Take a cup of design at the MIT media lab (what a nice introduction page !), especially with a pioneer of Digital Arts and Media, John Maeda. I've just found his weblog and some of his photos (flickr again ?!? And no, I don't have any Flickr or Yahoo stock ;-p). And he currently has an exhibition at the Fondation Cartier in Paris. Can good design save us ? At least, if your life sucks, make it look good.