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Marian Bantjes gives a fantastic TED talk, where she discusses her work as a graphic artist living outside the mainstream of design thinking, thinking about ethereal qualities like bringing joy, invoking wonder, and inciting curiosity. This bit excited me:

The more I deal with the work as something of my own, as something that is personal, the more successful it is as something that is compelling, interesting, and sustaining.

Bantjes' focus on placing importance on the personal interest she puts into her work strikes a chord with me as someone interested in product design, because that personal interest can even help create personality and character in interface design work and writing copy.

This kind of self-centered approach to design is not something we talk about taking as user advocates, and it's certainly not something that I would expect any of my peers to advise in their work. But as you may have seen me write several times here in the past, when it comes to product design, there is something to be said for honoring one's instincts and interests when it comes to being steadfast on feature selection and putting forth a voice or personality in your product.

http://www.ted.com/talks/marian_bantjes_intricate_beauty_by_design.html

Core77's Sarah Cox wrote a lovely article after talking with Liz Danzico about her thoughts on interaction design, life with her dog Lucy and communicating simply and humanly. Below is her summary of what dogs can teach us about interaction design.

1. It's important to know who is in charge. Just like training a pet, a designer need to establish a rapport with clients that mixes trust and expertise.

2. Pay attention to the tail. A dog's tail communicates emotions silently, but it's easy to miss this detail if you are not paying attention. Interaction designers need to be aware of customer data for clues.

3. Keep gestures simple. Complicated hand gesture confuses a dog, and complicated language confuses users. Simplicity is best.

Good advice for communicating with humans and dogs alike. Read more on Core77.

http://www.core77.com/blog/featured_items/dogs_on_design_danzicos_obedient_vizsla__16733.asp