Bill at the National Design Awards 2010

I have had the pleasure of knowing Bill and Karin as friends for many years.

It wasn’t till I picked up a catalogue of IDEO history at their house one day that I realized just how important Bill was in the industrial design world. Here is a favorite picture of Bill unwrapping a “silly” Christmas present in keeping with part of the ritual of Christmas at the Moggridges.

We will miss Bill so very much.

“We are designing verbs…not nouns.” —Bill in Tim Brown´s Change by Design

My first encounter with Bill was as a student in the Product Design Program at Stanford. Bill was my instructor for ME116A, the first course in the senior design sequence. The first assignment was to design a chair. I spent most of the night before the due date finishing the chair in the design loft with a hefty exposure to caffeine and Krylon paint. The next day in class, the recumbent chair was finished, the paint was dry (barely), and I was a bit bleary eyed. Bill decided to critique my chair first. He thought it was “lovely”, but he wanted to try it out. I cringed as he struggled to get into the chair and to get comfortable. I cringed even more as his 6 foot frame tried to get up and out of the chair. Once upright with the help of a few students, he proceeded to tell me in his ever-charming way that that was the most uncomfortable chair he had ever sat in! This was my first big awakening to the meaning and potential of design. When I joined DKD as my first job out of Stanford, it was Bill again who mentored me through the design process on my first client project. I was fortunate to have many more encounters will Bill during my tenure at IDEO. In every interaction, he was charming, elegant, eloquent and calm no matter what was happening. His steadfast passion for design has inspired me throughout my career, and his spirit lives on as I spread my passion for design to those I work with and teach. Thank you Bill!

More excerpts from ID Two’s humorous internal publication.

News of the IDEO merger is announced in ID Two’s insightful internal publication, the ID Two Star.

I first met Bill in South Africa at the Design Indaba conference. He saw us talk about the Stitches – small knitted creatures that we were encouraging people to “adopt” and was keen to join in the game. He adopted Griffin and spent the whole conference with Griffin in his top pocket, making sure he could see the action.

About 7 years ago, we shared a wonderful day with Bill and Karin at their beautiful home. After moving from England, we were still adjusting to living in the U.S. We had just had our first baby and had no family out here but Bill and Karin made us feel so welcome and taken care of. This is a photo of Bill taken that day with our oldest boy, Connor. Bill, you will be missed.

Tolerating my Tofurkey.

As a young father, husband, and son.