Designers. Are we our own worst enemies?
The good folks behind Profit By Design generously invited me to attend their conference at Emily Carr University of Art and Design (ECUAD) last weekend, in my emerging role as the “something or other” at the Sauder d.studio.** The two-day event featured a series of presentations and panels focused mainly on product and industrial design. […]
the journey is the reward + a simple solution
Just finished listening to the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson. My first experience with audible.com. What a revelation for me as to how I retain information. By listening to the book I caught every word and seemed to remember stories and ideas and concepts much more than I do when I read a book. […]
A visit to MindLab: the essence of innovation
I was lucky enough to spend 90 minutes visiting Christian Bason, Director of Innovation, at MindLab on a frosty day in Copenhagen last week. Through the Sauder d.studio, Professor Moura Quayle and I have been invited to help shape a proposal for a new social innovation “change lab” in British Columbia with the B.C. Advisory Council […]
d.studio week 7: perceptual blocks to creativity
What stands between us and our creative selves? This week we reviewed some perceptual blocks from one of my all-time favourite books by James Adams: Conceptual Blockbusting. Used some of the exercises as a studio warm-up. Blocks discussed were: Stereotyping – Seeing What you Expect to See…e.g. think of how we used to relate hair-length […]
d.studio week 6: Climate Smart Business
What business has worked with 550 small and medium size businesses, 49,000 employees and saved 416,000 tonnes of C02? Answer: Climate Smart. https://climatesmartbusiness.com/ This week in the d.studio students were taken through a “short-form” of the training session that Climate Smart Businesses receive when they sign-up for the program that helps them lighten their footprints and […]
This Week at the Citystudio: Open Thursday Dialogue with John Tylee (Vancouver Economic Commission) and Joel Solomon (Renewal Partners)
When: Thursday, February 9th from 12:00-2:00pm (*note: we will start at 12pm sharp, so please be on time) Where: CityStudio, 1800 Spyglass Place What to bring: your lunch and an open mind Open Thursdays are dialogue sessions with students, faculty, city staff and community leaders on topics related to the Greenest City. Bring your lunch and join the conversation! Please RSVP […]
d.studio week 5: Ask.Try.Do
It was time to review the process: Ask.Try.Do. And, importantly, experience it in a short time. So we spent the afternoon designing the experience of the visitor to the Sauder Building Opening Celebration on March 1. In a way it was the perfect opportunity to put Ask.Try.Do into action on a problem that was close […]
d.studio week 4: the CEOs return…
What do Paul Lambert, Eesmyal Santos-Brault, Winnie Lai, Lindsay Watt, Colin Doylend, Amelia Ufford, Steve Rio and Octav Druta have in common? They are all CEOs of exciting new companies. And they generously shared their time and expertise with students from the Sauder d.studio. The idea of the project was to provide the students with […]
Service Design: Small But Quickly Expanding
When we think design, we often think of the designing of products, of tangible goods. But this product-dominant way of thinking, according to designer, researcher and educator Lucy Kimbell, is about to change. Design thinking could significantly benefit services, the providing of labour and material aids needed by the public. Though it is currently a […]
d.studio week 3: Eye Phone
Warm-ups are critical in the d.studio — students are coming from accounting classes or operations classes where their analytical, convergent thinking skills are in high gear. I want them to transition to a balanced environment. In week 2, students did a free write. And this week they were plunged into drawing — but not “artistic, […]