Once you've got a degree in industrial design and start to circulate in society, you realize ID is the redheaded stepchild of the creative industry. It's the coolest field to us but it doesn't have the same cachet—at least to laypeople—as graphic design, architecture or fashion. So I'm always shocked (if pleased) to see non-rockstar ID'ers being covered in mainstream media.

The Wall Street Journal's got a profile up on Design Continuum's Gianfranco Zaccai, revealing that firm's method of using direct experience for research. "As one staffer put it, the firm's philosophy is: 'Go to where the lion is hunting, not the zoo.'" Zaccai himself is an interesting cat: This is a man who quit being Design Continuum's CEO so he could be more directly involved with projects by demoting himself to Chief Design Officer.

Okay, maybe it's not a pure demotion but in corporate terms it's a lateral move at best. My point is I admire a guy who reaches the top job, decides he loves design more, and reworks the ladder to suit his purposes.