00:09SARAH WILSON: My
name is Sarah Wilson,
00:11and I am a designer
here at Google
00:14and one of the creators of
the series, "Design Is."
00:18We created this monthly
speaker series as a space
00:21for those working in
creativity and technology
00:25to come together
and really think
00:28about ideas and
perspectives that
00:30really help shape
designing a future we all
00:33want to be a part of.
00:35So today's topic,
"Design Is Play"
00:39is a super fun one and
one that I think about
00:42in my day-to-day life.
00:44Between working
full time, having
00:46kids, oftentimes that notion of
play kind of gets pushed out.
00:53So really thinking about
how instead of work and play
01:00being in opposition
of one another,
01:02actually thinking of
them coming together.
01:04So Erin is here, Erin Jang.
01:06She is going to talk about how
play and work, yes, are often
01:10seen in opposition
of one another,
01:12but when the two
overlap, creativity
01:14does really flourish.
01:17So Erin is a designer and
Illustrator behind the Indigo
01:21Bunting, and with a
background in editorial,
01:23and multidisciplinary
design, her work
01:25is a mix of graphic
playfulness and editorial work.
01:31Erin has worked with clients
such as the "New York Times,"
01:34"GQ," Target, Urban Outfitters,
"Bon Appetit" and "Wired,"
01:38amongst many others.
01:39And most recently, she completed
work as the design director
01:43for the "Color Factory"
in New York City
01:45and created a public
art installation
01:48at the Cooper Hewitt
Smithsonian Design Museum.
01:51She co-authored the
book "Make & Give"
01:54and is currently
working on a new project
01:57with her seven-year-old
son, which
01:59is to be published next spring.
02:01So let's give it up for Erin.
02:06ERIN JANG: Thank
you so much, Sarah,
02:08for the nice introduction
and thanks to the Google team
02:14for inviting me to come
speak, and all of you
02:17for coming and
showing up tonight.
02:21I'm really thrilled to be here
to talk about "Design In Play"
02:25and how the two are intertwined.
02:27I'm going to talk about
how we can approach design
02:29through the lens of
play, and about making
02:33work that also invites play.
02:35I'll show some examples of
the projects I've worked on,
02:38both professional and
personal, and hopefully,
02:42illustrate some of these ideas.
02:44But before I begin, I'll share a
little bit about my background.
02:48As Sarah said, I started out
in editorial design working
02:52as an art director at
newspapers and magazines
02:56Then eight years ago, I
started my own studio,
02:59where I work on a wide
range of creative projects.
03:03I work on magazines and books.
03:06I've done work with restaurants.
03:07I make posters, design
cards, and stationery.
03:12I design things for kids,
which I really love.
03:15I make infographics,
illustrations.
03:19I've worked on murals
and installations.
03:24I work on projects,
big and small,
03:26and while there's a diversity
to all these different projects
03:29that I work on, one
common thread throughout
03:32is a love for playful design.
03:34So what does play have
to do with design?
03:37When we think of
play, most of us
03:39think of it as something
that's reserved for children.
03:42We all agree how important it is
for kids to spend time playing.
03:47There have been so many articles
written about this recently,
03:50and a lot of
research studies that
03:52confirm that play is
crucial in a child's
03:55growth and development
and creativity,
03:57and there can be consequences
when we neglect to play.
04:00There's an important book
that talks about this written
04:02by Dr. Stuart Brown,
who's an expert in play,
04:05and he's spent his entire
career studying the subject.
04:09His research shows that play
is absolutely essential for us
04:12to thrive, not just as
children, but as adults,
04:15and he asserts that play
is an important catalyst
04:18for creative growth, and it
has an important place, even
04:21in our work, and
by that he's not
04:23talking about play
just as recreation
04:26or a diversion from work--
04:28like adding a ping pong
table to an office--
04:32but play more as an attitude,
a spirit, and an approach
04:36that we can bring to
our creative work.
04:39For me, design is play.
04:42When I watch my sons playing
and making something,
04:44I'm struck by the fact that it
doesn't look all that different
04:48When we look at
these two images,
04:50we would agree that the
image on the left is design
04:53and the one on
the right is play,
04:56but could it also be
the other way around?
04:58For me, the answer is yes.
04:59The two have a lot more
in common than we realize.
05:03When I watch my sons playing,
making, and building something
05:06out of LEGOs or
Magna-Tiles, I see
05:09that there's a creativity and
a freedom to the way that they
05:12play, but also a
seriousness to their wanting
05:15to solve a problem or
to make something good.
