Dear Colleagues,
Sara Little Turnbull has died.
The New York Times carries a full story at URL
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/business/sara-little-turnbull-product-designer-inspired-by-anthropology-and-nature-dies-at-97.html?hpw&rref=obituaries&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well
Her work and her approach were far-reaching and thoughtful. Sara Little built bridges between business, engineering, industry, and the other fields in which we work to make products do a better job for the people we serve.
Ken Friedman
Excerpt:
—snip—
Sara Little Turnbull, an innovative product designer who found inspiration for her work in geisha styles, a Kenyan game park, an American prison and other unlikely places, died on Friday at her home in Seattle. She was 97.
Her death was confirmed by Leta Medina, the director of marketing at the Summit at First Hill, the senior living residence where she lived.
Sara Little, as she was known professionally, liked to say she never invented anything, only made improvements. She traveled the world for design concepts, finding many in nature and human customs, and used them in furniture, storage systems, toys, foods, packaging, fabrics and countless other products.
Operating at a nexus of design, culture and commerce (“applied cultural anthropology,” she called it), she studied geishas and persuaded a cosmetics maker to promote matte makeup. She saw a cheetah grip its prey and got an idea for a pot lid handle whose shape and grip minimized slips and burns. She created rope-twist soybean candy to get children to eat more protein. And for a more pick-resistant lock, she went to prison and talked to burglars.
—snip—
Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS | Editor-in-Chief | 设计 She Ji. The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation | Published by Elsevier in Cooperation with Tongji University | URL: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/she-ji-the-journal-of-design-economics-and-innovation/
Chair Professor of Design Innovation Studies | College of Design and Innovation | Tongji University | Shanghai, China ||| University Distinguished Professor | Centre for Design Innovation | Swinburne University of Technology | Melbourne, Australia ||| Adjunct Professor | School of Creative Arts | James Cook University | Townsville, Australia ||| Visiting Professor | UTS Business School | University of Technology Sydney University | Sydney, Australia
Email [log in to unmask] | Academia http://swinburne.academia.edu/KenFriedman | D&I http://tjdi.tongji.edu.cn
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