Blue State Digital

How a small Internet Start-up affected ‘Change’ and created a successful business

Mybarackobama.com, the site designed by Blue State Digital that changed how elections are won.

by Adam Zoltowski

Blue State Digital (BSD) is a striking example of a company that uses a holistic approach to design to create sustainable competitive advantage. The company was founded in 2004, after the defeat of John Kerry in the Presidential elections. The web team of the Democratic National Committee formed BSD to provide online strategies for political candidates,

Nurture by Steelcase

Redesigning the Healthcare Industry One Waiting Room at a Time

By Holly Burns

nur⋅ture

1. to feed and protect
2. to support and encourage, as during the period of training or development; foster
3. to bring up; train; educate

Three Hundred and Sixty Degrees of Cadillac

General Motors makes a bold step and puts a designer at the helm of its luxury brand. But, what does that mean?

By Howard Allen

Automotive designer Bryan Nesbitt recently filled the General Manager position at Cadillac. Does that sound as unusual to you as it does to me? That’s because it is quite uncommon for designers to move into top executive roles within the automotive industry.

David Byrne and Creativity in Reverse

The Musician, Author and Designer shares his thoughts on the origins of Creativity

by Adam Zoltowski

David Byrne, the former lead singer of the Talking Heads, recently gave a lecture at the Bellhouse in Brooklyn concerning the origins of creativity and how context affects artistic creation. Using examples from throughout music history, Byrne made the argument that creativity is not shaped from something inside of us but is dictated by the space it will occupy once realized. He calls this method ‘creativity in reverse’.

The SEE Project

SEE launches its first Policy Booklet: Integrating Design Into Regional Innovation Policy

By Anna Whicher & Gisele Raulik-Murphy

With the conclusion of 2009, there are many exciting design policy developments at the three policy levels in Europe: the European Union, the Member States and Regions. In the coming months, the European Commission will be drafting a new innovation act in which design will be a key component.

Resolving to Innovate

An exploration of five traits that differentiate successful innovators

By Erin Weber

January 2010 seems like a great time to set some professional goals, so when I finally got the chance to sit down with the December issue of Harvard Business Review, one article in particular grabbed my attention: The Innovator’s DNA.

Luxurious India

An exploration of the opportunities and challenges of the expansion of luxury goods into the Indian market

Image Courtesy: The DLF Emporio Website.
The DLF Emporio Mall in New Delhi, India that houses brands like Giorgio Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Fendi, Dior, Just Cavali, Aigner, Tods, Tiffany’s, Burberry, Hugo Boss , JJ Valaya, Tarun Tahiliani , Manish Arora, Ranna Gill, Ashima & Leena, to name a few.

by Sapna Shah

A trip to Mumbai, India’s financial capital and glamour hub, leaves you reeling as you walk through the newly developed malls selling high-end luxury goods from brands like Louis Vuitton to Rolls Royce. The stark images of slum life shown in Slumdog Millionaire seem a distant reality as you come to terms with the emergence of the new Indian consumer market.

Downscaling While Scaling Up

An entrepreneur discusses the importance of improving processes

by Diane Ruengsorn

Scale. It’s a word that continues to come up in my discussions as I talk about our activities for 2010. There are a lot of exciting opportunities ahead this year for my company, Domestic Aesthetic, and much of it involves growth and expansion – most notably in regards to more stores and countries.

The Femme Den

Why we should listen to the Super Women at SMART Design

The four women of the FemmeDen. Image courtesy of www.femmeden.com

By Holly Burns

Women are not inherently passive or peaceful. We’re not inherently anything but human. ~Robin Morgan

Four employees at SMART Design are designing for what women are – not what they’re assumed to be. Whitney Hopkins, Agnete Enga, Erica Eden and Yvonne Lin are members of an internal collective, the Femme Den,

Cap & Trade

An animated short story on the flaws of the Cap & Trade system.

by Erin Weber

Annie Leonard, the narrator of “The Story of Stuff,” is at it again. She teamed up with Free Range Graphics to produce a follow-up to her clever, animated short story about the consequences of consumption. This time, she is questioning the sustainability of the proposed Cap & Trade system.