Tad Toulis does Sao Paulo.

Earlier this week Teague Creative Director, Tad Toulis, headed down to Brazil for the annual International MOB Design Conference. While he was there he had a chance to speak with Valor Econômico,’ the country’s largest economic newspaper.

1) Do you think that design and architecture have overcome fashion as creators and launchers of new tendencies to other areas? How does this happen?

Design and architecture have a long history of incorporating and reflecting greater socio-cultural trends and projecting them back into society at large. In recent years however the pace at which design and architecture can do this has become significantly faster. The Salone in Italy is very much the same as Paris couture – it’s a mechanism to broadcast new ideas and commentary through objects instead of garments. The difficult and potentially dangerous thing is that most of the interest in design and its ability to be a ‘forecaster’ of trends is very much linked to some of design’s bad behavior. By which I mean the thoughtless making of stylish objects that serve little purpose other than to be ‘trendy’ or ‘current’. To be sure this is a component of what the designer does; reconcile a problem with technology, material and social concerns. But when design serves to just support and capitalize on ‘trend’ it becomes a contributor to the greater problems we face as a global community.

2) How you feel after making a design that interferes or may interfere with the way people live or relate to their objects?

This is the great joy and of course responsibility of design: To create moments of productivity and enjoyment around problem solving. Design is a very powerful tool at suggestion as well as coercion. Which means the designer – especially today – has a responsibility to be purposeful and disciplined as they exercise their talents. Of course we want beautiful things, but more and more it is important to use these skills in the interest of making constructive choices. There is a very interesting and emerging space around ‘choice architecture’ and a very good book called NUDGE by Richard Thaler which examines how we can create choices that give individuals free choice but also fit within what is best for themselves as well as the communities in which they live. More and more the designer must reconcile their need for authorship and recognition against the needs of the group and the planet. This is one of the truly new and emerging spaces in design and one we are only at the very beginning of. It will be a hard change direction but I am optimistic design can do this. It is after all a flexible creativity – not a rigid one.

3) In your opinion what is the future of mobility? Are there limits of mobility?

That’s an interesting question. I had this come up in a workshop with a client recently. I think to talk about mobility is to speak in an old way, using older conventions – by which I mean mobility is less and less a separate subject than it is the new normal. We don’t design as much for mobility as it is we design with mobility in mind as a given consideration (at least in problems where productivity, access to content and creation are involved). I think the future of mobility is really just the further optimization and evolution of how we use tools. Who could have thought 10 years ago how much we would be able to do with a smart phone that fits in our pocket? In the future we’ll do even more and this doing will be enabled by smarter software. Software that provides context and brings us only what we need or care to review. Of course there is a great danger here – which is to live in a world where information is passively filtered for us, but that’s a whole other subject.

4) What is the most important concept in your work today? Which of your works would you say are the most related to this idea? Why this concept is more important?

Today we really focus on holistic thinking and platform design. This can take on many forms. As a consultant and as a creative director I have to navigate some difficult conversations. You need to inspire your team and your client to take chances in the interest of getting to the next level. But these chances are sometimes unproven or perhaps require understanding some complexities that people might want to avoid. Often people want to do the safest thing, the thing that was done before  – but this is usually the least necessary thing and creatively the least stimulating. Thinking in systems both in terms of the product – how it is made and how it behaves and the services that support it – is really no different than thinking about your client their organization, their needs and the needs of their customers. Success cannot come without consideration of all those bits and pieces. Working across all these issues is increasingly the single biggest challenge we face as we work to achieve compelling design that makes sense.  I simplify this challenge by calling it the smart/sexy rule. I don’t want smart things that are ugly and taste like medicine and I don’t want sexy things that are dumb and irritating. I want us to deliver smart solutions that are sexy solutions; solutions that speak to the head and the heart. It’s harder to do but it’s a rewarding effort.  At Teague we work hard to continue the tradition started by Walter Dorwin Teague – his work balanced these forces with such elegance many remain icons of design.

5) Which designers, architects and artists do you most admire? How have they influenced your work?

There are quite a few primarily because I focus on their work as much as on their person. Konstantin Grcic, Stefan Sagmeister , Paola Urquiola, Alberto Meda, Herzog de Meuron – these are people with a unique voice. Their work is singular, embracing an authentic direction but still possessing playfulness and wonder about it. Design today has become a bit too much about celebrity. I think it’s great when the person behind the work is interesting but the work needs to stand on its own even as it explains something about the designer. As for the influence of these people? I guess the influence is to remain true to yourself as you try to move forward in your work and career. It’s easy in design to celebrate the designer who says ‘do it my way’, but the truth is design is about selling a vision and getting others to believe in your vision as they bring their own ideas and needs to the table. I admire people with possess a clear unique vision but appreciate that they need the support of others to achieve it.

6) So far you have mainly developed products for other brands. Do you have or have you thought of having your own brand? Why?

More and more design firms are realizing that they possess a very particular ability, the ability to rapidly conceive and to execute much faster and much more cheaply than traditional manufacturing companies.  The challenge traditionally has been that most design firms could not execute their designs at scale. Today with new prototyping and distribution models -that is changing. As a result, the business models for consultancies are undergoing change. Fee for service, the traditional model, remains a part of this equation but so too does conceiving and executing in small or limited numbers. As the tools for production become cheaper and the infrastructure for distributing products becomes more democratic you are seeing a rise in small niche and artisanal design solutions.  Interestingly these designs often have a local appeal which points them in a direction very much aligned with sustainability. At Teague, as elsewhere in the industry, we are actively pursuing ideas in this space. The challenge of course is understanding the size of the opportunity and our ability to execute on it in a unique or profitable way.

