The wisdom of crowds works when the crowd is choosing the price of an ox when there's a single numeric average. But if it's a design or something that matters the decision is made by committee and that's crap. You want people and groups who are able to think thoughts before they share.

What I've learned from different designers is that it's key to be true to who you are and your vision. That's always been my line of thinking. Working through the whole design process I don't want to create something I wouldn't be proud to wear.

The level of detail and craft is something that's inscribed within the original design concept. And so when I begin to draw I know what kind of detailing I want the building to have.

I've always been a bit of a decorator. I think if I wasn't a singer I'd probably be in stage setting or interior design or something. I like clutter and I'm quite visually greedy. I can't have things to be plain I have to have things looking interesting... maybe I'm just a frustrated interior designer stuck in a singing career.

I'd like to design something like a city or a museum. I want to do something hands on rather than just play golf which is the sport of the religious right.

When you say 'design ' everybody thinks of magazine pages. So it's an emotive word. Everybody thinks it's how something looks whereas for me design is pretty much everything.

When I design and wonder what the point is I think of someone having a bad time in their life. Maybe they are sad and they wake up and put on something I have made and it makes them feel just a bit better. So in that sense fashion is a little help in the life of a person. But only a little.

When I design a wedding dress with a bustle it has to be one the bride can dance in. I love the idea that something is practical and still looks great.

The design of the Mac wasn't what it looked like although that was part of it. Primarily it was how it worked. To design something really well you have to get it. You have to really grok what it's all about. It takes a passionate commitment to really thoroughly understand something chew it up not just quickly swallow it.

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.