05:18There is imagination,
exploration,
05:22and a lot of trial and error.
05:24Many times, there's frustration
and disappointment and things
05:26come crashing down,
but there's always
05:29a curiosity, a spontaneity
to what they're doing
05:35There's always a
goal of delight,
05:38often resulting in a
connection with others.
05:41This looks pretty similar to
our design process, I would say.
05:45Many of my favorite
artists and designers,
05:48they all share
this understanding
05:49of design and play
being intertwined,
05:52and they all express an aspect
of playfulness in their design
05:55approach, so I just want
to quickly highlight
05:57four of these design heroes
who are sort of my role models
06:03Corita Kent, she's the first
example that comes to my mind.
06:06She was an artist, a nun, a
social activist, and a teacher
06:10and her pop art in
her life as a whole
06:13was this joyful, colorful, and
generous celebration of play.
06:17She understood that
fluid relationship
06:18between work and play and in
her book, "Learning By Heart,"
06:22she points out that the
definitions of work and play
06:24can actually look
pretty similar.
06:26One dictionary
definition of work
06:28is to "make, effect,
or bring into being,"
06:30and the same dictionary defines
play as to "bring about, work,
06:34or effect," and she says that,
"Play is a way of working,
06:37and working is a way of
playing, and our best times
06:40are when working and
playing are the same."
06:42And she even coined a new term
for that ideal intersection
06:48It's such a good word, "plork."
06:50We should all start
using this word.
06:52As a teacher, she
encouraged her students
06:54to make time to "plork,"
to resist solemnity
06:57and self-consciousness
and to see and make things
07:02Ray and Charles
Eames, of course, they
07:04understood how intertwined
work and play are
07:07and for them, working hard was
a true pleasure, and playing
07:10meant continually pushing
themselves to experiment
07:13in all kinds of mediums, from
furniture to film, textiles
07:17and toys, and they embodied that
spirit of relentless curiosity
07:22and they took play seriously.
07:23They often said that
toys and games--
07:26and I would add play
as an umbrella here--
07:28are the prelude
to serious ideas.
07:31Their devotion to play led to
making timeless objects that
07:34sparked imagination, and
they made playful design
07:37accessible to everybody.
07:40Tibor Kalman is another
favorite designer of mine,
07:43and he was an example of
a playful provocateur.
07:46He used play to flip
things upside down
07:48and transform the
ordinary into designs
07:50that were attention-grabbing
and unexpected.
07:53His double-sided umbrella
is an example of humor
07:56and that playful
twist of perception
07:59of looking up to see a blue
sky when it's pouring rain.
08:02He addressed social issues with
his provocative and surprising
08:05designs for "Colors"
magazine, and then there
08:08were the thought-provoking
holiday gifts
08:10that his company, M &
Co., sent out every year.
08:13One Christmas, his
team sent out packages
08:15to all of their
clients and it was
08:17a box with a meal that
resembled those that
08:19were given to the
homeless on Christmas Day,
08:21and inside was a
sandwich, a can of juice,
08:24a mustard packet, and
a slice of pound cake,
08:27and a $20 bill that the
recipient was instructed
08:30to either keep and
spend for themselves
08:32or to donate to charity.
08:34So Kalman, he was this expert
in a really different kind
08:37of playful creativity
of designing
08:40unexpected things
that would challenge
08:42or even shock people out
of their complacency.
08:45Paul Rand, the master
of playfulness,
08:48he said that the eye
should be made joyful
08:49through form and content.
08:51With simplicity and
abstraction, color and wit,
08:54he infused his designs
from corporate logos
08:56to children's books
with a playfulness
08:59in that form and imagery.
09:00He knew the power of a
deceptively simple graphics
09:03solution, one that
made people smile,
09:06and could use that to
communicate a complex idea.
09:10He found it pretentious when
a visual message professed
09:12to be profound and
elegant, and he
09:15found it total
nonsense the notion
09:16that a design that was humorous
or playful was less than.
09:20"I like things
that are playful,"
09:22he said, "things that are happy.
09:24I like to make the
client smile," he said.
09:27So these four design
heroes, they demonstrate
09:30to us the value and the
power of playful design,
09:33but how do we go about
returning to that playful spirit
09:37And I'm going to share just
some really small practical ways
09:40that have helped me to exercise
this playfulness in the hope
09:44that it might inspire
you in some way.
09:47So I think all playful
design, it first
09:50begins with looking
with unusual eyes.
