Hopefully every designer has at least a few people who inspire him to produce better and better work. That person for me is Naoto Fukasawa. Naoto, a staple in the design world for as much as what he produces as how he approaches problems, believes that the act of designing lies somewhere between the balance of our inner body forces (our thoughts, memories, our sense of humor) and outer forces in the world (what people do around us, what others have created, how people generally act).

In 2004, I was honored to be invited to take part in a design workshop lead by Naoto—Without Thought. Naoto elaborated on his design philosophy and approach while assigning us design challenges throughout. The culmination of the workshop was a design assignment for each of the twelve participants to be completed in the following weeks. The work, as in past workshops, would be assembled into a book and would tour museums, design shows and galleries. My concept, the Spinning Disc, examined the offen hidden beauty of the spinning compact disc and it’s likeness to the rotating blade of a table saw.

Everyone should have an experience like that.