Posts filed under 'innovation'
Designing for austerity
Andrew Curry writes:
Alice Rawsthorne has an interesting article on the impact of recession on design in the International Herald Tribune. It seems it’s all good news. This shouldn’t be a surprise; innovation thrives on scarcity and constraint, and design is no different. And certainly the historical evidence bears this out. The Bauhaus and the Modernist movements emerged in the 1920s and ’30s, and the Italian post-war design boom from the depths of its post-war austerity.
The current financial and economic crisis requires that we think again about how our systems work, and - as she writes - designers excel at simplifying complex issues and collaborating with other disciplines. Rawsthorne anticipates that designers will help companies to cut costs by thinking about new ways to use materials and by imagining new service models (for example part-ownership or ‘renalism’ rather than outright purchase, as is happening with the Parisian Velib bicycle initiative - or Streetcar and Zipcar, come to that).
Beyond this, there are whole new approaches to service and system design, and she commends the work of Live|Work, which has redesigned support services, for example in its work in Sunderland, to put the user at the centre and access resources from multiple agencies rather than being caught between them.(It also works in the private sector).
The final bit of good news? The market for expensively designed objects has tanked. Half of the lots at Sotheby’s design auction last month went unsold.
Thanks to core 77 for the tip. The picture of a Velib station at the top of this post is from an article about the Velib scheme in Post-Carbon Cities.
Add comment 1 December 2008
All together now
Jo Phillips writes:
When she spoke at the Booksellers Association conference last week Michelle Harrison, one of our Directors, implored the industry to think harder about how to sell books to consumers who are showing signs that they prize collective experience far more than they used to. This extends beyond valuing such experiences over material things (e.g. a book) to valuing the shared experience above the individual experience (e.g. reading a book in the bath). Whereas five years ago people were telling us what they wanted most was a bit of ‘me-time’, now it seems above all what we value is quality ‘we-time’.
As we move into the summer season in the UK this desire to get together is evident in the huge growth in festivals of all kinds and scales - last year there were over 550 of them and nearly two thirds of adults have attended a live music event in the last three years. Booksellers are in on this act - the Hay Festival, which starts today, grows larger every year (new for this year is a link up with a prison broadening its base further). Book clubs are also growing in popularity. But these are still niche audiences among book-buyers.
The need for social innovation is a challenge to many industries that have focused on benefits for individuals. It may call for turning the category on its head, as Nintendo Wii did by sidestepping the industry competition for faster, bigger, better graphics to focus on enabling living room fun between friends, or through product innovation, as Walkers Sensations did by creating the sharing crisps opportunity.
Add comment 22 May 2008
Working at authenticity
Becky Rowe writes:
We held a breakfast briefing a few days ago to talk about what Millennials - that fast emerging 16-25 cohort - want. Yannis Kavounis (our Director of Innovation and wannabe Millennial) suggested that the answer is authenticity and innovation. Innovation is easy to understand but difficult to do well - putting customers first, pushing the boundaries of technology, re-mixing and recombining the old to create something refreshing and new all sounds pretty easy - but turning that into sales can be a minefield. In contrast, authenticity is both difficult to understand and difficult to do - juggling honesty and transparency, and staying true to the brand, whilst taking into account environmental and ethical concerns while keeping an eye on the bottom line. It requires a significant shift in the way the most companies do business.
They may be difficult to achieve, but there are rewards to be had. The interesting thought of the day for me was that the Millennials’ interest in these two qualities are levelling the playing field between big and small companies. The days of the big brand reaping the rewards simply for being big are over - it just isn’t enough anymore. But it seems that the days of Naomi Klein’s No Logo may have passed as well. For Millennials, it isn’t about big brand versus small brand or good versus evil. It is about how well a company (big or small) can deliver on those two core values of authenticity and innovation. So the new marketing battleground isn’t about the ‘coolest’, but about the ‘best’.
The big companies obviously have a head start and could win by throwing money at it, but trying to change the shape of their existing business models, may be more of a challenge. The smaller, more dynamic companies are likely to have less likely to be constrained by ‘the way we do things around here’, and could win by being better at spotting opportunities, but may not be so good at thinking through all the implementation issues. The Millennials seem happy for either - but whichever way you look at, they want you to put some effort into it.
Add comment 9 April 2008
The power of packaging
Jake Goretzki writes:
Belgian chocolate - while evidament the best in the world - has always let itself down by the conservatism of its brands (Cote D’Or’s range hasn’t really changed for the last 40 years). So it’s a pleasant surprise to find some innovation, from ‘Dolfin’, a brand which I hadn’t previously heard of but is apparently making friends and influencing people in the supermarkets of Bruxelles.
I like the way the packaging communicates the brand. But even better, the wrapper is like a re-sealable rolling tobacco pouch, and really gives the chocolate the feel of something specially blended for the special moment, to be taken in small doses in reflective interludes. It takes Galaxy’s ‘indulgence’ to another… galaxy, ah oui. But be warned; it’s 70% cocoa - so you’ll love it or hate it.
Add comment 11 January 2008
Secrets of Nokia’s innovation success
Andrew Curry writes:
The Core 77 design blog has a good piece on the reasons for Nokia’s innovation success.
In summary they are:
- the maths - go where the markets are (Nokia has increased its lead over competitors in the emerging markets yet again
- design it for the markets you’re selling in (Nokia has a design lab in Bangalore; in emerging markets features which enable phone sharing may be more useful than megapixels)
- ‘Show the people’ - do the marketing at the right level (Nokia has been using promotional vehicles, literally: vans and even railway carriages.
Add comment 4 June 2007