09:53One of my favorite writers,
Frederick Buechner,
09:55he defines art simply
as, "paying attention,
09:58to stop, look, and listen
to what's around you,
10:01and to see it as more mysterious
than you might otherwise
10:05Corita Kent taught this very
thing to her art students,
10:09teaching them that inspiration
is often right in front of you,
10:12and that the creative
process begins
10:14by noticing the
uncommon in the common,
10:17and the magic in the mundane.
10:19She even made her students
literally walk around
10:22with a viewfinder, a
small piece of paper
10:24with a little square
cut out in the middle,
10:26as a way to discover
unexpected beauty in the world.
10:30Last summer, I
worked on a project
10:32called "Manhattan Color Walk,"
an installation at the Cooper
10:35Hewitt Smithsonian
Design Museum.
10:37And together with my friend,
artist Leah Rosenberg,
10:40we had the idea to sample color
from every street in Manhattan,
10:45from the northern
tip at 220th Street
10:48all the way down
to Battery Park.
10:50So I walked the entire length
of the city, over 50 miles.
10:54My Fitbit was freaking out.
10:56It didn't know
what was happening.
10:59And I took photos of every
unique, colorful moment
11:02that I could find, in
essence, practicing
11:07this principle of
playful seeing,
11:09to look for the unusual
in the usual places
11:12that I was passing everyday.
11:15I've lived in New York
City for over 12 years,
11:17and this project made me see
my home in a totally new light,
11:21taking me to neighborhoods that
I thought I knew but realized
11:24I hadn't, and discovering
humor and beauty inspiration
11:29and stories through these small
squares of color that I found.
11:34Once we had one color
and one moment captured
11:37for every street, we turned
them into a Technicolor path
11:40at the museum, and it was a
moment of surprise for anyone
11:44to enjoy, and it was really
neat to see people interact
11:48with the installation.
11:49And the best part was when
they realized that the color
11:52stripe actually had some
other meaning attached to it,
11:55an observation from the city.
11:58We also made a free
guide for visitors
12:00that explained the
street and the reference
12:02for every single
color, and the hope
12:04was that this
installation would cause
12:06visitors to then leave
and look at the city
12:08with different eyes.
12:11For me, and probably for most
of you, I spend a lot of time
12:16designing on a computer
and staring at a screen,
12:19but I think one of
the best ways to play
12:21is to make with my hands and to
play with different materials
12:24and tools that are outside
of my comfort zone,
12:26and there are a
few different ways
12:28that this kind of playful
making can happen.
12:31One thing is being
short on resources.
12:34Not having enough budget
and not enough time
12:36can often be a
really good thing.
12:38It's often forced me
to play and to come up
12:40with unexpected solutions.
12:43My first jobs out of school were
at newspapers which notoriously
12:46have really small budgets.
12:48And at the "Seattle
Times," I was
12:49tasked with designing the weekly
"Going Out" section cover,
12:53so every week was kind of like
a "Project Runway," make-it-work
12:57I'd be given a rough
headline, a really bad stock
13:00image, and then one or two
days to illustrate a cover.
13:04So I'd be given an
image like this.
13:07I think it was like
the Kronos Quartet.
13:10So then I'd cut it up,
I'd add a little paint,
13:12and then turn it into this--
13:15This is like one of the first
things I did at a college.
13:19But it's just this theme
of making something out
13:22of nothing, and that idea would
come up again, years later,
13:25at "Esquire" magazine.
13:27The table of contents is a page.
13:29If you work in
magazines, you know
13:30that it's a page that's
super formatted and templated
13:34It's basically like
a grid of photos
13:37that are already in the
issue with text underneath.
13:40Nobody enjoys designing it.
13:42We usually give
it to the intern,
13:43and most readers probably
just skip over it
13:47after the ads, but
my creative director
13:49he wanted to rethink
this page, and so I
13:51welcomed the challenge.
13:52I took all the images from
the issue, I cut them up,
13:55and I tried rearranging them,
instead, to make one new image.
14:00I think I used about
15 different photos
14:01and illustrations in this face.
14:06So each month was a new
experiment, a new collage,
14:10often made again the day
before the page was shipping
14:14on deadline, and the
readers could then
14:17expect something new each month
and be surprised and discover
14:21a different look or a different
technique that I tried.
14:23This one was cool because
it invited the readers
14:25to play and to actually cut
up the table of contents
14:29themselves, fold it up and then
make their own origami object.
