Designers shouldn’t design for museums any more than mummies should die for them.

- Ralph Caplan

All our media are given over to things that are better left unsaid.

- Ralph Caplan

Attention must be paid’ is the cardinal rule of design discipline, for the designer is above all someone who pays attention to the situation at hand.

- Ralph Caplan

A chair is the first thing you need when you don’t really need anything, and is therefore a peculiarly compelling symbol of civilization. For it is c…

- Ralph Caplan

We are … the un-proud non-possessors of objects whose chief substance is that of the transient symbol. Our Puritan fear of the love of things turns o…

- Ralph Caplan

...one of hallmarks of a creative person is the ability to tolerate ambiguity, dissonance, inconsistency, things out of place. But one of the rules o…

- Ralph Caplan

It is important to notice that these badly functioning designs were praised for 'elegance.' But elegance as theoretical scientists apply it is quite …

- Ralph Caplan

Thinking about design is hard, but not thinking about it can be disastrous.

- Ralph Caplan

If more designers had bad backs, we would have more good chairs.

- Ralph Caplan