We’ve all heard about sound bites. But few of us can talk that way without embarrassing ourselves. Santorum and Romney show us how bad it can get: They keep forgetting that their audience is much larger than the people in the room, and that that larger audience may not agree with them or understand their context.

Short and sweet should make it harder to misspeak. But it doesn’t. It leaves so much for the hearer to fill in. Unless you are a master, of course.

Santorum recently suggested that Pres. Kennedy was wrong in calling for a strong separation of church and state. Santorum was forgetting that if you want church and state connected, you have to decide which church. His church? The US population encompasses many churches and forms of worship.

A Catholic himself, he knows all Christians don’t believe the same way although he implies by his use of “church” (instead of temple or mosque) that he means some broad and undefined Christian religion. But that’s just what I read into it. See how many holes he left that create confusion? As well as anger among those not in the room, not in the ‘group’, not included as ‘church’ goers.

Never mind Romney, trying to be ‘of the people’ with comments about how he owns American cars, two for him and two for his wife. Maybe the small (white, male) crowd all owned the same number, but what about all the people listening via the news? Most people can scarcely afford two cars, let alone his luxury brands.

The Achilles heel for both candidates is that they are speaking too much with people who agree with them, to people who agree with them. They forget there is a broader, ‘after’ audience.

Designers can learn from this. You are, in a manner of speaking, a club that speaks to itself to explore new expressions for the profession, ways to improve its value, much as other professions do. You take comfort from your shared language as you explore the issues and meanings of design.

But what about your broader audience? Your after audience?

When you speak about design, even if it’s with designers, think about that audience. The people you are speaking with will, you hope, carry your message to influence an unintended, ultimate audience. How will it be received there? Don’t be so short and sweet that this group can misunderstand you.

Always think about how to make your message relevant to people outside the field, how to make it comprehensible to their perspectives and experience. You have the edge in that you can put your ideas into visuals, but you still have to walk in the shoes of your ultimate listener to really communicate.

Hear your thoughts before you give the expression.

John Le Carré, author of world-famous spy novels

“A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.”

Designers certainly agree with this perspective as they seek out the user’s input on needs and preferences. As the voice of the consumer acting prior to manufacture, they can speak to the trends shaping the consumer’s world, whether that is the economy or color, technological need, manufacturing processes, the environment or political perspective. Consider the current growing interest in Made in the USA, driven by ABC World News and building at a time when gift shopping can shift the US economy.

Being able to speak about design in these terms can aid a designer to gain a seat at the table in early planning. And gain a name as a sought-after expert.

In this video interview (the first in a series), Tucker Viemeister, FIDSA, of Rockwell Group, gives Tania Aldous of World Kitchen insight into what helped some entries he reviewed during World Kitchen’s 2010 competition, “What’s Bubbling? Kitchen Tools”.

Obviously design competitions are valuable if you win.

• They give you credibility with employers and clients; and
• Your social media strategy will draw lots of traffic by sending and cross-referencing the news via Twitter, Facebook, your blog and web site, as well as those of the competition sponsors and the press who pick up the story; and
• You can spin the story a number of ways so you get play over a long period.

But even if you don’t win, there is value in entering:

• The prep forces you to organize, document, and articulate your value and message; and
• You can use the result in your communication program, especially the social media side.

With today’s social media, exposure is more about how you prepare and distribute your story, than what the source of the story is!

It takes effort. You start at the bottom and work up. So check out this invitation:

What: 7th International Conference on Design & Emotion

Where: Chicago

Deadline for Submission: February 15

When: October 4-7

Details: http://www.id.iit.edu/de2010/

Design & Emotion is a forum held every other year — so it’s not a chance that will come around again in ‘11.

The conference will offer workshops, research paper presentations, design case presentations, and poster presentations. 

So don’t sit there in the audience, biting your nails in frustration. See if you can get on the program.

And if it works, then you practice and practice and practice. And practice some more.

Designer at the Helm for the First Time at the National Design Museum

As reported by New York Times Digital at 4 am this morning (who sleeps anymore?), Bill Moggridge, a Fellow of IDSA and a co-founder of the product development firm IDEO, has been named director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City. http://bit.ly/5MtKH3

First Laptop Design: Bill is credited with some amazing design breakthroughs, among them the Grid Compass Computer (1982), the first to put computing (limited but real) on our laps. (Course, those who like to sleep on planes, party at hotels and keep business out of vacations may not be so thrilled that he showed the potential so temptingly.)

The Grid Compass’ shape established a baseline that held for over a decade. It blended computing with personal mobility so well that it opened the door to developments that we take for granted in our business and daily lives today.

User Interface Pioneer: Since then, Bill and his firms (ID Two and later IDEO) have had a tremendous impact on our daily experience. In particular, Bill is considered a pioneer in user interface design, recently publishing Designing Interactions with a follow up book due out soon.

Designing National Systems: I once heard George Nelson speak about the Social Security system, saying that it was really just a gigantic design problem needing the vision of, well, probably Nelson.

Few people get to redesign large-scale institutions and programs with national cultural impact, so Moggridge knows how great the opportunity is:

”I really thought my main goal in life was to design stuff,” he said in an interview on Wednesday. ‘‘To have a national opportunity on a much greater scale is very exciting,” according to the NY Times report.

So, congratulations to Bill! This is a major stride for design. The Cooper-Hewitt is looking for vision and that Bill has in spades.

Andy Warhol (1931 – 1987)

“Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art.”

Business–Too many numbers! How can I get taken seriously without losing my design soul? They love my ideas and visual presentation and models, but then they want me to validate my recommendation in terms of how many other people will love my design!

Public relations–Where’s the magic kool-aid? Why can’t I get coverage?

I hear the frustration whenever I talk with designers. It lingers even at a time when the press IS covering industrial design (Fast Company is taking over sponsorship of the IDEA, for instance). More industrial designers than ever seem to be reporting to the top levels in corporations yet industrial designers are still paid less than their marketing and engineering compadres.

It’s not for want of talent or focus on innovation and it’s not for lack of conferences and blogs talking about design, linking designers, exposing design.

So, another blog  on industrial design, exposing you to new designs, new talent, new events, new technologies or new causes? No.

What you’ll get here, and through Design’s Voice, is information from professionals so you can:

• operate successfully as a designer with business and within its management; and

• harness the power of public relations to send your message effectively.

Here you’ll learn how to tell your design story directly to business and through the media, with our:

• in-depth case studies on effective positioning stories

• podcast and written interviews with design, PR and business executives

• webcast courses, by experts in public relations, business and design leadership

• studies, relevant book reviews and glossaries

• communication strategy and program development that puts your story in the limelight

When you start accessing the resources we present, please give us feedback on quality, needs, frustrations, stories and offers to participate. Hey, education is collaborative!