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Pinterest designer's simple philosophy: design is all around

Design is everywhere and businesses shouldn't be afraid to use and promote it, says Sahil Lavingia, one of the original designers of Pinterest.
Written by Sun Kim, Contributor

Design is everywhere and everyone is a designer. That's the wisdom of a guest post on Fast Company’s Co.Design by Sahil Lavingia, one of the original designers of Pinterest.

Design shouldn't be designated a specific function or industry. The discipline is just as fundamental as technology and profit are to a business that it doesn't need to be isolated to a single role. It should be considered part of every role. Design is shrinking the gap between what a product does and why it exists. Designing is not just about picking the right font or gradient. Stop thinking about design in terms of wire frames or visual style; it is about the product as a whole.

Lavingia argues that design is essentially about solving problems. Therefore, design is part of everything we do and a valuable means of business innovation. Good design, he continues, is about figuring out the purpose of your product, using reason to make decisions and to solve problems, and building on earlier ideas, just as in math or physics.

The inclusive, feel-good, can-do message of design is not surprising coming from a founding designer of the image sharing site that encourages easy, universal participation.

Pinterest’s Founding Designer Shares His Dead-Simple Design Philosophy [Co.Design]

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com

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