Praise for The Power of Design
“This is Richard Farson’s masterpiece — the one and only book that illuminates the interdependence of design, organization, and leadership.”
Warren Bennis, University Professor, University of Southern California, and Author
“A provocative tour de force re-imaging what design could be as the tool for helping us grapple with the deeply systemic and institutional challenges in our rapidly changing world. This book is a must-read not only for designers and their students but for anyone concerned with our collective future. A stunning and powerful book!”
John Seely Brown, Former Chief Scientist of Xerox and Director of its Palo Alto Research Center, and Co-author, The Social Life of Information
“Please get your hands on this book. Read it and ponder it. Perhaps read it again. The Power of Design is simply a great work. The world needs it. Richard Farson provides a map for individual and planetary future success. He provides a new vocabulary for your internal dialogue. It is a dialogue where understanding paradoxes is more important than knowing solutions, where recognizing failure is as important as searching for and understanding success, where the situations you create with the book’s guidance change you and the world. I come away from it with a great sense of urgency.”
Carl N. Hodges, Chairman, The Seawater Foundation, and Director Emeritus, University of Arizona Environmental Research Laboratory
“A terrific piece of work. A truly brilliant thesis.”
Richard Atkinson, President Emeritus, University of California, and Former Director, National Science Foundation
“Richard Farson has been thinking deeply and seriously about the subject of design and designers for a long time. In this new book he has come to conclusions that are clear-headed and persuasive. No one with an interest in the field can afford not to read it.”
Milton Glaser, Graphic Designer, Milton Glaser Inc.
“As always, Richard Farson is amazing in his insights and beautiful in the challenge that he lays at our feet. Farson has been a keen observer of architects and design professionals for many years. While not trained as one of us, his ability to see past our public facade and into our soul is wonderfully displayed in The Power of Design. By looking at the current state of affairs, often dominated by clients, in need of enhanced collaboration, avoiding the public policy arena, Farson shines a light on the good and the troublesome aspects of the design world. While taking us to task for not stepping forward to fulfill what he sees as our potential in a world full of opportunities to apply design talent, he does not leave us without hope. Farson defines for architects and designers a new role in creating a world that supports humankind so that all people can achieve their potential. By calling on us to become more engaged leaders, working with our clients as peers to employ the full range of our professional skills, Farson charts a course to transform society’s view of design. It is a powerful message that we ignore at our peril.”
RK Stewart, Associate Principal, Perkins + Will, and Former President, American Institute of Architects
“For most of us, the word design conjures up thoughts of making things look good, look better, of styling, of fashion, and of gussying up the world. For Farson, it’s not that at all, not looking good but being good. Design is in a two-step with innovation. Its athleticism allows it to jump out of the box, and as it looks back in, it’s able to improve the world.”
Richard Saul Wurman, Founder and Creative Director, Access Press, and Founder, TED Conferences and the 19.20.21 Project
“The challenges that he poses and the approach that he’s taken with the book are just fantastic. Richard is really a brilliant writer and a great guy. I look forward to working with his ideas and developing them.”
M. Arthur Gensler Jr., Founder and Chairman, Gensler
“For all the dynamics facing the world today, Richard Farson has discovered an unexpected antidote. Designers’ approach to complex problems demonstrates that creativity can defeat habit and it is habit that has transformed the promise of economic growth and transcultural communication into threats to global health and harmony. His narrative is realistic, thoughtful, and very optimistic. Creativity, design, innovation — they draw on our best attributes and talents to overcome our greatest challenges.”
Richard Grefe, Executive Director, AIGA: The Professional Association for Design
“Richard Farson has done it again! The Power of Design will open your eyes to how design can make a real difference in how we live our lives. It’s a must-read for anyone who cares about creating a better environment. Bravo!”
Scott Simpson, Principal and Managing Director, KlingStubbins, and Co-author, How Firms Succeed and The Next Architect
“Farson’s wisdom, uncanny understanding of the human condition, and his at times infuriating but meticulously researched conclusions deeply challenge traditional thought about the role of design in society. This compelling and important book is a must-read for anyone involved in the major predicaments of our time, including our failing education system, healthcare, and growing global environmental challenges. Brilliant!”
Jane Poynter, President, Paragon Space Development Corp., TV Host, Author, and Biosphere 2 Crewmember
“This is an important and vital book, not only for the design fields but for society. … The text works its magic without diagrams or drawings or photographs, compelling designers to ask fundamental questions about what they can do to make a better world — not a perfect world but a better world.”
Robert Sommer, Distinguished Professor of Psychology Emeritus, University of California, Davis, and Author, Personal Space
“This may well be Farson’s most important work.”
Raymond M. Alden, Former President, United Telecommunications/Sprint
“It takes a noted psychologist to understand architects and designers in ways that we often don’t see. Richard Farson reminds of us of the responsibility we have to the public as professionals and points out the self-defeating nature of seemingly benign activities. He also outlines his idea of metadesign, which applies design thinking to the systemic problems that face the global population, and his conviction that designers have a lot to offer a world desperately in need of vision and leadership. If you seek a book that will get you thinking in entirely new ways about what it means to be a design professional, this is it.”
Thomas Fisher, Professor and Dean, College of Design, University of Minnesota, and Former Editor, Progressive Architecture
“Richard Farson has a wonderful way of illustrating issues that should be obvious but that are in our blind spots. Once again, he holds the mirror and shows us our society with all of its flaws and paradoxes. In this broad and penetrating view of our world, Farson correctly accuses us of designing for problems and not for prevention. His challenge to the design professions — to use the power of design as agents for social change and to recapture the essence of our vocation.”
Carol Jones, Principal, Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning Ltd., Former President, Interior Designers of Canada, and Former President, International Interior Design Association
“I first met Richard Farson in 2004 at a Design Futures Council meeting, where we disagreed over the importance of licensing architects. It is abundantly clear in The Power of Design that he has not changed his mind. Nor have I. Still, we share a common goal with so many in design, a goal to unleash the power of design so that it can serve a much larger share of our society. Richard puts forward unorthodox propositions that serve that goal well by approaching an important and complex issue from new points of view.”
Gordon Mills, First Vice President, President-Elect, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards
“This book has triggered in me some startling recognitions of my own, among them that there is an architecture of sleep (including the attitudes of my body and mind once I lie down), an architecture of meditation (including the ways I configure body and mind in the act), an aesthetic design of (often boring) physical fitness routines, and a more creative patterning of my daily work schedule. This list could go on and on. Metadesign! What a good idea! I wish Farson had told us about it sooner.”
Michael Murphy, Founder, the Esalen Institute, and Author, The Future of the Body and Golf in the Kingdom
“This is a wake-up call by a psychologist who has connected and interacted in so many ways and for so many years with architects, designers, and other visionaries. He reminds all of us of the shortcomings and somewhat meaningless pursuits and activities of our professional societies, urging us to raise our sights to a much higher level — metadesign! Although Richard Farson is super-critical with his analyses, he presents a thoughtful and realistic process to get us on track — if we care enough to improve the conditions of the world. He calls for strong leadership in the design professions. He tells us that putting enormous energies into protecting professional turf is worthless and suggests that we put the effort into meaningful collaboration instead. He questions our fascination with awards programs that are self-serving. He urges us to be mindful of the social impact of our designs. Amen! Farson states that we ‘need to redesign the design profession.’ Let’s do it!”
Sylvester Damianos, Architect, Sculptor, Former President, American Institute of Architects, Former Chancellor, AIA College of Fellows, and Former Chair, American Architectural Foundation