Interview with Craig J. Rekow - IDSA

Senior Project Designer - Crown Equipment Corporation

Mr Rekow, what inspired you to create this product and what was the intention behind it?

The TSP was inspired by the very real need to give VNA (very narrow aisle) operators a clearly superior alternative to what most of them were using as of 2001. The challenges of this project were many. The truck had to fully support a job that is varied and complex, and oftentimes performed at 12 meters in the air and in low light. Maintaining stability and operator confidence at that height was no small task. Every design decision on this truck eventually came back to these two questions; “Does this help the operator do his job better, and does it enable him to do it with more confidence?”

What does being awarded with the “red dot: best of the best” mean to you?

It means I’m doing my job. We at Crown always set our sights very high when it comes to design quality. It’s just part of our working mentality to strive to be the best.

What particular challenges do you think designers have to face these days?

Corporations often don’t understand designers, and designers often don’t understand corporations. There are many companies that use industrial designers but not many that use them well. Some see industrial design as the “icing on the cake” rather than as the yeast in the bread. In these situations, designers often get frustrated and cynical about their work. I think the biggest challenge is balancing the idealism of design with the economic realities of product development. Most design schools today are not training designers to understand the economics of product design. Consequently, many young designers often learn the hard way that they can’t just expect their work to always be appreciated. On the other hand, I see many designers struggling to stay connected to the end users of their products. This might be because they’re designing for people in different countries, or because they lose perspective in the midst of ever-changing technology. Designers must never lose the end-user focus.

As a designer, what would you still like to accomplish in the future?

To be the next Orville or Wilbur Wright. To break open a whole new industry that changes the way people live.

What do you think is the economic significance of design?

It depends on what areas of design we’re talking about. On the positive side, I see design as a major force in developing things that enhance life and work in very meaningful ways. When people work better, through well-designed products, then everyone benefits economically. On the negative side, I think sometimes design is used to get people to buy things that they really don’t need or benefit from. In this respect, design can be a catalyst for economic growth (more buying and selling), but not personal growth or improvement. In the end, well-designed products should be adding to our lives, not just subtracting from our pocketbooks.