JDK Creative Director Michael Jager delivered the keynote presentation, titled Killing Curiosity, at the 2009 Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) Northeast District (NED) Conference in Cambridge, Mass. (Michael also presented Killing Curiosity to the Chicago Ad Club on May 13.)
The conference, held March 27-29, had “revolution” as its theme. Michael told his audience of students and professionals that design, even during these difficult times, is more important than ever. He is, he said, a firm believer that design can save the world.
Michael urged designers to scare themselves, asserting that facing the unknown was not only healthy but critical to executing great design. Above all, he said, curiosity had to be protected. Many forces—from difficult clients to our own inertia—vie on a daily basis to blunt our curiosity, but they must be resisted.
Michael then showed that he was willing to follow his own advice—using a program that randomly displayed images on a screen, he called upon audience members to come up a tap a key to stop the sequence. He had no part in selecting the images and no way of knowing which ones would come up, but he promised to speak about whichever image appeared.
This was a night when the unknown led to inspiration.
