Design quality

Guy Kawasaki picks the brain of uber-designer Hartmut Esslinger:

Question: What are your top ten products of all time?

Answer:

1. Electric Light Bulb
2. Japanese Lunch Box(es)
3. Mercedes 300 SLR “Uhlenhaut”
4. Boeing 707
5. Porsche 911
6. Apple Macintosh (after the Macintosh SE)
7. Arne Jacobsen Chair “3107” by Hansen
8. Sony Walkman 2
9. Gibson Les Paul Custom Guitar
10. Hubble Telescope

Question: What are your ten worst products of all time?

Answer:

1. Gas-guzzling SUVs
2. Neck-pain-causing Notebook computers
3. Typical conference chairs and ambiance in hotels
4. Software UI on mobile phones
5. Most hospital equipment
6. Violent video games
7. Fake “crafts” products (e.g “Hantcraft” dustpan & brushset)
8. Computer accessories requiring 2+ hour installment
9. Restaurant table that “kill” your kneecaps
10. Myriads of power adapters

Victory City

Victory Cities will be built from scratch in the scenic countryside. The bulk of a Victory City's food supply will come from its own farms in the surrounding countryside just beyond the circular highway, as well as greenhouses, fish tanks and a poultry center next to the cafeteria kitchens. A single Victory City™ would be able to accommodate up to 332,000 people.

[A Tour of Victory City @ Victory Cities website]

Hat tip: Carrie, who picked it up from Metafilter

Orville Simpson II, the self-made millionaire who has been revising his childhood vision of Victory City since 1936 -- do I have your attention yet? -- seems like an interesting fellow. What fun to Think Big Thoughts like this and still manage to make a living.

Map of a Victory City - Orville Simpson II

We had to design planned communities for a 7th grade Civics class. Our teacher had read one too many books by Buckminster Fuller, and this is the same man who is ultimately responsible for triggering a mild obsession with design in me as an adult.

I remember it as one of the most entertaining projects I ever had to do in school, and maybe that's why this resonates with me.

But what I really want to do is (art-) direct

Everyone's an art director: national flags, but fresher!

(Flash required, but so so worth it.)

Hat tip: Laurie.