Intense Design: Product design lessons from Cold War Era Skunk Works

by Thomas Ask

You have a wonderful idea and want to make it real. What are the first steps? Many forces act on you to slow you down, but your imagination, creativity, and passion need to overcome these constraints. INTENSE DESIGN presents a time in history when great ideas became great products such as the SR-71 Blackbird. How did an organization shrug off all the problems associated with Mach 3 travel? INTENSE DESIGN considers the historical moderation and guidance of a successful design operation as well as providing practical advice for making designs come to reality. This book is divided into three sections. The first section considers characteristics of a creative organization. The second section investigates how Skunk Works operated during the Cold War. This was a time that produced extraordinary innovations. It was a time that had a beginning and end, so we can look at it with a historical lens that is not swayed by the latest design guru or technology fad. The final section provides practical advice on how to design quickly and safely.

227 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 30, 2018