What are the most interesting things happening today, not necessarily in the design field, but in the world at large?

Well, in both good and bad ways, I think technology is the pivotal concept. There’s such a lot going on there right now, which has translated into a renaissance of sorts. Music, design, type, architecture, the sciences, product design, photography, film — they’re all exerting redefining influences on each other. People in one area are now able to experiment and proffer insights in other fields because of the tools at their disposal.

Cultural cross-pollination due to the ubiquity of the Internet is turning up some very funky fruit as well. The human genome project, the quantum computer, virtual sex, engineering milestones… it’s easy to be willingly drawn into a kind of futurist ecstasy. But the other side is equally compelling, if not so ecstatic.

The culture of technology fetishism is not so encouraging: look at the stock market today vs. a year ago. Until last April, there was an almost total blind faith attached to technology and the tech-economy. And then there’s the cubic acres of landfill created by obsolete products discarded in pursuit of the newest, fastest, etc. And an endemic dissociation with the natural world, other people and other living things that’s a by-product of technological and material preoccupations. Nothing comes without a price.

If you weren’t a designer, what would you like to be? Also, what would you like to be doing 10 years from now?

I’d be a writer or an architect. In the future, I will be creating, designing and producing my own content in different media.
… I’d like to be lazy for a little while, though.

What was the last book you read?

“A Nation of Adversaries” by Patrick M. Garry. The author’s a constitutional and legal scholar. His book is a commentary on the civil and social degeneration wrought by America’s obsession with litigation and law. A rollicking, light-hearted read. 🙂

Any final thoughts or comments?

Stay humble when you’re young. Keep an open mind when you’re old. Experiment and allow yourself room to fail, I do routinely. Artists like Frank Gehry and Frank Lloyd Wright made their greatest contributions in their 70s. I’m only in my 30’s, and if I thought this was my zenith, I’d quit now. The culture at large is obsessed with youth and constant change. Wisdom and evolution are underrated.