The Genius Decision

3D aviators, Bless, 2010

I love it when I look at a finished work of design or art and think "genius!" This was often the case with Tobias Wong. Several years ago, a fellow student in my grad program, Klaus Ottmann, published the book, "The Genius Decision." He suggests that no one is a genius but rather we can all make genius decisions. "Ottmann convincingly argues, genius is simply not an innate essential quality. It involves action, risk and failure."

Jo Gordon, Kiss of Death, 1994

What is so great about the stroke of genius in design and art is that it is so visible to the rest of the world. Small acts of kindness are just as valuable but much more invisible. What is also great about genius in the finished work of design and art is that it evidences completion. A lot of people may think, "I had that idea," or "it's so simple, I could have done it." There are a lot of common ideas, and a lot of those common ideas are very simple, but following something through to the end is too often uncommon.

Dina Loginoff, Bless You lamps, 2009

One genius decision is not all it takes. Life, as well as ongoing work in fashion and art, takes consistently strong choices over time. While there are a lot of one hit wonders in fashion and art, there are also people, genius or not, who continue to amaze us again and again over decades.