Designer Cultural Understanding versus Market Surveys- Walter D. Teague
The Successful Design Business Practices of Walter Dorwin Teague Part 4 of 5 Design Research and Designer Cultural Sensitivity versus Market Surveys ( click here for part 1 , part 2 , part 3 ) Designers at the boards in the New York Teague office. About 1940. Photo by Stowe Myers. Teague believed in the designer’s intuitive sensitivity of culture and understanding of the client and end-user, to lead them to the best design solution. Teague expresses the limitations of marketing and surveys in this speech in Detroit 1960: “These people can’t tell you what they are going to like three years from now- that’s been completely proven; but they can’t even tell you what they will like today if you’ve never seen it. So the designer will learn next to nothing from the quiz programs some companies conduct at great expense. But the designer should be aware of and sensitive to the trends that are moving in this small,...