Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function |  |
- A’Design Awards – Your Claim To Fame!
- Fingerframes
- Life-Proof Calling
- 12 Inspirational and Exclusive Interviews on Yanko Design – Scott Wilson
| A’Design Awards – Your Claim To Fame! Posted: 08 Feb 2012 05:06 AM PST Steve Jobs said “Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, everything else is secondary.” Finding the correct channels to promote our creativity or even get them recognized are very limited. Design Competitions are a good medium, but is recognition from peers and prize money the only push you need? The A’Design Award and Competition fills the void by highlighting, advertising and advocating good design, designers and design oriented companies. They have the knack of grabbing the attention of press, interactive medias, design critics, distributers and buyers for their award winners. So besides your award winning design being presented at the A’ Design Museum and Gallery in Italy, they also offers an unique ecosystem for designers to sell their winning ideas to sponsor companies. Likewise the companies can bid for the competing design ideas and make offers to buy the designs!
Registrations are still open and you can submit into 40 different categories, which include furniture, futurist design, vehicle and transport design, young design, lighting design etc. Timelines can be found here, Dates and Fees are here and find the answer to ‘What is A’Design?’ here. Submissions Close: 29th February 2012
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| Posted: 08 Feb 2012 03:43 AM PST Framer Concept Camera is an easy to use digital camera that makes picture-take a less stressful job. Forefingers and thumbs have often been used as an intuitive benchmark for focusing and clicking photos; Chun uses this same principle in making his device more user-centric. We are a photography-inclined generation and innovations that focus on not overwhelming us by simplifying tech advancements are always welcome. Designer: Jeiyong Chun of SADI
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| Posted: 08 Feb 2012 02:12 AM PST For all you know SpareOne may go onto become an iconic phone with its simple approach of being the ideal spare phone that works on a single AA battery. A shelf life of 15 years, simple demeanor and intuitive UI, makes it a coveted gadget to carry on hikes, travels and emergency situations. Rodney explains, " When we were approached to strategize this spare phone idea, we knew immediately that it has to be simple and "life-proof". The archetype of a screen was logically used to showcase and glorify this simple but iconic long-lasting AA battery." Designers: Rodney Loh & Thomas Tellier for NextOfKin Creatives
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| 12 Inspirational and Exclusive Interviews on Yanko Design – Scott Wilson Posted: 08 Feb 2012 12:01 AM PST There is more to Scott Wilson than being the Kickstarter man. His boyish charm belies his wisdom and learning experiences. Listening to him tell me his story, makes me wonder…just how did he do it! Maybe it's the Nike influence! A former Global Creative Director at Nike, Wilson has lead design organizations such as IDEO, Thomson Consumer Electronics, Fortune Brands, and Motorola and created some of the most recognized consumer design Without further ado, let's 'kickstart' February with Scott Wilson… If you are looking for the TikTok+LunaTik story, then I am afraid I am going to disappoint you. Scott and I agree, that we have to move past the tale and in any case he will be out with his book on it soon, so read it there.
We rewound into Scott's life; I discovered that he has worked in 3 corporations, 4 consultancies and 5 start-ups amassing a 'bunch of diverse experiences.' However the underlying fact is that watches and Scott have a long history together. Way back in 2001 when he was working with Nike, he got onto working with the Nike Presto brand. The shoes were successful but the company wanted to diversify into complimenting products like watches, bags and other categories, kind of extending the philosophy of a superlight shoe vibe.
He came up with this radically brilliant C Bracelet design that was smooth, sophisticated with a funky edge; very different from the trends in sporty watches at that time. Needless to say, the top bosses didn't quite like the proposal and that's when his boss Ed Boyd coached him to, "Do what you think is right and apologize later." Scott went under the radar with Seiko, who was Nike's watch supplier and partner at that time, and they saw the opportunity in the design. Their forecast was 30-40,000 units for the first year, but eventually Nike Presto Watches did a staggering 1.5M units out of the gate in its first year. To quote Nike Sales Directors Tim Mitchell & Doug Richardson, "The Presto watch saved our business and renewed faith with our customers.”
