today

Today, I have more understanding than I did yesterday, more love than months gone past and more grace to handle it all. I am focused on digging deeper into the things that I do not know, and my desire to connect and be connected with resonate loudly within the earth, so in this endeavor I am successful. I am only one of many, but my part in this amazing thing called "life" is set before me, before time, and before even my own consciousness - yet my collision with purpose is imminent because I am indeed purposeful. ~ V.A. Hunt 1972™

disruptors and mousetrap builders

924mousetrap

I carry an iPhone by Apple. It's a very clever and useful device. IN FACT, if I had the "opportunity" to carry any other device I really don't believe that I would. I can remember when I first decided to leave my first cellular provider, and go with AT&T so that I could carry the iPhone. The decision was made based on the idea that the iPhone was actually two devices that I was thinking about buying at the same time ...

1. A new cell phone

2. A new iPod

The choice was really easy. Too easy when I think back on it. It was a natural fit. The iPhone had all of the features that I could have ever wanted, and the idea of being able to add the applications that I wanted to the device as time went on, was an added bonus. The iPhone was not only something that I wanted, it was something that I needed and didn't even know I needed. How did Apple know that I would need the iPhone. NOT "need" in the literal sense, BUT need in the sense of making my life easier to manage and keep track of, all the while keeping me "connected".


HOW did they know? "They" being Apple. Could they have been designing or innovating from a HUMAN CENTERED approach? Could they have been looking at the VERY BIG picture and designing towards that? Did they have blinders on? I think they had blinders on, because at the time of it's creation the iPhone had no "clones", the iPhone was NOT a "better mousetrap", it was indeed a "disruption". It disrupted how we all looked at the cell phone, Heck, It changed how we view the cell phone industry all together ... And along came the "Mousetrap Builders"....

Disruptors and Mousetrap Builders - The Power of Disruptive Innovation


For EVER I have heard ... "If you want to make MORE money, get MORE fans, get more traction in the marketplace... Build a better mousetrap." THIS single thought has been one of the biggest downfalls to human innovation over the past 50 years. At least I think so. By thinking that we can simply take an existing idea, and make that idea just slightly better to "catch mice" ...

Sidebar: Who OR what are the mice? Ummm... Food for thought....


This broken idea of "mousetraps" causes innovators like BlackBerry (nothing against BlackBerry) to create devices like "The Storm" or even innovation giants like Google (nothing against Google) to create devices like the Nexus (still a rumor, I think). Who is going to REDEFINE the game all together? Nokia with the Morph ? Maybe. Fact is, there is only one iPhone, and there will always only be one iPhone, however; there are other innovations to be made. Should we, as Designers, be looking at how humans interact in fresh new ways? should our connection to our devices change? IS THERE a more integrated approach to how we access data and connect with each other? Maybe.

Morph

-------
+ Pictured Above: The Nokia Morph Concept
-------

It's in the "maybe", "perhaps", and "could be's" that disruption happens ...


STOP building better mousetraps, and for the record, I am not a "mouse". Build something I can use, something that I don't even know that I need yet. You have to decide, and decide now .. Which are you? A Disruptor or a Mousetrap Builder?

a house divided.

A_house_divided

Someone really needs to make this into a license plate.

the hardest design projects

"The hardest design projects... The most challenging and difficult design projects are often the simplest." V.A. Hunt 1972™

show me...

"Show me a problem, a serious problem like world hunger, water, or energy and I will show you a design project ..." ~ V.A. Hunt 1972™

#beyondprettythings

keys to staying inspired

I have read countless articles about getting out of the "creative funk" (if you can call it that). I have read even MORE articles on ways to "stay" creative, as if genuine, authentic creativity is something that just randomly comes and goes. I am one to believe that creativity, in the truly creative, is something that is as constant as breathing. AND I am not sure about you, but there are very few times during any one day or month that I need to be resuscitated. INSPIRED? Now that's a different story. Inspiration is indeed random. Some days may leave you feeling more inspired than others, however your ability to be creative is a constant. In-fact I can bet that in any given day you are creative HUNDREDS of times (100 or more), in various ways. You may carry on a conversation where you are creative with words, you may give an alternate idea or solution to an existing problem... Something, will spill out of a creative person at least 100 times a day... HECK!! Maybe a thousand (okay I am stretching it...)


SO what are the key's to staying I N S P I R E D ... That should be what we, as creatives, designers, should be looking at. Do NOT!!! OR should I say... BE CAREFUL about dwarfing your creativity... You are creative, you will always be creative, period. INSPIRED? Ummmmmm... Questionable.


Five easy ways to be (or get) inspired ...


1. Be quiet. Stop rallying for ideas. It's when you are quite and really THINKING that you get inspired (most of the time)

2. Be still. Stop running around looking for ideas. Ideas (really good ones, authentic ones) are not the products of you running around looking for them. This often causes you to replicate or build upon the things that you have come across ...

3. Observe. Start looking around more. Find the real problems, and start thinking about real solutions. Rather it be a visual challenge, social challenge OR organizational challenge, YOUR ability to observe and formulate creative solutions (there's that word again... "creative") is paramount!

4. Listen. Observation with your ears. Listen to what people are talking about ... WHAT are the issues? What's really going on? GET INSPIRED by the R E A L problems ad get even MORE inspired about finding a solution... Creating one.

5. Experiment. Do something OR say something totally insane. Often, inspiration can come from opposing forces... Speak up in a conversation that you have a distinctly different perspective about, you will be amazed at the responses (observe... listen..) and THIS type of inspiration can be HUGE. DO something, experiment with a poster, a movement, a cause and see what types of reactions emerge... Reactions = Inspiration.