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Filmed on October 8, 2015 at the 2015 AIGA Design Conference.
This video is about having doubts. About being uncertain and even admitting to feeling unsatisfied. About what happens when the question of what design work is actually in pursuit of arises. About what can happen when risks are taken. For Sam Potts, these doubts, questions, and risks led to living in China, pursuing forms of design other than graphic design, and an ongoing search for reinvention. In this video, Potts shares his "Five point plan for doing projects." Just don't, under any circumstances, use the word "pivot."
Sam Potts is a multidisciplinary designer who, in recent years, designed the UX for the first New York Times iOS crossword app, contributed to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s college tuition comparison tool, and built steel bicycle frames by hand. From 2002-09, he operated Sam Potts Inc., an independent studio in New York City. Projects from that period include the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co.; three books by John Hodgman, an expert in all knowledge; and two websites for Jon Scieszka, the first author to be named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.
Before moving to Los Angeles to work as a UX designer Pott’s worked as a designer at IDEO Eric Baker Design Associates and Simon & Schuster publishers. He served on the board of AIGA/NY from 2007–09 and has taught graphic design at the School of Visual Arts Cooper Union and Art Center College of Design.