The valuable lesson that Ed taught here was that if you have done your homework and are not reckless, you should trust your instincts and break or bend the rules. Do what you think is right and apologize later. And if you are successful and are successful nobody is going to ask you to apologize in any case. The Second Watch Story! Yes the Dots Connect Ok, I am breaking my promise here; we have to touch upon the Kickstarter project, but for a good reason. Listen to what Scott says, "Everyone is so enamored with TikTok+LunaTik's story that they seldom realize that it was one of the most difficult times for me in my professional career. I had just come out of spending over a year and a half of endless days and nights co-founding a startup (which is now an estimated $10-20 million business), but at that time I was extracted out of it. All that I had built up around the start-up was gone, leaving my studio MINIMAL in a very precarious position and I was depressed. The business was Uncommon – on demand mass customization for mobile devices. It was one of my biggest heartbreaks in my career after a failed partnership."
Get this, Scott's last day at Uncommon was November 2, 2010 and TikTok+LunaTik was launched on November 16, 2010. The timeline is uncanny, but what we get here is the reason why things fail. More like the saying, 'when one door closes, another opens.' As Scott puts it, "If Uncommon had not failed for me, I would not have had the time to do TikTok+LunaTik or get around to Kickstarter." The rest is history.
Presentation is Important When I spoke with Robert Brunner last month, he stressed upon the importance on being a good presenter and to hone skills of communication. I asked Scott to elaborate, since he had to speak to investors, manufacturers, a crowdsourcing platform and convince thousands of people to believe in his project and back it with real dollars.
Scott recounts his days at Nike where his small Nike Explore team would gather every month and literally spin stories to present insights, updates on technologies and business partnerships to the president and now CEO, Mark Parker; they were taught how not to get sucked into the details and focus on the consumer. The essence according to him is to tell a basic simple story with your product, but tweak it according to the audience you are presenting it to. US has the tendency to put all designers into one bucket and say you're just going to do one thing, for example Bluetooth headsets, and that's just it. It's important to have diversity and curiosity beyond what society tries to make you conform to. I always had side businesses outside of my corporate jobs. So after the 50-60 hours I was spending all my time on a new venture or hobby. Learning. Staying flexible and honing my skills. Who better to ask than Scott about working in big corporations versus consultancy and being an entrepreneur? According to him it is very important to get exposure on both sides of the fence. Given the new age where designers have easy access to funding, they seldom realize the importance of knowing the manufacturing process. Experience within corporations can give designers insights into the execution process. "Ideas are worthless if you don't know how to execute." Lack of experience in all departments renders the most confident designers useless and even to date Scott gets countless emails asking him for backend advice. A well-rounded experience weeds out this unnecessary anxiety. The alternate of course is to learn it hands-on with a lot of painful learning experiences on the way. Be careful not to fall in love with your ideas too much they can blind you from the realities. Be sure to see the big picture.
Looking Beyond The Rose-tinted Glasses Scott defends crowdfunding platforms, saying corporate giants spend tons of money on focus groups and sometimes end up not even launching the product. Or worse, launch something that no one wants which wastes even more money and resources. Crowdfunding ensures you are bringing out a product that people want and need. Nothing can be more validating than strangers putting down money for something that doesn't exist. Believe it or not crowdfunding platforms and viral exposure does have its downside! The three most important lessons Scott learnt was this:
Like most businesses, Kickstarter too has its hiccups, but that has not deterred Scott to go back to the platform and launch his second vision: The LunaTik Touch Pen, a dual mode pen that goes from paper to tablet seamlessly. Pledges for this project end on 10th February, so if you think you like this cool innovation, head over here and make your pledge.
Footnote: If you have an inspirational life story or learning message to share, write to me at publication@yankodesign with “12 Stories” in the subject line. Inspiring stories will be featured here on YD. - |
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