7) More and more people today seem to be interested in design. Do you feel that interest is generating a consumerist behavior of wanting, buying and want to buy more?

Yes.  One of the things I find challenging is that amidst so much change in the world – mainstream design by and large has stayed focused on consumption. There has been the growth of ‘design-thinking’ which purports to offset this by selling the ‘means’ or process of design as much as the generation of a thing or product, but this is still very much the domain of a small subset of design. Another challenge in this equation is that you have new economies coming into their own that are creating new groups of consumers. Who is to say that these consumers cannot purchase what they want? As the number of consumers grows we will need to fundamentally replace the traditional model of consumption with one in balance with our resources. A model that supports the freedom of choice for more and more consumers but which finds a way to lessen the impact on shared resources. This will be very hard to do. It will require real strength and a total redirection of the industry of design and design education, but design should be able to do it.  Design is creative after all.

In your opinion, what would be the role of a designer to avoid the exaggerated consumerism, in a time when the work of the designers has become so popular?

I think a class of designers needs to emerge, and is emerging, that believes making a thing or a product in large volume is somehow a last result – one to be used sparingly when no other solution exists. A generation that believes that through reuse or reordering or rethinking a problem they can design an experience or service that provides a genuine value without the blunt solution of a thing. In the US we have a few examples emerging like ZIP car. Zip car is a shared car rental service that is very popular in crowded urban areas where having a car isn’t always practical or necessary. That service is very much designed. There are many touch points that draw users in and keep them engaged in the service. If this idea can thrive in the cradle of capitalism and consumerism, then there’s a good chance it can capture imaginations elsewhere. What’s really nice in this solution is the fact that community and group are so much a part of the appeal. Something we need to foster globally as we face common global challenges.

9) Is it possible to keep a high level of creativity with a concept of sustainability? How can this be done? What change or should change in a design job, considering the availability of natural resources?

I think so, yes. Sustainability is just another design restriction and as such can be met by design as other challenges have been. I believe we need to stop thinking about sustainability as a set of problems separate from design in general. The more we do this the more we create an easy excuse for ourselves to not face it directly. Conceiving of a beautiful shape or a clever solution is really the ground floor of design, solving problems and needs within a given set of restrictions is where design truly thrives and shines. I believe design has gained some authority lately because people see the difference it can make. A difference that can help people live their lives, enjoy their time more and even in some cases help them to do what’s right without making the choice feel like a sacrifice or a trade off. They say generosity begins at home; the simplest way for the designer to address sustainably is to be honest and ask questions – lots of questions. We find that more and more of our top clients are engaging us to help them examine opportunities as much as to execute on a design. To me this is a sign that design is being taken seriously as a partner in their business – not just as a stylist and a pair of hands. To solve the more complex problems our clients face, this type of partnering is essential.

10) Do you agree that the work of a designer has an impact in the concepts of ‘’local’’ and ‘’global’’, with what is local becoming more global and vice-versa? How does this happen?

As I understand this question, yes. Design is presently undergoing significant change. The broad interest in DIY (do it yourself) and the growth of Amateur culture is helping to spread ideas about creation and participation that have significant impact on consumer behavior and their expectations. Along with this, new tools and methods for design distribution and communication are making it possible for us to have an understanding of what is happening globally as well as locally in design. This brings ideas to the consumer as well as to the designer of what is possible, and what is relevant. I often look at design in North America through the same concepts with which we are now starting to examine food culture. In the US there has been a tremendous reawaking of interest in food. By some estimates home cooking is at its highest levels in the US since the 1960’s. Some of this interest is very simplistic and motivated by the success of cable channels dedicated to food culture and preparation. But mirroring this is a much more interesting and deep awareness of food quality and the entire system that delivers it. People are turning away from industrial farming and seeking out better, healthier alternatives –discovering local producers and the benefits of eating healthier fresher foods. What’s relevant here is that as this local interest grows, it increases awareness of broader issues, of other food choices, cultures and recipes. In this way something that starts local leads to global interest.  I think the same can be said of design. Like all activities today, design and the process of design is being amplified by communication technologies. Today we can have conversations about design that span multiple cultures and diverse contexts, providing new insights and inputs into what works and why. This means that ideas generated locally can be leveraged directly or through modification elsewhere to meet similar needs. It is in this way that the global-local effect takes hold and has impact.

11) Do you know any Brazilian designer? If yes, what do you think about their job?

I must admit the Brazilian designers I could mention are very famous to us all. When I think of Brazilian design I think about its promise and its bright future. My mother is Cuban so I take a great interest in seeing Latin America come into its own with regard to design and cultural influence; in seeing a Latin sensibility emerge on the global design stage. Brazil has always fascinated the world with its strong character. Design is an activity very much informed by culture. German Design, Italian Design, and Scandinavian Design – we know these things. We have 60 years or so of their influence and metamorphosis in design to reflect upon. As design faces new problems it needs new ideas and new concepts to incorporate. The emergence of design in places like Brazil is what design must have for it to remain pertinent and relevant. My hope is that as design grows in popularity in places like Brazil, it will not repeat the mistakes of the past – that it will create new ideas that help global design reconcile new problems and strained material resources with a joy for life that is uniquely Brazilian.