When I design something, I think of it as a gift to somebody else.

I am a maker of useful things.

When you have clay in your hands, it's hard to avoid making birds.

The pleasure of making things beautiful or useful involves your feelings as well as your thinking. When your original sketch evolves into a tangible, three-dimensional object, your heart is anxiously following the process of your work. And the love involved in making it is conveyed to those for whom you made it.

I don't call myself an 'industrial designer,' because I'm other things. Industrial designers want to make novel things. Novelty is a concept of commerce, not an aesthetic concept.

I never wanted to do something grotesque. I never wanted to shock. I wanted my audience to be happy, to be kind.

I don't know the difference between working and not working.

The designer must understand that form does not follow function nor does form follow a production process. For every use and for every production process there are innumerable equally attractive solutions.

I think with my hands. I design things to be touched-not for a museum. A piece is ready when it has the shape of something to cherish.

If you think of beautiful things, you’re not sad.

Beautiful things make people happy.

Men have no concept of how to design things for the home. Women should design the things they use.

Modernism, rebelling against the ornament of the 19th century, limited the vocabulary of the designer. Modernism emphasized straight lines, eliminating the expressive S curve. This made it harder to communicate emotions through design.