Making Things Simple Is Not Simple - Simplicity In Design Solutions

I'm running behind on my Bathroom Blogfest 09 posts. My originally planned post for today - about BJ Fogg's MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Mixer keynote - isn't done. Instead, I'll share with you tomorrow's post with thoughts on Simplicity and Simple Design Solutions for a space that shares kinship with bathrooms...

Simplicity.

My friend Jim Gould from the Floor Covering Institute recently spent time in China visiting factories. In one, he encountered a marvelous sign placed in the men's bathroom. He, unfortunately, had no camera on hand, but he did send me an email with the words from the sign:

"Making Things Simple is not Simple."

Perfect - don't you think? From all perspectives.

Simplicity in Design Solutions

In early September, FastCompany.com featured this Exclusive Interview: The Invention of the Automist which caught my attention. The Automist is an award-winning fire-fighting faucet for the kitchen which is where "60% of all residential fires start."

Simplicity played an important role in the design solution that the two designers, Yusuf Muhammed and Paul Thomas, came up with: they needed one that was "cheap and easy to retrofit, passive, and effective." Simple, right? But not simple.

The Automist faucet "has misting nozzles in its base, and is fitted with two parts: A under-sink, high-pressure pump--not too different from car-wash hoses--that diffuses the mist, and a fire-detecting sensor that can't be thrown off by false alarms. Rather than dousing a fire, the Automist quickly creates a dense fog--an airborne water concentration of 30%, which is enough to contain a fire and control its heat."

Here you see a rendering of the Automist faucet.

I recommend that you watch the product video, too.

Making Things Simple is Not Simple.

But, it is beautiful and effective.

Happy Bathroom Blogfest 09! Flush the Recession and Plunge Into Forgotten Spaces.

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