Dan’s 2014 blog posts
The team at Fishman Acoustic Amplification goes electric – developing Fluence, a pickup system that does away with traditional copper coil windings, instead “printing” windings for super-consistant results. Between that, their method for controlling the pull of the magnets, and equalizing the output signal, they have managed to consistently replicate the sounds coming from best...Continue reading
The way we work obviously has a tremendous effect on what we ultimately produce. Yet many of us – designers, engineers and other members of product and package development teams – can fall into a work routine that in itself may be ready for a redesign. On that note, here’s a link to a blog post I wrote...Continue reading
Just returned from the Cannes Lions festival in France. While this 61 year old program has historically been focused on advertising, this year marks the first time they have included a “product design” category in the program. My thoughts on why this makes sense – because big companies no longer own the media. We don’t...Continue reading
Did I mention the award winners at Cannes Lions last week? We awarded the Grand Prix to G-Star Raw “Raw For The Oceans,” a clothing collection using a form of denim made from recycled plastic found in the ocean. G-Star Raw created it in collaboration with Pharrell Williams and Bionic Yarn. Other winners were Samsung’s “Food Showcase”...Continue reading
Here’s my article in AdAge, discussing the Cannes Lions jury gig. Lots of great designs were entered. Unfortunately, many suffered from a poor entry submission. They made the mistake of trying to sell us their products, rather than tell us about their designs. Or tell us why they deserve a design award. Still, a great showing for the...Continue reading
Here’s a link to a blog post on innovation that I wrote for PMP News (Pharmaceutical and Medical Packaging): Why Can’t We Be More Like Google? It’s easy to find out how Google innovates – just Google it. Google’s Chief Social Evangelist Gopi Kallayil reveals nine principles for innovation: 1. Innovation comes from anywhere. 2. Focus on the user. 3. Aim to be...Continue reading
Umm.. fly to Berlin to give a 9-minute talk? Sure, I’d like to visit Berlin. Actually we had a great session last Tuesday on design at the IFA+ Summit, and I had a chance to hear and meet some really good people. They included Carlo Ratti, director at MIT Senseable City Lab, Caroline Seifert, Senior Vice...Continue reading
Thanks Nadja Sayej for the article that appeared in Forbes, Dan Formosa On 9 Things to Stop Doing in Innovation. Following up on Google’s “nine principles for innovation,” here’s my list: 1. Stop designing things for old people 2. Stop saying “ethnography” 3. Stop making things simple 4. Stop coming up with answers 5. Stop listening...
As brilliant as Paul MacCready’s Gossamer Condor was in design, the way it was designed may have been equally as brilliant. Made of Mylar, the team was able to quickly repair damages and make modifications following a crash. So yes, they crashed, but they also instantly corrected. That was 1977. How many of us are...Continue reading
Had fun giving a talk, and running two workshops with Mike Jones at the Innovation4All conference in Oslo last week. Thanks to the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture, and the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at RCA in London for hosting the conference. The photo above shows Onny Eikhaug kicking off the conference. I posted...Continue reading
The 2014 Premier’s Design Awards Winners were announced in Melbourne this week – happy to have been a jury member. Congratulations to all the winning entries, which can be seen here: 2014 Premier’s Design Awards Winners
Happy to be on the jury for the 2014 New York Design Awards. Congratulations to all the winners at the award ceremony held at Steelcase last night. To get to the site and see the 2014 winners of the award, click here. This is the first year this program has been held in New York, and the response,...Continue reading