Quality. It is all around us

I will go back in time in two ways. First, by revisiting this small talk I gave a few years ago. Secondly, because in the talk itself I went back in time. All the way to 1969.

That was the year of flower power and the Woodstock Festival. It was the year man took his first steps on the moon and Nixon became president. It was the year of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam and clashes between the National Guard and anti-war protesters in the United States. Norway found oil in the North Sea.

But it is a long time ago.

When design is done well, most people, me, the common guys, the untrained eyes, sometimes, maybe often, do not notice it. We move around in a reality that has been made smoother, easier, more benign, by design. That has become easier, smoother, used, digested, absorbed or loved.

When brilliant young designers who have turned passion onto profession, look at the world, what do they see? What makes them tick, what makes them spin, what makes them work until five in the morning? And when they look at 1969, with their trained eyes, what do they see?

You may have seen photographs in a history book. Maybe in an old magazine in your grandparents' attic. It looks like a very long time ago. It is a very long time ago. Some of it, a lot of it, have not stood the test of time. It looks dated, corny or plain ugly, and will always seem that way. The design. The color combinations. The technology. The ads in the newspaper, the fonts in the magazines, the busy front pages. The huge cars. The big, black telephone.

1969 is as long ago as 2060 is long until. 2060 is when young designers starting their careers today, will retire, give or take. You.

Today will look as corny in 2060 as 1969 looks corny today. And you will be out there tomorrow, creating things that will look corny in 2060. But, hold on, not everything from 1969 looks dated or corny today. A lot actually looks fabulous. And is fabulous.

When design is done right it builds bridges between the contemporary and the timeless, between 1969 and the present. Between the present and 2060.

And what is it that defines this timelessness?

Quality. It is all about quality. Quality is hard to grasp. Quality is hard to define. Quality is never an accident, it is always the result of intelligent effort, which is why schooling is important. Is it hard? Yes, it is, and no, it is not. Not if you have the right attitudes. It is having the right attitudes that is hard, according to Pirsig’s book, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”. It is a book about quality. And it is a book I want you to read.

Education is about developing the right attitudes. Education is about developing an eye for quality. Education is about developing habits for quality. Quality is not an act, it is a habit. With some help, you can do it, and you did it, and that was hard, but it is done, and it is all that matters.

Quality resists time. Quality is timeless. In all professions and arts.

In 1969, Francis Bacon painted “Three Studies of Lucian Freud”, Andy Warhold published the first issue of the magazine “Interview”, Leonard Cohen released “Songs from a Room”, Miles Davis recorded “Bitches Brew”, Kosh designed the “Abbey Road” album cover and Gy?rgy Ligeti composed “Ramifications for 12 solo strings”. Kurt Vonnegut published “Slaughterhouse-Five” and Dag Solstad “Irr! Gr?nt!”. The Boeing 747 made its maiden flight. And Murray Gell-Mann was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics.

These are timeless achievements. And so it will be in 2060. Somethings done today will stand the test of time.

Stay true to yourself, stay true to your identity, and stay true to quality, and your works will stand the test of time. In 2060, you will look back on your work today and be proud.