Tuesday 19 May 2009

FastCompany's 100 most creative people in business

This month, FastCompany magazine publishes the 100 most creative people in business. Of their list they say:

There are no rules about creativity. Which made constructing our list of the 100 Most Creative People in Business a tricky task. We looked for dazzling new thinkers, rising stars, and boldface names who couldn't be ignored. We avoided people we've profiled in the recent past. We emphasized those whose creativity addresses a larger issue -- from the future of our energy infrastructure to the evolution of philanthropy to next-generation media and entertainment. So read on. Enjoy. Quibble. Complain.

Image from FastCompany's website

Scanning the top ten it's great to see two designers feature on the list demonstrating that design clearly contributes to the business's (triple) bottom line.

Apple's Jonathan Ive tops the list at #1 for revolutionising the way we all listen to, interact with, exchange and buy music. Ive was first interviewed by FastCompany for breathing new life into the computer hardware and software industry. He brought not just functionality but sheer delight for many who would otherwise be engaging with a "beige box" everyday.

Design in Apple has propelled the company to generate no less than $US32 billion in sales last year and FastCompany touts Apple as the, "most successful and faithful marriage of business and design." No wonder so many of us look to (and desire) not just Apple products but the behind-the-scenes operations and philosophies of the company.

Apple illustrates that design is yes, user/customer-led, but if an organisation that wants to achieve Apple's success it needs design to be CEO-led. Apple says, "You need a CEO who gets it [...] Something like the iPod is a melding of design and user experience and marketing and pop culture, and you don't achieve that without coordination throughout the company."

The other designer in the top ten is Sandy Bodecker, vice president of global design at Nike. The top twenty adds another three designers to the list: fashion designer, Stella McCartney; architect Thom Mayne; and sustainable design program manager at Autodesk, Dawn Danby.

Check out more details on these designers, and the other 95 creative people who make it on the list at FastCompany's website, which also happens to have a really neat interface and content (eg. Wikipeadia, news and Twitter profiles of each of the 100 individuals).

Tuesday 12 May 2009

Call for ideas for mobile phone security

Image from Design Council

This Friday 15th May, the Design Council are hosting a briefing event for creative and innovative ideas to address mobile phone security. There is £100,000 up for grabs to develop such ideas, so register your interest and RVSP here.

Event details
Date: Friday 5th May, 2009
Time: 9am - 3pm
Location: Design Council, Covent Garden

Thursday 7 May 2009

Sustainability, Innovation and Design: A design PhD conference at Lancaster University, 15-16 June 2009

Next month, I will be presenting a paper at the Design PhD Conference, Sustainability, Innovation and Design.

Image from conference website

Here's a bit about the conference from the website:

The Design PhD Conference is a collaborative event between ImaginationLancaster at Lancaster University and the School of Design’s Centre for Design Research at Northumbria University. The conference offers an opportunity for PhD students, Masters students, recent graduates and businesses to meet, exchange knowledge and ideas, and learn about the latest developments in design thinking, methods and research projects.

Alastiar Fuade-Luke, who authored the Eco-design Handbook, will be the keynote. Then there will be 6 presentations on current design PhD research which seems to cover a whole range of topics such as a critique of design thinking, design's contributions to improving the livelihood of communities in rural India and a comparative study of national design policies.

I'll be talking about Dott 07 and my research findings. Particularly in line with the roles designers have played, are playing and could be playing in public life.

Hope to see you in Lancaster this summer!

Tuesday 5 May 2009

LTA Newsletters

I haven't posted newsletters on the blog before. I wasn't sure if a jpeg would be enough for adequate viewing, but just discovered a big enough jpeg does just fine. If you click on the newsletter image below you should be able to read the April 09 newsletter with no problem (but please note the blue text does not link to websites. That only happens in pdf versions).

Each month, the newsletter provides an update on my research progress, thinking and activity and list links I find that may be of interest.

Please let me know if you'd like to receive monthly updates via email. Contact me at fiorucci@hotmail.com