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Mike
Burrows explains the principle behind his bike
Mike
Burrows |
Mike
Burrows, the Norfolk man behind the superbike that helped Chris
Boardman win Olympic gold in 1992, shares his thoughts about
Designers, Engineers and Inventors with Norfolk Online.
When
asked about my "inventing" the Lotus bike, I usually
start by explaining that I don't see myself as an inventor,
but like to think that I am an "engineer".
The
difference? I think that whereas engineers mostly try to solve
their own problems, inventors usually try to solve other people's.
The other badge I could easily pin on would, of course, be "designer",
except that it has been horribly devalued by the media's constant
use of the word; i.e. a designer can do wallpaper or the wings
of an Airbus. Even Leonardo Da Vinci was not that multi-talented.
Chris
Boardman and the superbike |
So
if you are thinking of becoming a designer, you will need to
decide:
a) what you like doing;
b) is this likely to provide a worthwhile job? (Snowboard designing
must be a crowded area by now);
c) most importantly - do your talents suit the task?
A
full-time job
To be a successful designer you will be doing your job a lot
- whenever you are not sleeping! Designing is full-time, as
you can never stop thinking about the problems, and if you have
no talent for it you will soon lose interest.
So for those of you who are are artistic loners it is the wallpaper
or similar aesthetically-focused areas; but it is difficult
if you are too artistic - the desire to live in Arles and cut
off your ear will get to you sooner or later.
It helps to understand how important your job is - the world
might like the odd sunflower but it needs good wallpaper. At
the other end of the design spectrum, but no more or less important,
is aircraft design - no room for loners.
The
trick here is to make the very small bit you are working on
without making it impossible for everyone else's bit to work.
From
style to function
In between,
and where most "industrial designers" end up, is in
companies where you work with a small team and tackle most of
the product design from style to function. The trick then is
not to be under pressure - easy to say of course, but the client
will usually want it yesterday, which is where the designing
full-time comes in.
You have
to constantly solve problems before you are given them - not
an easy trick and only likely to bear fruit very occasionally,
but very satisfyingly, when it does.
The other
option is to do what I do and have a little workshop in Norfolk,
design what you want to design and at your own pace - just don't
expect to earn too much money!
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