William McDonough Design Quotations

Design is inherently optimistic. That is its power.

All have met stringent environmental and human health standards in product design achievement.

Designing renders visible our hopes and dreams. It is the first signal of human intentions.

If anybody here has trouble with the concept of design humility, reflect on this: It took us 5,000 years to put wheels on our luggage.

To eliminate the concept of waste means to design things-products, packaging, and systems-from the very beginning on the understanding that waste does not exist.

You don't filter smokestacks or water. Instead, you put the filter in your head and design the problem out of existence.

If we think about things having multiple lives, cradle to cradle, we could design things that can go back to either nature or back to industry forever.

I am working right at both the levels- with the most wealthy clients in the world, but also the poorest. I spend half my time designing for people that have nothing.

I think as designers we realize design is a signal of intention, but it also has to occur within a world and we have to understand that world in order to imbue our designs with inherent intelligence.

Design is the first signal of human intention.