Stiven Kerestegian

I am an industrial designer who's main areas of focus and inspiration are sustainability and biomimicry.

I have worked independently on several unrelated projects that share the same goal of sustainable and social innovation.

Design to me is the physical and experiential manifestation of the sustainable advancement of our human experience.

Products and services that are responsible socially, environmentally and economically.

The best designs always come from nature and therefore I would have to say that my most favorite design is the banana: A delicious and healthy food product snack that comes in it's perfect ergonomic and biodegradable packaging that is easy to carry and fun to eat.

The first commercially available product I designed was Microsoft Gamevoice: One of the first voice over IP communication devices for PC's.

All design must me appropriate, functional and sustainable. Really great design usually tells a great story or provides a meaningful experience.

Sustainability, user friendliness, affordability, inclusiveness, experience.

All designers should consider themselves interpreters of the best solutions to the sustainable advancement of our collective human experience.

My work is currently being exhibited in several dozen on-line and real life locations. I would love to exhibit in Northern Europe as I feel Nordic design is currently the most interesting.

Nature, people, experiences... Most design inspiration comes from trying to solve a real life problem.

My approach to design is hands-on. I have been very focused recently in open design where the collective intelligence of the masses proves to be the determining factor.

I am currently living in the south of Chile in a small town of Puerto Varas, gateway to the Patagonia. I will be moving to Denmark in June 2012 as I have accepted a position leading open innovation at LEGO.

For companies to have a good working relationship with designers they need to get them involved early on and let them be a part of the business and decision making process. Have long term relationships with few designers instead of small projects with many designers. Companies should ask to solve a broad problem and NOT to execute a versions of a possible pre-determined solution. Give enough time and space for design innovation to flourish as many times designers need to fail before they can success. Companies should select designers not only for their past work but for their thinking and design process as the best design solutions have often come from designers with no previous experience in that specific industry. The best designers are experts in the process of creation and not a specific product or service. At the end it's all about asking the right questions and having enough resources, time and liberty for the natural design process to present the best and most appropriate solution to any given problem.

It's basically what has been described as "Design Thinking". The steps can vary a bit depending on the problem but it usually incorporated the following iterative steps: listen, observe, learn, propose, interact, learn, improve, propose, interact, learn... Any given project or design can always be improved with more time and resources but a great design solution will always be both appropriate and innovative relative to it's context and reference if one exists.

Stay humble, stay young, stay foolish and never never stop learning.

The best thing about being a designer is that we can use our brains to change the world for the better. The hardest thing about being a designer is being aware and responsible with our influence in the world, especially in the social and environmental perspective.

Observation, organizational discipline, drawing/model making, communication and story telling.

Sleep very little and continuously organize my time dedication relative to a hierarchy of most important to less important.

Being thrown into the lions as a young designer at Microsoft Hardware and having Mr. Gates tell me that I was the best they could find so go do my job. A few weeks out of design school I was making multi-million dollar decisions on product design. This experience was both humbling and empowering, as I was able to accomplish right away many of the things young designers only dream about. Having this experience early on allowed me to evolve faster as a professional. It was definitely a big challenge at the time that has marked a rhythm in my career.