Fight the fear factor in design

Sean Adams and Noreen Morioka founded AdamsMorioka in 1994 with the aim of revolutionising design, taking it from what they saw as a state of chaos and complexity, to one of honesty and simplicity. And the way they would do it would be by concentrating on clarity, purity and resonance.

And fun!

Adams reckons that a certain amount of courage is necessary if a designer is to produce a message or an object.

“Design needs support - and that must come from within,” Adams says. “Fear is simply about protection, such as a fear of criticism” he says. So it's often protecting ourselves, he reckons - but why should you, a designer, allow someone else to dictate what you do?

Adams message is plain… “Trust your gut.”

The company's work ranges from print to online, interior to exterior, digital to animation, corporate to environmental, but one thing that characterises their work, and their presentation at Design Indaba 2009, incidentally, is fun and humour.

“Life has to be scary,' says Adams, so he and Noreen Morioka are prepared to produce something physical that can invite a bouquet - or a brickbat - but underlying it all is a commitment to quality… in every aspect.

For more on their work, visit AdamsMorioka.