Friday, February 4, 2011

Embrace Ambiguity, Paradox

In only four hours Frank Chimero raised $27,000 at Kickstarter to fund his book The Shape of Design. With 26 more days to go, Chimero is actually about to double his goal.

How did he do it? His two years of blogging and tweeting helped him to build up a loyal following. Chimero is also offering gifts for various levels of donation. An engaging video has also solidified interest.

Chimero has spent several years writing and speaking on design and "thinking about the topics that orbit the practice: storytelling, concept, craft, and improvisation. I want to take all of the ideas I've had and connected these past few months and capture them in a book format."

He's also been teaching for the past 5 years, and wants to provide an overview of "the mental state of a successful designer while they go through their creative process.... A cornerstone of communication is storytelling, and yet you'd be hard-pressed to find any discussion of how to tell stories with design in any design book."

"There are new challenges in the world that need to be discussed, and I think design is a prime lens to consider these topics. As our world moves faster and as things become less stable, it becomes more important for individuals to embrace ambiguity, understand paradox, and realize that two things can conflict and still somehow both be true. We must realize that logic doesn't always work, and that sometimes nonsense is the best answer. These are the topics I intend to address in the book."

After perusing some of his work I can understand why his message is so engaging. His book is already destined to be a bestseller.