14:33Curiosity is another driving
force behind playful making.
14:37The Eames used to
say that they never
14:38wanted to delegate
understanding,
14:41and I think that's kind of the
secret to playing really well.
14:44For me, if there is a
technique or material
14:46that I'm curious
about trying, I'll
14:48often try to weasel it into an
illustration assignment that's
14:52With illustration,
there are a million ways
14:54to render something
in a really sleek way
14:59and to do it super fast, but
I'm interested in the handmade
15:03and figuring out how
to make things myself
15:06So ESPN hired me to
create an illustration
15:08for a special issue
devoted to LeBron James,
15:11and I wanted to try to do
something new with paper
15:13that had a little bit
more depth and shadow.
15:16And so there was this one
little line in the brief that
15:18talked about LeBron and showing
his many different sides,
15:21so that sparked an
idea to hand cut
15:24individual photos of his
face to illustrate just that.
15:27First, I sifted through
hundreds of different images
15:30to find the right
range of expressions--
15:33because I'm a crazy person--
15:36sweet LeBron, sad
LeBron, fired-up
15:38LeBron, side-eye LeBron.
15:41Then I cut out
every single face,
15:44played with them at
different heights,
15:45and then made this collage.
15:49Someone probably
could have done this
15:50in like 10 minutes in Photoshop,
but I wanted to do it on paper.
15:56For a "Fortune 500" issue,
I wanted to make a 3D 500
15:59in gold, but instead of doing
something on a computer,
16:01I wanted to see if I
could build it out of wood
16:04and then make a stop motion
of it being assembled.
16:06And this was not
the brightest idea,
16:08because I have zero
experience working in wood.
16:11I must have ordered
at least five
16:12different wood-cutting
tools on Amazon
16:14and then all these different
wood adhesives and clamps
16:16to finally put it together.
16:18But in the end,
there was something
16:19really satisfying about playing
and figuring it out by myself,
16:23and then we got to do that stop
motion that I wanted to do.
16:37Stop motions are really
funny because they literally
16:40make everything look like it
took five seconds to make.
16:44It's like the most
labor-intensive thing
16:46to make stop motions.
16:47Anyway, another way to
play, it can come out
16:52of a need to solve a small
problem in your daily life.
16:55So when my oldest was
three, he suddenly
16:57hated eating breakfast,
and it didn't matter what
17:00it was, we tried everything.
17:01He just wouldn't eat and he
was just totally over it,
17:04and I was really over
trying to get him to eat.
17:06It was super stressful, and
out of my total frustration,
17:09I thought it would just be
funny to play with his food
17:11and see what happened.
17:13And to my surprise, he actually
ate everything on this plate.
17:16I'm not even kidding.
17:18So then I did it again,
and then I did it again.
17:21And I have to tell you
this as a disclaimer--
17:23this doesn't work for every
child because I tried with
17:25my youngest and you cannot
trick him to eating vegetables.
17:29But for this moment in time, the
little trick was a lifesaver,
17:33and then these food
faces gradually
17:34became a way of playing.
17:36After seeing some of
these, "Lucky Peach"
17:38magazine contacted me about
a dream assignment-- a food
17:42column on their website
where my son and I would
17:44get to go on these
food adventures
17:46and then make
ridiculous food faces.
17:48So we went grocery
shopping in Koreatown,
17:52and made this little
guy with a kimchi nose.
17:56We went to the farmer's market
and got cool vegetables to eat.
18:00Fun fact-- those
black string beans,
18:02they change color when you boil
them, which is really cool.
18:05And my son made his
own version, too.
18:08We went to town at the oldest
candy shop in New York City,
18:11and, of course, my son said
this one was his favorite.
18:15Then we took the
subway all the way
18:17to the end of the line
to Brighton Beach where
18:19there is this big
Russian community
18:21and we explored all the grocery
stores there to make this.
18:27Soon, Disney called and asked
if I could make something
18:29that looked like Pluto.
18:31I said, yes, and so
there I am spending
18:35a lot of time studying hot
dog buns, a lot of time
18:38in front of the bread aisle,
and it turns out black olives
18:41make really good eyes.
18:44I spent a lot of
time being creepy
18:45at the supermarket studying
mushroom caps from the mushroom
18:49bin to find the perfect
eyeballs for this.
18:55And then I was curious about
making things in one color.
19:01Now, if I had to choose one
design assignment that I think
19:03best encourages
play, I would say
19:05try making a gift
for somebody that you
19:07love with the least
cost, but the most
19:10meaning and thoughtfulness.
