What a fun down to earth talk! Last night I attended Paul Smiths talk for the Design Museum of London's 25th Anniversary with my friend. The theme of the talk was about the future of design. Mr Smith's approach to this talk was as fun as his design come across. These are the ideas he was trying he discussed amidst the jokes:
- Never assume, always check
- You need a balance between paying the rent and your dream, if you jeopardise one the other will suffer
- Always think 'what if?'
- Don't get caught up in the comparison of others, just be aware of others not dictated by them
- Know when to listen and when to talk
- Listen to the customer no matter who it is
- Always have classic/basics products and then add specials each season
- Work from the bottom up, i.e. don't borrow loads of money and then think how to pay it back.
- Be curious
- It's all about tomorrow, the minute you think you've done enough someone will overtake you
- We don't need more of the same there's too many people doing the same these days
- Do all or nothing
- Overall you need good organisation, a good product and good marketing not just one