Music is an inspiration for designers. It offers a template for new ways of thinking and innovative new approaches to fearless design and faster growth.
Legendary former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, the Scottish-born musician with an Irish name, in his book ‘How Music Works’ examines why architecture, technology and local economies have played a lead role in creating and promoting different types of musical genres over the centuries. Byrne has always taken a bold and fearless approach to his music and pioneered many new approaches to composition and sonic creativity since the early days of Talking Heads in 1970s New York.
Byrne collaborator Annie Clark, better known as indie art-rocker St Vincent, uses unusual guitar tunings to create innovative new sounds and unexpected results in her Grammy-winning compositions. Her ‘sculpting the ether’ approach has parallels in graphic and web design that combines text, imagery, space and code to form new kinds of experiences. Have a look at this 3D video and with a St Vincent soundtrack for starters. Note you can navigate the video in 3D if you use the Chrome browser.
Using the same ideas you’ve always used will give the same results. If you’re a ‘Us Too’ company, in the sense of wanting the same design approach someone else is using, you can expect only mediocre results.
New ideas need a fearless approach. A new architecture of ideas will lead to new results and cityscapes to help you reach destinations you didn’t know existed.
Fearless design needs fearless thinking.
For technology companies and startups fearless design is essential, and almost all brands these days try to emulate faster growth explosions.
Startup companies need to find new approaches, new brand, sales and marketing techniques. Fearless design will help get you there. It’s the compelling hook and the killer riff in the slash and spark of stratospheric growth.
Eugene Burns