19:12For, me a different part
of my creativity gets
19:14unlocked when I make
something special for someone
19:16out of a genuine place.
19:18And when I say
genuine, I just mean
19:20like not for like a side
hustle or for social media,
19:24but just for the sake of
delighting another person.
19:27And these are the kinds
of design projects
19:28that you're never going to
win an award for or like put
19:31on your portfolio, but, really,
they're the most rewarding.
19:34It can be as simple as
just playing with paper,
19:37like the set of nested cards,
which I made for my husband.
19:40We skip birthday gifts and we
just plan a day for each other,
19:43And so on each one of these
is a hint for something
19:45that I planned,
like a coffee shop
19:47to try or a new
art exhibit to see,
19:49and this idea made its
way into a craft book
19:51that I wrote with a friend
much later on, which
19:54is the photo that you see here.
19:56I sometimes make
gifts with food,
19:59again, because I'm
a crazy person.
20:02Here's a pie that looks
like the face of someone
20:04I love, and here's a ginormous
Pokemon Rice Krispie treat
20:08I made for my nephew.
20:09Does anyone know
what Pokemon this is?
20:12Well, I know a lot about Pokemon
because of the kids in my life,
20:16but my nephew, he was newly
dairy-free and super bummed
20:19about not having a
normal birthday cake,
20:21so I made this for him and
this definitely cheered him up.
20:24I love making things
for children's birthdays
20:26because the end result
is always unfiltered joy.
20:30My nephews are pretty
cool kids and they always
20:32picked the weirdest party
themes, like a shadow party.
20:35Like you cannot find supplies
for a shadow party in a Party
20:39City aisle, so it requires
a little bit of creativity,
20:44One year my nephew was
obsessed with presidents.
20:48This is definitely before Trump.
20:51So I made these party favors--
20:53a little foldout card
with each type of coin,
20:55and then a strange fact about
the presidents on each one.
20:58And it's not every day that
you get money as a party favor,
21:01so him and his friends
were super stoked.
21:04They also got some Obama bars.
21:07Just fig bars
dressed up as Obama.
21:10Another way that I think
it's helpful to exercise
21:13our sense of play is
to use our creativity
21:15to make meaningful,
unexpected experiences.
21:18One of my favorite
sayings, which
21:20to me applies to just
every area of life,
21:22is do small things
with great love.
21:25And that, to me, is
sort of the secret
21:26to working playfully and
creating meaningful moments.
21:30As designers, we can get
consumed by really large-scale
21:33projects that we're working
on and what sort of reach
21:35that they're going to
have on a large audience
21:37and success measured by metrics
and clicks and followers.
21:41And I've just always found
it a helpful exercise
21:43to consider how can I
make an experience that's
21:45just meaningful
for one individual
21:48or to think about the
smaller daily moments?
21:50How can I make a mundane moment
more surprising or memorable?
21:56So my son and I have been taken
to reading books together aloud
21:58at night and we've been
on a Roald Dahl kick.
22:02When we finished "Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory,"
22:04I wanted to surprise
him with a movie night,
22:06and I remember that when I
read that book as a child,
22:09I just really wanted to know
the feeling of opening up
22:11a chocolate bar and
finding a golden ticket,
22:14so I wanted to do that for him.
22:15I found some leftover chocolate
from Halloween, my son's
22:18gold origami paper, and
made this stick of it
22:21to give to him after school.
22:23And like the 15 minutes
it took to make this
22:25at the end of a work
day, it was worth it
22:27to just see his reaction,
and he still talks about it.
22:30When we finished
"Fantastic Mr. Fox," I
22:32typed out this little
invitation and we
22:35feasted on chicken,
carrots and cider,
22:36just like the characters
did in the book,
22:38except ours was like
store-bought rotisserie
22:40chicken and dry carrot
sticks, but he still
22:43thought it was super magical.
22:46After reading "The
BFG," I surprised him
22:48with a bottle of Frobscottle.
22:50I don't know if you've read
this book, but you should.
22:52In the book, if
you've read it, you
22:54know this is the
giant's favorite drink,
22:55and it's this green
fizzy soda that
22:57causes you to fart so
strong it like sends
23:00you flying across the room.
23:02But it was amazing, just
this drop of food coloring
23:05could just elicit so
much joy and laughter.
