Ideas Captured: Notebooks Allow Others to Read Our Minds.

If the eyes are windows to our soul, then notebooks are like browsing the pages of our minds. Not intended for public viewing, they reflect our thought process—ideas captured as they were created, rough and unpolished.

The Atlantic recently did a piece examining the notebooks of influential people from Milton Glaser to Meriwether Lewis, but with a focus on graphic designers and street artists. The pages, full of sketches ranging from quick doodles to fine art, provide a glimpse into their minds and the creative process.

In 2009, we featured the notebooks of two important Herman Miller designers: Ayse Birsel and Yves Béhar. The videos were part of “A Week in Your Life,” a series commissioned by Moleskine.

What are you creating? We’d love to see your latest doodle.

Debating Research: Two Sides Weigh In

Umpire Andy Fletcher and manager Ron Gardenhire arguing, presumably, over the finer points of design research. Photo: Getty Images

“Design, like the world as a whole, is unpredictable and messy. If you think it boils down to ‘research,’ you’re mistaken,”

Ben McAllister of Frog Design continues to say, “[a]simplistic view of research pervades our culture…. The real world is a complex system inhabited by autonomous individuals. It isn’t so simple or knowable, which is exactly why design can be so valuable. Research can become a crutch to decision-making and that it is sometimes viewed as hard fact,”

The Atlantic recently published two articles on the role of research in design: The ‘Science’ of Good Design: A Dangerous Idea followed by The Art of Design Research (and Why It Matters). They’re good reading and have offer insight into the strengths and weaknesses of research and what is can offer.

Jon French, also of Frog Design, acknowledges McAllister’s skepticism of research, but counters by saying, “Design research is not ‘a science’ and is not necessarily ‘scientific.’ It gives designers and clients a much more nuanced understanding of the people for whom they design while providing knowledge that addresses some of the most fundamental questions we face throughout the process.”

Research has been a large component of our product development process since the 1960 when Robert Propst joined the company. Herman Miller research has always been person-centered, developing a deep understanding of how people work, how they move, how they sit, and what they makes them comfortable. This provides us and our designers a better understanding of the people using our products. But research is an art as much as it is a science, and we also understand that results are not always as cut-and-dry as charts and graphs can make it appear.

Check out the two articles and let us know what you think.