chad mcmillan: why do i do what i do

Profile_chad

In this insightful and light read, Chad McMillian, Creative Director at Showcase Marketing challenges you to think about why you do what you do... Powerful!!
http://www.createlaunchlead.com/why-do-i-do-what-i-do/

Learn more about Showcase Marketing at: http://showcasenow.com

Tagged Rocket Ships

richard branson: leveraging design in business

"Every new product or service that Virgin group offers must: (1) Have the best quality, (2) provide great value, (3) be innovative, (4) dramatically challenge existing alternatives, and (5) provide a "sense of fun" or "cheekiness." 

Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Group

sir ernest hall: the power of design

"Design is about demonstrating how beautiful something can be. It has a very profound capacity. Design is a way of changing life and influencing the future..." 

Sir Ernest Hall, Dean Clough

tom peters: an incredible look at a well designed finance department

I imagine... 

A Finance "Department" with a Musician, a Poet, an Artist, an Actress, and an Anthropologist. As well as some Numbers Dudes. THIS "Department" stands for ACCURACY AND INTEGRITY. BUT it is also a ... Scintillating Business Partner. Its members are not drones. They do not hide behind dense, obscure Excel spreadsheets filled with arcane figures. THEY ARE EXCITING. THEIR IDEAS ARE EXCITING. Their presentations are exciting. And clear. And beautiful. BECAUSE THESE NEW-BREED "FINANCE PEOPLE" ARE ... DESIGN DRIVEN. 

Author: Tom Peters 
Book: Design, 2005

let's get naked

I am on my yearly 21 day fast. Each year, under the direction of my life coach and mentor Dr. Victor L. Powell (http://twitter.com/victorlpowell),  I engage in a 21 day fast that challenges me to really look inward and take a personal inventory of where I am and where I am going. I am encouraged to visit my ethos and dig deeper. I usually come out of the fast with a clear mind, many new ideas, and a fresh perspective on things... BUT this is NOT what this blog entry is about. It's about.. 

Getting Naked. 

On the fast I am challenged to digress from sweets, breads, meats and all of the other stuff that I consume during the regular course of the day, month, year. Well, this morning I decided that I was going to make Naked juice part of my "fast arsenal" (http://nakedjuice.com). AND like any "tech geek" I wandered over to the Naked website and was blown away. The design was not only refreshing, but it really made me want to get Naked. LOL!! 

Check out the site for yourself... It's an inspiring treat executed in the form of a brand website!! 

Naked_website

Brand: Naked Juice 

creativity and innovation never sleep

"Creatvity and innovation never sleeps. Even while you rest, change and progress pushes on..." Josh Boutwell, Designer

citizen reel ideas and concepts

Over the last few days I have been tossing around a brand idea called "Citizen Reel". I am wanting to explore the idea of immediate information, real viewpoints, from real people, in real time. Combining live streaming, the instantaneous and rapid distribution of content on platforms like Plurk and Twitter, and video snippets on platforms like YouTube and Tweet Reel. The goal, a well rounded share of content, that's focused and interactive.

Just tossing around ideas....

citizen reel branding 2010

(download)

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

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+ Pictured Above: The Nokia Morph Concept
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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?