23:08So this little ritual
between my son and me,
23:10it's obviously a
really silly example,
23:13but it gets to this
point of using play
23:15to create special,
elevated moments,
23:18and we can practice that in
small ways with the people
23:20that we love, but
as designers, we
23:22should be thinking
about how we can create
23:24these kinds of personal,
unexpected, unforgettable
23:27moments on a bigger scale
in the work that we do.
23:31I love this book, "The Power of
Moments" by Chip and Dan Heath,
23:35if any of you have
read it, and it
23:36speaks to this importance of
creating elevated or they call
23:40it "peak" moments, and they
say that these small moments
23:43of magic, they do
not plan themselves.
23:46It's our job to
defy the forgettable
23:48flatness of everyday
work and life
23:50and to be the designers of
moments that deliver elevation,
23:54insight, pride and connection.
23:57Children are the
ultimate experts in play.
24:01These are my two boys,
three and almost eight,
24:05and they're basically like
my personal trainers in play.
24:08What I love about
kids is that they
24:10don't care what you do,
what your job title is,
24:13what project you're working
on, they just want to know,
24:16are you able to play with them?
24:19And if you're taking
things too seriously,
24:21well, very quickly,
they'll give you
24:22like a gentle kick in the
pants to snap you out of it
24:25and teach you how to just
chill out and to play.
24:29What I love about little kids
is their curiosity and the way
24:32that they see the world.
24:34There's none of
this self-editing
24:36and self-consciousness and
a crippling perfectionism
24:38that we all struggle with
as adults, but instead
24:41a wildly creative and honest and
loving approach to the world.
24:45As designers, I feel
like we have a lot
24:47that we can learn from
kids, if we listen to them
24:51and invest time into them,
give them opportunities
24:54to express themselves, and bring
them alongside us in our work
24:57and even let them lead.
24:59I learned a lot about
this on a project
25:01that I just completed with
my seven-year-old son.
25:04And the book publisher,
Abrams, they reached out to me
25:07last year about creating
a really different kind
25:09of activity book set for
parents and kids to do together.
25:13And so my son saw me
working on this at home
25:16and he was really interested
in what I was doing,
25:18so I kind of let him
in on the process.
25:20First, he started brainstorming
and doing little sketches
25:22with me, then he made a bunch
of suggestions and edits.
25:28It's kind of humbling
because he's always
25:30right about the stuff
he was criticizing,
25:33but most importantly, he
tested out all the activities
25:36to make sure they
were fun for kids.
25:38And it helped tremendously
to see this project
25:41through his eyes, and the
book turned out so much better
25:43because he was a part of it.
25:45And I'm going to share
just a few of the spreads.
25:48This is an
introduction page that
25:50explains how my son and I worked
together like "Mad Lib" style.
25:54And what I love
about this project
25:55is that there's one book for
a parent and one for a child,
25:58and the idea is that you're
being creative and playing
26:01together side by side
instead of like me just
26:04handing my kid a book and
being like, go and do this,
26:08so it's really cool.
26:09It involves drawing, writing,
learning a lot about each other
26:12through fun activities, like
a "This or That Quiz," where
26:15you can learn about each other,
chocolate or gummies, sushi
26:19all very, very
important questions
26:21to ask each other, or a
space to share secret fears.
26:25My son was surprised to learn
what some of those are for me.
26:29A page to remind the other
person why they're so loved
26:32or to reflect on the
things that we're good at
26:33and the things that
we'd like to do better.
26:36And here's a first
look at the covers
26:38that-- you guys are
the first to see these.
26:40It just put out on preorder
and it comes out in February,
26:43so I hope you'll get a
chance to check it out
26:46or to share it with your child.
26:48It's a project that's
really near to my heart.
26:51Now, this is another
project that's special to me
26:54where kids took the
lead and this book
26:56was written and
illustrated entirely
26:57by my son's second-grade class.
27:00I just helped to put it together
to raise money for his school.
27:05So 32 seven year
olds, they were told
27:07to let their
imaginations run wild
27:10and to create any
invention they would
27:11like to see in the future.
27:13And I think you'll be
blown away, like I was,
27:15by their creativity, their
ingenuity, and their heart.
27:18They thought of solutions
for real-world problems,
27:21like how to generate electricity
by using bouncy houses.
27:26Why did we not think of this?
27:28Putting ants to work to
bounce up and down to juice up
27:31your laptop, or fantastical
ideas of the future
27:34like designs for flying
cars or a pill to make you
27:37live forever so you can
celebrate your birthday
27:40Devices that help
make life easier.
