Dedicated to inspiring designers, inventors & the creative spirit in all of us.

A friend of mine shared this story with me, and I couldn’t resist posting it. As it turns out, everything around us does not need to be so complicated in design.

A designer from Oxford designed a pair of glasses that conceals two pockets that are filled with water to create a lens. As the injected water builds pressure in the pouch that is the lens, vision is optimized one drop at a time. Once vision is ideal, the lens is closed and the syringe goes into the other side of the frame to customize the view for the other eye.

Third World countries are benefiting from this low-cost design that is making perfect vision a right, not a luxury. Good design should change lives, and I believe this design does that.

ID sketcher Spencer Nugent explains in this article, “the essence of why we sketch ideas as designers is seeded in effectively communicating ideas to our clients. Sketching is our language of communication.”

This is something I believe to be true. Take a minute to view this article, plump with great sketches and renderings, to better understand the levels of sketching. Better yet, look forward to a special video blog interview with Spencer in the near future!

In a time long, long ago, I had to make mix tapes. I would spend hours mixing albums and shuffling songs from all of my CD’s, then buy a pack of cassettes to begin recording. Once complete, I would cut up stickers and personalize my cassette so it could go everywhere I went; my car, my Walkman, my boom box. But times have changed. Now everything is digital, play lists take minutes to create and people aren’t caught dead with a cassette player in their hand. Until now.

This player lets you fast-forward or rewind a song manually by rotating the spools with your finger, then play by sliding the play button. Outta battery juice? Just rotate the spools; rotating the second hole of the tape charges it with kinetic energy. An LED indicates the power status showing green for fully charged, amber for half-charged and red for nearly dead. Available in 45/60/90 minute varieties, this device also hides a USB plug.

It’s actually an overall cool design. Now I’m just waiting for some Etsy seller to make a cool carrying case, maybe a little cassette case for storing all of your play lists in a library.

Ok, here is the ultimate wake-up call. This alarm sonically detonates at your hour of choosing and can only be turned off by ‘cutting’ one of the wires. Choose poorly, and you have to hear the echoes of this time bomb as it rattles your bedroom; choose wisely and you can roll over and get a few more winks before you begin your day. This is interactive design at its best. There are few products that truly engage consumers in using them and this is one of those products. If made a little more realistic, or a little more cartoony, this could not be pulled off.

Good idea or bad idea? I am going with bad idea, however, it is certainly a well-designed bear suit . The idea of enticing a black bear with the opportunity to play, or worse, mate, by crawling into this bear-themed sleeping bag is just wrong. However, to have this realistic bear suit available for the annual Halloween party makes this a great design.

Based out of Christchurch, New Zealand, Roger Dennis consults in strategic innovation, foresight and the intersections between them. He has worked with clients in a host of sectors including industrial design, telecommunications, and research services. Dennis authors the blog Ideaport , which helps organizations to address complex strategic issues in the world of design. He is also an associate of Innovaro – Europe’s leading strategic innovation consultancy.

1. Will we see more innovation in 2009 or less? I think many organizations will cut their innovation capability in the next 18 months. It is obvious there is a lot of pressure to cut costs in the current recession, and innovation teams often are the first to go in such circumstances. However, companies that cut carefully and preserve the core of their innovation capabilities will be well positioned when the recession ends. The proof of this approach can be found in many examples, but the most well known is Apple. (For more information read: http://www.rogerdennis.com/ideaport/?p=160 )

2. What was your first impressionable moment that involved design? I’ve always valued well-designed products, but never really appreciated the work in design until the late 90’s when I was exposed to the work of the Ideo crew in London when working for egg (an online bank in the UK).

3. Name something that needs improved upon that would benefit the consumer if re-designed? Most products designed for babies or young children. The notable exceptions to this are products designed by Bugaboo (http://www.rogerdennis.com/ideaport/?p=49 ) and Stokke.

4. You describe your IdeaPort blog as mental floss. What brings your readers coming back for more and keeping a nice, white smile? I think there’s a lot of confusion about the links between strategy, innovation and design. I’m interested in the intersections and overlaps of these three disciplines, but not in the jargon that surrounds them.

5. Name one person who influenced how you see things with a “designer’s eye.” I couldn’t attribute this to any single person – but the Ideo experience I refer to above had a massive impression.

6. I understand your home base is in New Zealand. Would you consider New Zealand to be more innovative than Europe and the U.S.? New Zealand has the advantage of having fewer people here, and therefore (in theory) change should be easier. In addition, the country has historically been isolated from the rest of the world, so if you wanted a solution to something you had to make it yourself. However, it lacks some of the culture that accepts failure – essential for innovation – and that balances out the equation.  Given these two factors I’d say it’s probably on par.

7. What or Who would you consider as a best source on innovative thinking? Gary Hamel is still hard to beat as a source of inspiration, but if you want a real dose of inspiration just spend some time online digging out the next re-mix, mashup or embryonic startup.

8. You recently submitted a post about brand and strategy. In it, you wrote about how you supplied a customer service division with a single guiding principle: “Our service is like oxygen and a customer dies after three minutes without it.”  Does this not explain the frame of mind you should have when promoting any product or service? That was actually a guest post by a colleague of mine – Patrick Harris. I think there’s a danger in taking a catch phrase and applying it to any and everything. That particular piece of work that Patrick referred to had a specific purpose. If you want to read more about this, then I recommend a copy of the book “Made to Stick.”

Two very cool images for those of you who try to stay inspired. I have always been told that you must enjoy what you do, and that idea is pretty much summed up in this illustration. What better way to convey the message of just doing something than this typo-ridden inspirational thought.

Nothing  much to say about this post. Just take about 45 seconds of your day to stare at this, go into a short trance then go about your business.

These heels have got to be the fastest looking shoes I’ve ever seen. The interior, sole and vamp are all streamlined like that of the famed Conino Lamborghini sportscar. Though only a concept, the detail is spectacular enough to lead viewers to question whether the images are truly of a shoe or, in fact, close-up shots of the real thing.

Oh, how I wish these were available for sale. Price being $TBA, I have no way of ordering these innovative Food Face plates for my daughter. Concept design is great until you want to get your hands on something!!