William Golden, designer, creator of the CBS logo said that in 1959. Don't miss 'good,' it's an important keyword here.

First I thought about the relevance of this statement by applying it to architecture: the cityscape and the community's inner workings improve one good building at a time. What doesn't get built cannot improve the environment. It's the bricks and mortar that trigger the change, not the planning, nor the talking.

Back to design. Talking about design is good: evangelizes when done in front of the business class, helps build an ethos when among designers. Talking spreads knowledge. Talking makes friends.

Talking can attract attention of the young people and convince them into studying design. I believe that designers must study design, there is no substitute for that. Not necessarily for the interaction with the professors, but for the interaction with the more advanced students.

When conversing with a master, each statement makes a designer re-evaluate his/her criteria. This kind of talk produces food for thought.

Talking is useful even from a sanitary point of view: bad designers usually expose themselves by simply having a discourse that has nothing to do with their portfolio.



But talking does not improve the visual environment. The street will look the same no matter how much designers talk. This applies to this post, to this blog, to all internet lists and newspaper articles.


This is said to be one of Steve Jobs' favorite statements. The improvement can only be triggered by the good design that hits the street.

I think that—much like architecture—design starts talking when the designer fells silent.