27:43The Tydier is a robot
that cleans your room when
27:45your mom is on your case, or a
solution for the most difficult
27:49question in the morning--
27:50what am I going to wear?
27:51This machine will help you.
27:53Some of their inventions,
they touched my heart,
27:56like this money machine
for those less fortunate,
27:59so the homeless can
insert one penny
28:00and get $100 back to buy
the things they need.
28:04A device that senses
evil in the world
28:07and transforms it to
good with one zap.
28:10A garden where imagination
grows, so anyone who's
28:13lacking in creativity
or joy is free to come
28:16and take as much as they need.
28:19I honestly think
Google should just give
28:21every one of these kids a job.
28:24So now this last point, it ties
all these different aspects
28:27of play together and it's a
final encouragement for us
28:30as designers to keep making
work that invites play.
28:34It can be something
really small,
28:36like a toy for a
child that leaves
28:38room for their
imagination, or it
28:41can be a project that invites
play on a much bigger scale.
28:45Last year, I worked on "Color
Factory" in New York City,
28:48and it was a 20,000
square foot collaborative,
28:51interactive exhibit
that encompassed
28:53all of these elements of play
that we've talked about here.
28:57From initial concepts
to execution,
29:02there was an intentional
and thoughtful approach
29:05that went into it, to looking,
making, giving, collaborating,
29:18working with kids and giving
them the space to create,
29:22making moments of
surprise and connection.
29:27We wanted to make a space
that would allow everyone,
29:29young and old, to play,
and this room here
29:31was one of the first
concepts that we
29:33had for the New York space.
29:34It came from the idea
that in the city,
29:37we're constantly surrounded
by so many people
29:39and in close contact with people
on the train, in the subway,
29:43on the sidewalk,
but we're taught
29:44to never make eye contact.
29:46So we wanted to literally force
people, sometimes strangers,
29:50to sit across from each
other and to quietly
29:52go through these series
of creative exercises
29:54that require
looking very closely
29:56at the person across
from you, often
29:59without breaking eye contact.
30:01It's usually really
uncomfortable.
30:03I mean, when we first came up
with this, everyone was like,
30:05that's the worst idea!
30:07Everyone's going to hate it!
30:10But in the end there's almost
always a burst of laughter
30:13that's shared at the
end of this exercise,
30:15and those two people make
an unexpected connection.
30:19The idea of making
and giving was
30:21at the core of what we wanted
to do at "Color Factory,"
30:24so everyone who stops
by the location,
30:25even those without a ticket,
can get this map for free,
30:29and it leads to small,
colorful experiences that were
30:32hidden throughout the city.
30:33They're meant to be moments of
surprise, places to discover,
30:37things that we designed for
people to be delighted by.
30:41One stop is a corner magazine
stand and behind the cashier,
30:44you can look for a
very different kind
30:47different than all the
other scratch and win cards,
30:49but ours guarantees
a win every day,
30:51seven prompts to make you
feel like a million bucks.
30:56Another stop takes
you to an ATM that
30:58looks like any other old
ATM, except this one doesn't
31:03Instead when you punch
in the secret pin,
31:05it spits out a piece of art.
31:07And actually the two people
who put this together
31:10are right here, so you
can talk to them after.
31:14Or from the first map that
was here in San Francisco,
31:17one of the stops led to
a neglected staircase
31:20in a Chinatown alley, which we
transformed into a love letter
31:23to the neighborhood, a colorful
homage to the comfort foods
31:27that my family
taught me to love.
31:29And I just want to end by
sharing something that,
31:31hopefully, sums
up the reward that
31:33comes from designing for play.
31:36Last year, my mom came
to visit me in New York
31:38and she had never been
to "Color Factory"
31:39in San Francisco or New
York, and so I brought her
31:42through the space, and
it was something special
31:44to see her genuinely surprised
and delighted at every turn.
31:49And halfway through, she did
something that I had never seen
31:53Most of my childhood memories
are of her working really hard
31:57and taking really
good care of us,
31:59but I cannot remember a single
time where I saw her just like
32:03letting loose and dancing,
so this meant a lot to me.
32:06[MUSIC - HALL & OATES, "KISS
32:25Oh, god, but this moment--
32:27this to me, it settles
the misconception
32:31and this internal conflict that
we sometimes feel as designers
32:35that if we want to
be taken seriously,
32:38we have to make really
serious and solemn work.
