The Blog

For the fourth profile in our series on the Interaction Awards Jury, we’ve interviewed New York City-based juror Helen Walters. Helen is a writer, editor and researcher at innovation consultancy Doblin, part of the Monitor Group. A journalist with experience editing and publishing content across multiple platforms, Helen was previously the editor of innovation and design at Bloomberg Businessweek. She is contributing editor at Creative Review magazine in the United Kingdom while she writes about creativity and design for numerous international publications, including Core77, Design Observer and Fast Company. She curates the website, thoughtyoushouldseethis.com and is the author of a number of design-related books.

We asked Helen two questions, and here’s what she had to say:

1- What is your favorite product, digital or otherwise, to use, and why?
Can’t tell if this is just nostalgia or homesickness for England speaking, but I think the teapot is a pretty incredible piece of design. Obviously these come in a million different shapes and sizes (at home, I have three that are brilliantly different from one another) but I love their simplicity of purpose. The mark of a successful teapot is also incredibly simple: does it drip when it pours? I also love that they might go out of style, but teapots are for life.

2 – What are 5 things all designers should know?
1. You can’t do it alone.
2. Creativity is one element.
3. Technology is just another tool.
4. Simple is difficult.
5. Suits aren’t the enemy.

You can learn more about Helen at helenwalters.com and follow her on twitter @helenwalters

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The Interaction Awards are open until October 1st and will be celebrated at Interaction|12 in Dublin in February 2012. Find out more, read about our other jurors, and submit your work!