"What's the beef?"

“Vitra Chairless, Innovation?”

Brilliant!

Reblogged wolffolinsblog:

A new product from Vitra, Chairless, is a branded fabric strap so you can
sit anywhere. Supposedly the perfect fit for iPad users.

Like it or hate it, shows ideas can come from all places, in this case
traditional made modern: a portion of profits benefit the Ayoreo Indians,
the original source of inspiration. (Source: Cool Hunting) 

(Melissa Scott)

“The World’s Most Innovative Design Companies” (via @FastCompany)

1. BMW Group Designworks-USA

Cars are only one of the roads this consultancy travels. Top 50 No. 25

2. Ideo

From childhood obesity to climate change, no challenge is too daunting for this iconic firm. Top 50 No. 35

3. Rockwell Group

David Rockwell’s set design for the Oscars was such a smash he’s doing a sequel. His Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco opened to plaudits. Ditto, the Ames Hotel in Boston. And Sin City’s financially fraught CityCenter is grounded by Rockwell’s tree-house-like creation.

4. Pentagram

The firm dazzles for its partners’ range of work, from Lisa Strausfeld’s intuitive interface for the Litl netbook to Abbott Miller’s elegant identity system for the Art Institute of Chicago.

5. Ammunition

It ping-ponged from designing Barnes & Noble’s hot e-book reader Nook to developing high-performance earphones for celebrity clients such as Lady Gaga and Dr. Dre.

6. Fuseproject

In addition to new lamps for Herman Miller, new Jawbone headsets for Aliph, and the world’s fastest production-electric motorcycle for Mission Motors, Yves Béhar and his team got frisky, with a bunny-eared sex toy for Jimmyjane and an eco-friendly underwear venture with PACT.

7. Frog Design

When it wasn’t helping bring wireless communications to rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, Frog was planning workshops for MTV and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help kids brainstorm, peer to peer, on how to pay for college.

8. Potion

In 2009, Potion produced interactive installations that get computing out of the box: four for Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry and two for New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage. One used iPod Touch devices to upgrade audio guides, and synced headsets for visitors in the same area to make the museum experience more social.

9. Attik

This London firm gets the systems thinking that’s vital for executing large-scale projects. Its reboot of Coca-Cola’s brand-identity platform is now deployed worldwide. Lexus, Scion, and Nike are also clients.

10. WET Design

Its Dubai Fountain is now the world’s largest, with jets that shoot a record 50 stories high. Vegas boasts Lumia, the only fountain lit during the day (with stage lights, a first), and Focus, the world’s widest water wall (280 feet wide, 24 feet high). WET’s own campus has Los Angeles’s first permeable grass parking lot, meaning rainwater is captured and reused.

Source: FastCompany / Most Innovative Design Companies

“Things are changing. Great ideas are not only coming top-down; they’re coming from interns, they’re coming from customers sharing their best ideas out of love for your brand (like Dell Idea Storm), from ethnography in third world countries. Innovation is about inspiration coming from continuously listening for the unexpected which can come at anytime from anywhere; nothing linear about that!”

Innovating Innovation: The Best Ideas Can Come From Anywhere

“Ten Things to Demand From Design Thinkers”

BY MARK DZIERSK, Tue May 26, 2009 at 6:29 PM

Pressure continues to mount on UK charities to innovate

Charities have pledged to crack down on face-to-face fundraisers who do not follow best practice after evidence of alleged lying, harassment, rudeness and law-breaking was found in a mystery shopping survey. — Source: Third Sector Magazine

With today’s publication of Intelligent Giving’s online report, ‘face-to-face fundraising’ is still the subject of increased focus and scrutiny. As a result, pressure continues to mount on UK charities to innovate and creatively communicate their message to the right audience using the most appropriate, effective and up-to-date marketing communication techniques.

Branding, whether corporate, institutional or public sector, is an economic, social and cultural phenomenon*. Adopted by the most successful charities, a powerful brand can use emotional appeal 
to raise profile, generate interest and, most importantly, increase income derived from both statutory 
and public donation.

*Wally Olins, On Brand