Dan Harden: Form follows emotion—industrial design lessons from George Nelson to Steve Jobs
Design Better12 Mars 2025

Dan Harden: Form follows emotion—industrial design lessons from George Nelson to Steve Jobs

Visit our Substack for bonus content and more:https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/dan-harden If you were mapping out the most amazing career in industrial design, you might dream of working with George Nelson, Henry Dreyfuss, Steve Jobs, and influential companies like Frog design in the early days. It seems impossible that one person could have such a career, but Dan Harden has done all of this and more. We spoke with Dan about what he learned from these iconic people and companies, and also about how he started his own design consultancy, Whipsaw, which has gone on to win over 300 awards over 700 patents. Dan also shared what George Nelson was up to when he disappeared into his private bathroom at the end of each workday. It’s not what you think. Bio Dan is CEO, Founder, and Principal Designer of Whipsaw, an acclaimed Silicon Valley product design and experience innovation firm that has introduced over 1,000 products to market for leading global companies. A highly influential figure in the design industry, Dan infuses his work with a deep passion and unique perspective shaped by his interests in art, culture, psychology, and technology. Previously, he served as VP and President at Frog, designing notable products for industry icons including Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison, and also held a leading design role at Henry Dreyfuss Associates. Over his prolific career, Dan has created hundreds of successful products across diverse categories, from baby bottles to supercomputers, winning over 300 prestigious awards, including 41 IDEA Awards, and securing more than 700 patents. His innovative designs have been exhibited at renowned institutions such as the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt Museum, The Henry Ford Museum, and the Chicago Athenaeum. Recognized by Fast Company as one of the "100 Most Creative People in Business," Dan's visionary contributions have been highlighted extensively in prominent publications including CNN, Fortune, Newsweek, Time, and Wired. *** Premium Episodes on Design Better This ad-supported episode is available to everyone. If you’d like to hear it ad-free, upgrade to our premium subscription, where you’ll get an additional 2 ad-free episodes per month (4 total). Premium subscribers also get access to the documentary Design Disruptors and our growing library of books, as well as our monthly AMAs with former guests, ad-free episodes, discounts and early access to workshops, and our monthly newsletter The Brief that compiles salient insights, quotes, readings, and creative processes uncovered in the show. Upgrade to paid *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Masterclass: MasterClass is the only streaming platform where you can learn and grow with over 200+ of the world's best. People like Steph Curry, Paul Krugman, Malcolm Gladwell, Dianne Von Furstenberg, Margaret Atwood, Lavar Burton and so many more inspiring thinkers share their wisdom in a format that is easy to follow and can be streamed anywhere on a smartphone, computer, smart TV, or even in audio mode. MasterClass always has great offers during the holidays, sometimes up to as much as 50% off. Head over to http://masterclass.com/designbetter for the current offer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(257)

Angel Steger: Wealthfront's VP of Design on what architecture teaches you about software

Angel Steger: Wealthfront's VP of Design on what architecture teaches you about software

A few years ago, Dropbox redesigned its website and revenue dropped by thirty percent. It was an all-hands-on-deck moment: people working weekends, everyone hunting for a systemic failure. Visit our ...

21 Aug 52min

Ben Drury: Yoto co-founder on audio, imagination, and screen-free design

Ben Drury: Yoto co-founder on audio, imagination, and screen-free design

Like a lot of parents, Eli struggled over the years to get his kids more into reading and away from screens. He wasn’t necessarily on the search for a technological solution, but then an interesting d...

13 Aug 50min

Jeff Hammoud: Chief Design Officer of Rivian on constraints, color, and what separates designers from stylists

Jeff Hammoud: Chief Design Officer of Rivian on constraints, color, and what separates designers from stylists

This is a special bonus episode, an interview with Rivian’s Chief Design Officer, Jeff Hammoud. We’ve got all the audio here, but it’s worth heading over to our Youtube channel at dbtr.co/youtube to w...

5 Aug 46min

Eric Ries: Lean Startup author on why good companies go bad, and why good design is critical to success

Eric Ries: Lean Startup author on why good companies go bad, and why good design is critical to success

Fifteen years ago, Eric Ries handed a generation of founders a playbook. When Eli was in a Palo Alto-based startup accelerator in 2011, The Lean Startup felt like the only book anyone in that ecosyste...

22 Juli 34min

Ian Bogost: Game designer, Atlantic writer, and philosopher of the ordinary, on the small stuff that makes life delightful

Ian Bogost: Game designer, Atlantic writer, and philosopher of the ordinary, on the small stuff that makes life delightful

A few years ago, Ian Bogost wrote what he thought was a throwaway Atlantic piece about how electric vehicles would finally kill the manual transmission. It went off like a bomb — and the reaction told...

15 Juli 47min

Chris Entwisle and Mark Havens: authors of WAIL on the constraints that led to timeless designs for Prestige Records

Chris Entwisle and Mark Havens: authors of WAIL on the constraints that led to timeless designs for Prestige Records

Years ago, two friends in Philadelphia — both designers, both obsessed with jazz — kept noticing the same notation on the back of their favorite records: “recorded by Van Gelder in Hackensack.” So one...

1 Juli 24min

Niyati Gupta: Netflix Product Design Lead on what happens when a designer becomes a product manager, and why your influence might not be in your title

Niyati Gupta: Netflix Product Design Lead on what happens when a designer becomes a product manager, and why your influence might not be in your title

Niyati Gupta describes her career as one long experiment — deliberately putting herself in uncomfortable, ambiguous situations and treating every move as a personal learning loop. That instinct took h...

25 Juni 44min

Mike Schnaidt: Fast Company Creative Director on typography, creative endurance, and designing for the long haul

Mike Schnaidt: Fast Company Creative Director on typography, creative endurance, and designing for the long haul

Typography is often treated as a detail — the thing you finalize after the real design decisions are made. But for our next guest, it’s closer to the foundation everything else rests on. He’s spent tw...

17 Juni 23min

Populärt inom Business & ekonomi

framgangspodden
rss-jossan-nina
badfluence
varvet
rss-borsens-finest
uppgang-och-fall
svd-tech-brief
rss-inga-dumma-fragor-om-pengar
bathina-en-podcast
skaraborgspodden
tabberaset
rss-hos-psykologen
dynastin
fill-or-kill
lastbilspodden
avanzapodden
rss-dagen-med-di
borsmorgon
rss-kort-lang-analyspodden-fran-di
rikatillsammans-om-privatekonomi-rikedom-i-livet