5 TED Talks You Must Watch to be a Better Designer

If you don’t know what TED is, then you’re missing out big-time. TED is a small non-profit organization that holds yearly conferences that discuss Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED). The conferences include several different people with a passion for educating people and spreading new ideas.

Right now, we’re going to focus on their Design talks. Their design talks are inspirational and so resourceful that every, and I mean every, designer MUST watch. They are essential to becoming a better designer because they provide new ideas and new mindsets to design.

There are 5 TED talks I want you to watch that will revolutionize how you design.

1.Gary Lauder’s new traffic sign: Take Turns

This talk by Gary Lauder talks about a new traffic sign that says Take Turns. He explains why he wants his sign to replace Yield and Stop signs because of their inefficiency.

As designers, we can learn from this short talk by listening to how he innovates something old with new principles. He refers to the inefficiency of Stop and Yield signs as being unfriendly to the environment because of how much pollution will occur when you stop even for a few seconds. By combining his concern for the environment and human psychology, he created a new sign that will be beneficial in every way.

2. Don Norman on 3 ways good design makes you happy

Don Norman does a great talk on how good design makes him (and others) happy. He looks at how design affects our emotions, particularly our emotion of joy and happiness.

This is important for a designer because we have to understand what emotions our designs evoke. If we, as designers, can learn to evoke certain emotions with our designs, like happiness, we can revolutionize the world around us for the better.

3. Paul Bennett finds design in the details

In this talk, Paul Bennett talks about the importance of details in designs and how finding little details can be very revolutionary.

To designers, this is a perfect talk on how something little in a design can impact heavily. If we can shape our ideas to target something specific, even if it may be small, we can change that specific thing to be highly beneficial.

4. Marc Koska on 1.3m reasons to re-invent the syringe

This short talk by Marc Koska shows how a small change in a product can enable a huge difference. He talks about an invention to counter the usage of unsanitary syringes. His invention locks the device in place after the injection is gone and if somebody tries to reuse it, the area that contained the injection breaks out of place making it unusable.

As designers, we can use this to our advantage to change even the smallest problems. Coming up with a small change in a current design can allow for an impactful difference to a problem.

5. Paola Antonelli treats design as art

This one is a must watch if you have been told that your profession isn’t art. Paola Antonelli explains why contemporary design is the definition of art.

This relates back to designers because I have often been told that Web Design is not art numerous times. I flat out tell them, “You’re wrong and here’s why,”. Art is about impacting others and expressing creativity in various ways. Web design is no different. As a web designer, you study various theories on how to create an impact with your websites. Other design fields are the same. We all follow by basic theories that create impacts on individuals. To undermine us and refuse to call us artists is wrong. All designers are contemporary artists looking to make an impact just as the famous artists before us.