DESIGN IMPACTS ALL OUR LIVES IN WAYS SUBTLE AND OVERT. FROM OUR PHONES TO OUR COFFEE POTS, EVERY OBJECT IS A FUNCTION OF DESIGN. GREAT DESIGN IS MORE THAN JUST GOOD AESTHETICS. IT IS THE WAY WE USE OBJECTS. AN IPAD OR AN EAMES CHAIR ARE BEAUTIFUL BY THEMSELVES, BUT YOU CAN’T TRULY APPRECIATE THEIR DESIGN UNTIL YOU START USING THEM. IT’S ONLY THEN THAT YOU EXPERIENCE ALL THE SUBTLE TOUCHES, ALL THE THINGS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE THAT MAKE GREAT DESIGN. BUT WHERE DO THESE GREAT DESIGNS COME FROM? HOW DO DESIGNERS CREATE OBJECTS THAT ARE BOTH BEAUTIFUL AND USEFUL? FROM WHERE DO THEY DRAW THEIR INSPIRATION? DO THEY FOLLOW ANY RULES, OR DO THEY FOLLOW THEIR FANCY? DESIGN DOES NOT EXIST IN ISOLATION; IT IS A REFLECTION OF THE LARGER SOCIETY. AS SOCIETY CHANGES, SO SHOULD DESIGN. THE BEST DESIGNERS ITERATE THEIR DESIGNS RAPIDLY TO KEEP PACE WITH SOCIETY’S DEMANDS. A GREAT EXAMPLE IS THE APPLE IOS DESIGN. WHILE EARLY ITERATIONS OF IOS (UP TILL IOS6) USED A SKEUOMORPHIC DESIGN ETHOS TO SIMULATE FAMILIARITY WITH UI COMPONENTS, IOS 7 AND LATER VERSIONS USED “FLAT” DESIGN. THIS WAS DONE KEEPING IN MIND USERS’ INCREASING AFFINITY WITH USER INTERFACES, HALF A DECADE AFTER THE FIRST IPHONE LAUNCH.