32:42But thank goodness for
moments of pure joy
32:44like this to remind me that
no matter how much life is
32:47stressful or life tries
to wring play out of you,
32:52even if we have too many
deadlines and too little time,
32:55that we should never take
ourselves so seriously that we
32:58forget to make our work play.
33:04SARAH WILSON: Thank you,
Erin, for such a great talk.
33:07This is so wonderful.
33:08We have time for questions,
so if anyone has a question,
33:13I can pass the mic on.
33:16Thank you for the
amazing talk, I
33:18think it was just what I
actually needed to hear, too.
33:20ERIN JANG: Well, good.
33:22AUDIENCE: I think
when it comes to play,
33:24there is this idea of
spontaneous-y and then--
33:29but I think there's also,
for me, a risk of not
33:33being able to become a thing.
33:38So if we have a
project and a deadline
33:41and we want to bring
in the play mindset--
33:45but then I think as a designer,
we have this like perfectionism
33:49and wanting to make it to a
fidelity that is presentable,
33:55but often time, play
makes me feel like, what
33:59if I won't get there in time?
34:01What if this doesn't--
34:02it doesn't guarantee any
way that it will work out.
34:09ERIN JANG: I mean, I
think about my kids,
34:11actually, all the
time when I'm thinking
34:14of that, because
we think of play
34:16as just so free and
spontaneous, just
34:19forget all responsibilities,
but if you watch my son building
34:24something, like 90% of it,
he's like super frustrated
34:28because he's like building
this thing with magnets
34:31and it's like, oh,
it's so precarious,
34:32and it just like all
comes crashing down,
34:34and I have to remind him,
don't be discouraged.
34:38Try to figure it out.
34:40And, I mean, it's
honestly like trying
34:42to preach to myself
because I'm the same way.
34:44I get really discouraged
and there's not enough time.
34:46But to that point of not
wanting to risk doing something
34:51because it won't end up
getting published or used,
34:55I think that's a
mindset of that's
34:57that self-editing
that we do a lot,
35:00and it kind of
doesn't lead anywhere.
35:02I feel like that's part of--
35:04I think, with creative jobs, we
have to just take risks and do
35:08stuff and, yeah,
90% of the time,
35:12it's not going to be the
thing that's published.
35:14But I guarantee you
all those things
35:16that you've practiced
and done, those
35:19will get used later on
for some other project.
35:21And that's how I'd
like to think about it,
35:23that those ideas and
the things that I tried
35:25are not going to get wasted.
35:27They'll always come
back and they're always
35:28going to find some other
life in another project.
35:33AUDIENCE: Really inspiring
to see your work.
35:37Where do you get ideas
for playful projects,
35:40like the food one
and the kind of thing
35:43for people who have a hard time,
let's say, thinking creatively?
35:48Where do you get inspiration to
do playful stuff or projects?
35:54ERIN JANG: I don't know.
35:55It's kind of like what
I was talking about.
35:57A lot of these things are--
36:01I think it always just goes
back to people and relationships
36:05and you see this on
Instagram all the time,
36:07right, people are like, oh, I'm
doing this cool side project,
36:10and they're literally just
doing it for the likes
36:12and trying to mimic something
that someone else is doing,
36:14and there's no soul to it
because it's literally a form,
36:18you're just doing a form.
36:19But I feel like things that
are made with the heart of just
36:24doing it for one person,
like I was talking about,
36:27it's all about the
relationships and when
36:29you care about a person,
you will make stuff
36:32with that intention.
36:35I mean, Charles Eames,
he used to always talk
36:37about design as hospitality,
and I love that concept, right?
36:42You're not just like
making something
36:43because you want to
make it and be creative,
36:45but it's this hospitality of
how can design meet a need?
36:49As a good host, how
can I anticipate
36:51the needs of my guest?
36:52And so design is sort
of in the same way.
36:54We're thinking in
relationships with people,
36:57designing for one
person, and usually
37:00when you're designing
for one person, that
37:02will touch the heart of
so many other people.
37:06But yeah, I don't know.
37:06I'm just a weird person.
37:08I like playing with food.
37:09I'm basically a big child.
37:12You just have to
be like a big kid.
37:17SARAH WILSON: Yeah, let's
give it up for Erin.
37:22Thank you, everyone,
for coming out tonight.
37:24One note, if you
have a guest badge,
37:27if you could return
it to the front that
37:29would be greatly appreciated.
37:33She has been waiting.
37:35Yeah, and we'll be
back next month.
37:38Yeah, let's give it up for Erin.
37:39ERIN JANG: Thank you so much.
