was also in town (she used to live there as well), so it was great to have a mini family reunion amidst the chaos. Our Uncle Bear (real name is Albert) works downtown and stopped by, along with old friends Rob Davis (who runs the school’s awesome shop facilities) and Ryan Flynn, furniture designer Sean Scott, IDEO designer Annette Ferrara, and more. Of course, Jon Honor who leads the Chicago Project H team stopped by to represent, and we caught up about the progress of the local projects which are looking at access to services for the homeless across the city.
Some of my former instructors, Carl Ray Miller, Helen Maria Nugent, Lisa Norton, Anders Nereim, and the legendary Bob McAnulty, were there both days as well. Bob McAnulty was my advisor and for various reasons is now not entirely welcome on the School of the Art Institute facilities. That didn’t stop him from attending my lecture and making his presence known, or serving as informal bouncer at the trailer both days (thanks Bob!). As my advisor, Bob was probably the one to first instill a sense of rebellion in my work, and the one who encouraged me to always be critical and redefine what we usually accept as the status quo. In other words, he taught me to make up my own rules. Helen Maria as well, was one of my inspirations as a student. She led a team of students to exhibit at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York where we won an Editor’s award for our built installation. The project remains one of the best things I’ve done as a designer to date. Needless to say my time at the School of the Art Institute was the best two years of my life, and I owe a lot to the school for giving me tools and freedom to carve my own path and define what “success” would mean to me as a designer.
On the second day in the morning, I filmed a 7am TV spot for the local WGN TV station with reporter Ana Belaval (watch it here!). We talked about the road show in general, and highlighted a few key products in the show like the Adaptive Eyecare glasses, water filtration devices, and some of the toys and educational products. Matt predicted that after the show aired, we would have dozens of visitors with “invention pitches,” who would be proposing their ideas to us. Later that day, sure enough, one man in particular came out with a particularly memorable pitch. Over the course of this trip, we’ve noted how much people confuse the terms “invention” with “design,” saying things like “there are lots of cool inventions here!” Additionally, folks have come out to talk to us about their “million dollar idea” or “worldchanging invention” without being able to tell us how it works or how they’ve tried to make it real in the world. This man in particular was particularly militant and protective of his “inventions.” He brought with him 2 “prototypes” which were not so much prototypes as a wheel in a bag and a headphone plugged into a radio, which he billed an anti-gravity machine that could make motorcycles fly and a machine that could make deaf people hear. While the prototypes may very well have merit and be partially functional, I asked him to explain how they would work, and he would not do it. “How do I know you won’t steal my idea?” he asked. I replied that I had no desire to steal his ideas, but I could not critique or help if he didn’t tell me how, for example, this mangled headphone was different from a traditional hearing aid. “Have you tried this out? Have you given it to someone with hearing impairments and asked them if it works?” I asked. “No, but I know it will,” he replied. After asking him to at least explain how the devices worked, or how he planned on prototyping or implementing them, he stormed off in anger, mad that I had asked him to reveal his secrets. He had kept the two “prototypes” in a bank vault for 10 years, and I suppose he was off to return them to their safe spot.
Matt and I have discussed this phenomenon at length: the misconception that an “invention” is a) the same as design, and b) just an idea that will make you tons of money and not something you have to build, understand, and make possible through tons of hard work and human-centered research. Additionally, all these ideas for inventions we keep hearing are proprietary- people pitch their genius ideas to us but won’t tell us how they work. I even asked the man in Chicago “Well then why did you come out here to talk to me if you won’t tell me how these work?” to which he said “I don’t know, I thought you’d want to invest in them or buy them from me.” What we are interested in is not the “next million dollar idea,” but thoughtful solutions to common problems that address human needs with grace and humility, and that give people the power to improve their own lives. If the real goal is social impact (not just profit as such “inventors” have made clear), then there would be little proprietary protection over the idea, but a sincere desire to put it out in the world. SO, if you have an invention that you want to profit from, that you haven’t thought through, and that you won’t explain for fear of us stealing the idea, please stay at home. If you believe that design thinking and creative problem solving can make life better, and you’re willing to put in the work for the long haul to create and scale solutions to big social problems, by all means come talk to us. (Sorry for the rant!)
Over the course of both days, we asked visitors what the Design Revolution means to them. And we were surprised and delighted at the responses we got (watch the video above). After two days in the park, we pulled away and drove off into the Midwestern sunset. Thanks so much to everyone at the School of the Art Institute (and Louis from Millennium Park) for an action-packed, inspiring, and thought-provoking two days!
