EUGENI QUITLLET @IDEO

You know those moments when a song comes on, but for the life of you, you can not recall the artist? Yes, Eugeni was that for us. Fortunately, we have friends in great places who were able to fix that issue (kidding). We probably owe Youenn and Kornelia a few bottles of champagne for inviting the considerate brothers who have a habit of showing up with a +10 guests list.  

Jokes aside, last night was extremely insightful to say the least. It was an honor and a huge inspiration to put a face to some of the design icons that have helped shape our generation physically and emotionally. 

“The object is not the object - it is a vehicle to an emotion.” 

Eugeni reminded me, that as designers we are emotional curators. We create things that tingle our senses and dance with our thoughts. A successful design not only invites our eyes, but warms our heart.

One of my favorite pieces of the night was the "Magic Flute", an instrument designed for children beginning their musical studies. As Eugeni described it: "The idea was to make disappear the physical and bring up the immateriality of the music and make it visible, helping kids to see where the sound and air flow through the instrument." Often, as designers, I feel we mistaken the task of creation with addition; to layer textures, materials, colors, buttons and lights on top of existing objects. For me, the real magic happened when Eugeni stripped the simple instrument of unnecessary clutter and used design to make sexy not by adding, but subtracting.