Archive

Doug Solomon presented his talk, “Innovation and Economic Growth,” at the UN Economic Commission for Africa’s Committee on Development Information Science and Technology conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on April 29, 2009.

On Fast Company’s blog, Tim Brown will explore what he calls the Age of Involvement, the role of participation in an information society and how it leads to an expanded view of our economy. His first post, written to stimulate a conversation, asks if we can really spend our way out of this downturn and somehow magically create a post-crisis economy that is sustainable. Join the discussion here or read Linda Tischler’s introduction to Tim’s guest blog.

A domain co-lead for IDEO’s Connected Health, Arna Ionescu is a panelist at the Health 2.0: User-Generated Healthcare, in Boston. She’ll be on stage between 11 am and 11:30 am EST on Thursday, April 22. To follow the Twitter feed for anything related to Health2.0, click here.

Buy the book: I Miss My Pencil

View the website: imissmypencil.com

Buy the book here.

What if a doorbell could trigger the connection between scent and memory? How might traditional Chinese craftsmanship be paired with modern audio technology to demonstrate that “Made in China” isn’t always equated with “cheaply produced”? Could one person’s love of a material—specifically, cork—be exaggerated to elicit emotional response in others?

Chronicle Books and IDEO put together a 240-page glossy tome to answer these and other thought-provoking questions about what inspires designers to design. The authors, award-winning IDEO design director Martin Bone and IDEO materials expert Kara Johnson, complement each other’s thinking beautifully, approaching each design brief from the outside in and the inside out, respectively.

For the book, Martin and Kara divide their experiments into three chapters: Aisthetika (exploring the senses), Punk Manufacturing (merging traditional craft and mass production), and Love and Fetish (pushing the extremes of emotional connection). Each experiment starts with a provocative hypothesis, an observation of human behavior or specific elements of materiality, and ends with an object and its story.

• Smellbell. Because scent can trigger memories, the authors were intrigued by the idea of giving the scents that permeate a person’s home more relevance to his or her life. To do so, they came up with a doorbell that automatically assigns a unique fragrance to anyone who rings it. Over time, the home becomes filled with the combined perfume of the people who’ve visited. Smellbell makes scent functional, not just atoms in the air.

• Trademark. The ubiquitous “Made in China” label has become a euphemism for “cheap,” a fact that frustrated the authors. They sought to counter the stereotype by seeking out traditional craftsmanship and applying the same techniques to modern industrial design. They did so by merging the intricate handiwork of filigree boxes with an audio speaker. The result: an elegant twisted-wire alternative to a speaker’s usual fabric or mesh facade.

• Screw Cork. Why would anyone love cork? Cork is an intriguing material that many designers want to play with—but often can’t, because it doesn’t easily fit within the constraints of mass production. But surely it can do something nobler than stop air from spoiling the Chardonnay. The authors decided to reverse the material expectations we have for a wine bottle. While they were machining the cork, passersby became deeply engaged, and the object elicited admiration from anyone who saw it.

With each of these experiments, the authors provoke new ways of seeing the objects that surround us. The next time we use, buy, or design a doorbell, stereo speakers, or a bottle of wine, we will regard each object differently. For information about the book, go to the I Miss My Pencil website here.

“Stunning work. The richest conceptual industrial design work I have seen for some time, propelled by the idea of materials over form.”
--John Barratt, IDSA, president and CEO, Teague

I Miss My Pencil was honored in HOW Magazine’s 2010 Design Annual for photography/illustration.

Reporter Linda Tischler writes about Gary Hustwit’s upcoming film Objectified, which both celebrates industrial design and asks viewers to contemplate the impact of ID. In the film and quoted in the article, IDEO’s Tim Brown, explains, “Most of what we design ends up in the landfill. We have to take that into account.” Other IDEO appearances in the film include David Kelley and Bill Moggridge.

Watch the trailer and read the article here.

To follow Tim’s thinking, read his blog.

• “Redefining a Profession”

Alice Rawsthorn, a design critic writing for the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times. Read the article Tim Brown. Read the article here.

• “Change By Design: In his new book, the CEO of design shop IDEO shows how even hospitals can transform the way they work by tapping frontline staff to engineer change”

Tim Brown writes about design thinking in BusinessWeek. Read the article here.

• “Need to Reinvigorate Your Business? Think Like a Designer”

BNET’s Paul Sloan interviews Tim Brown about Change By Design. Read the article here. Watch the video here.

• “Book Review, Change By Design, by Tim Brown”

Core77’s Robert Blinn points to what he thinks industrial designers will find thrilling about the book: “The reason for the iterative, nonlinear nature of the journey is not that design thinkers are disorganized or undisciplined but that design thinking is an exploratory process; done right, it will inevitably make unexpected discoveries along the way, and it would be foolish not to find out where they lead.” Read the blog post here.

•“Design Thinking”

On the Brian Lehrer Show, Tim talks about the book and taking design beyond packaging and products and into “design thinking.” Read the full article here.

•“Best Business Books of 2009 List”

Change By Design made Fast Company's list, "The Best Business Books of 2009." View the full list here.

•“Best Innovation and Design Books of 2009”

Change By Design tops BusinessWeek's "Best Innovation and Design Books of 2009" list. View the full list here.


Learn more about Change By Design here.