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	I studied industrial design before switching to computer science. Industrial design is multi-disciplinary -- it requires the ability to analyze and define nebulous problems, come up with a solution that not only works but also aesthetic pleasing. In essence, a good designer must be a good engineer as well as a good artist. At OSU, industrial design covers product design, interior design and graphic design.

Assignment. Pick a cheap, small toy, translate it into wood and styrene. My source of inspiration was a one inch plastic squirrel that hops when its spring is wound up. Material. 1" 2x4 balsa wood.

Design goal. Because the toy is bouncy, mobile, full of fun and energy, the final product should capture and express those qualities. Since this is a toy, it should be in proper size for handling by a child. Result The head bobs and swirls, the hands move up and down and the tail moves sideways.

Product design -- creating a functional, usable, and aesthetically pleasing product.

Be it creating this little toy, or a logo, or a software system, it all has to go through the same process -- conceptualization, prototyping and realization. The conceptual stage is to explore the solution space. There are many solutions to an open question, the more constraints are imposed, the smaller the solution space.

In general, the creative design work has larger solution space than engineering design because engineering design usually starts out with a list of constraints that help to restrict the solution space. The creative design problem usually starts out vague and abstract such as "I need a logo for my company".

Designing a logo is very different from drawing a sketch. In principle, a well designed logo should be simple, easy to remember, easy to recognize and properly express the image it is to represent -- it serves a purpose. Now, what that image is, is the designer's job to find out. That, requires a lot of thought, analysis and research.

Many people who don't understand design think the logo of the Lucent Technologies is bad because "it looks like a child could have drawn that!" and Dilbert has joked about it as a smear ring from a coffee mug. Well, I understand the process that they have gone through and I tend to agree with their "problem definition", what the image is, and their solution.

Given a problem such as "I want a web site for my company", "I want a new phone that will beat my competitor", or "I want a new kitchen", the designer, or the design team, has to define what the real problem is -- a good solution to a wrong question is worst than a bad solution to a right question. Defining the problem also helps to layout the constraints and narrow down the solution space. A good designer can quickly get to a few "good solutions" and evaluate them closely to propose the best one. Of course, finally, the designer has to have the technical ability, rendering, layout, programming, shop skill and what-not, to materialize the proposed design.

For example, here's a logo I designed for a professor at OSU who was organizing the "Mind and Body of East and West Symposium". A logo, that could be anything, so you have nothing. Hmmm, Mind and Body, that's totality. East and West symposium, that's two dynamic forces meet...now I have an image in my head. Luckily, we all have to take calligraphy lessons in school in Taiwan. Brush stroke is my domain, and that's how I created the logo. Of course, I need to use the photo lab equipment to create the final camera-ready copy.

Logo for the "Mind and Body of East and West Symposium" at OSU, 1983.

This logo was designed for the "Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence Research", LAIR at OSU in 1987. "Artificial Intelligence" is pretty abstract, so I look at it from the "LAIR" angle. Since lair means an animal's den, I started to play with the letters and was finally happy with this drawing. It obviously breaks the simplicity rule, but remember, all rules are meant to be broken. A designer should be aware of all the design principles and yet at the same time forget all the rules so that one's creative juice can flow freely. When you break the rules, you do it consciously and with deliberation. Part of the beauty of this design is in the variation of the line width which is lost in the size reduction, you may want to click on it to get a closer look. I've sold more than 200 T-shirts in 2 years, I think they are still making it. (In case you haven't noticed, the animal is drawn with the letters L,A,I,R.)

Logo for Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence Research, LAIR, at OSU, 1987

Now you see, logo design is visualization of an abstract concept.

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