Check out the pics from another successful AIGA Afta Party!

The Boston Globe ran an article yesterday on Rhode Island and its emergence as a hub for tech and innovation. Check it out. Rhode Island in general, and our partners the Business Innovation Factory, has certainly proven its agility and ability in terms of innovation and new ways of thinking. Many of the things being done in Rhode Island are great models for how cities and regions can embrace next generation ways of thinking and doing.

In the words of Saul Kaplan, executive director of BIF:

Now, the smallest state is trying to position itself as an entrepreneurial hub, offering tax incentives and playing off its location between New York and Boston, its size, its universities, and Providence’s urban renaissance.

This is central to our economic development strategy – we’re trying to create an innovation economy,” said Saul Kaplan, executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. “The whole state is 1,000 square miles with 1 million people in it and we all know each other – in an innovation economy, that’s a huge ad vantage. Connecting the dots across sectors and silos is what innovation is all about, and we have the perfect real world test bed.

Our work with BIF has been inspiring and rewarding. Check out our seminar on March 27th and keep an eye out for their annual innovation summit in October. It is one of the best events of its kind.

In Boston? Get to know us better. Come to an after work cocktail party….

Continuum sponsored AFTA work cocktail party in Boston at 28 Degrees on February 27; 6:30 to 9:00

AIGA Boston AFTA events are agenda-less, free-form gatherings of area creative folk. Each month a different firm gets to pick the place and play host for the evening; AIGA Boston gets to thank one of our generous sponsors for their ongoing partnership; and YOU get to drop by “afta” work and hang loose with the local design community!

PBS’s Design Squad, a reality show that exists to get kids to explore what it’s like to work in all types of engineering and design, was a category on Teen Jeopardy this week. Sadly, it was the last category the kids picked. Let’s change that. Design and engineering are fields to get psyched about – let’s help people understand and embrace their value.

We had fun working with PBS on the finale for Design Squad’s first season. We were reminded of the importance of early engineering and design education.

Check out more information on the Jeopardy episode and National Engineering Week in general. While you’re at it, check out the Massachusetts State Science and Engineering Fair.

We talked with Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School at the University of Toronto, on his new book, The Opposable Mind. In the book, Martin shares how successful leaders win through integrative thinking. What results is a study on the power of creativity and design thinking.

Q: Can you describe to us in a few sentences what integrative thinking is and why it is so powerful?

A: Integrative Thinking is the ability to constructively face the tension of opposing models and, instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generating a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a new model.

The new model contains elements of the individual models but is superior to each.

This means that Integrative Thinkers are model creators not model takers. Because of this, they are disproportionately able to come up with breakthrough ways of doing things. They emerge as the admired and revered innovators.

Q: Why is the design world such an important force in all this?

A: The best of design education and design practice is about the creation of options or models that don’t now exist. This is an essential part of Integrative Thinking. This is why I have taken a deep dive into design and design thinking with the help of great designers– including the folks at Continuum.

Read more

Harry West has spent the last 20 years helping companies all over the world see the value of design thinking and innovation as a means to identify opportunities for new growth and success in the marketplace. In addition to leading design strategy for the development of the Swiffer—Procter and Gamble’s best selling product ever—Harry uses ethnography, storytelling, rigorous analysis and informed creativity to help companies like BMW, Sprint, Motorola and Coca–Cola drive business results through design.

Friday, March 7 2008
2:00PM to 3:00PM
Patil/Kiva Seminar Room G449
Hosted by Rob Miller, MIT CSAIL

MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)
The Stata Center, Building 32 – 32 Vassar Street – Cambridge, MA 02139 – USA

Join Dan Buchner, Vice President of Innovation and Design and designers from Continuum for this one-day workshop — an interactive journey into the world of design thinking. Through short lectures and fast moving and interactive work sessions, Continuum’s designers will take you through the design thinking process from concept to realization.

March 27, 2008
8:30 a.m.–3 p.m.
Business Innovation Factory
315 Iron Horse Way, Suite 101
Providence, RI 02908

Click here to register.

Sustainability. Green. Environmentally Conscious.

What does it all mean? What are the implications; the repercussions, the challenges and the opportunities? As designers, we have an inherent interest and responsibility to look closely at these topics and discover solutions. At Continuum, we believe the solutions and the opportunities in “designing green” exist in better understanding the behaviors, perceptions and motivations of consumers.

Working with our partner, Communispace, Continuum has engaged in a thorough study of consumer behavior as it relates to all things green and sustainable. The study is called Colorblind.

This animation anchored the Coloblind exhibit at the Greener Gadgets conference.

On February 1, 2008, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, journalists, and designers gathered to discuss the business case for the greening of the consumer electronics industry. Greener Gadgets is a one day conference featuring key representatives from some of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world, innovators from academic thinktanks, members of startups focused on renewable energy, and some of the leading minds in the word of sustainable design and business. Topics addressed included: design for sustainability, product life cycle management, take-back and recycling programs, energy efficiency, greener materials, and green lifestyle and product marketing. An attached gallery space featured a green prototype office display and technology exhibits from companies on the cutting edge of green tech.

Check out Continuum sustainability champion Grant Kristofek’s recap of the event. Check out the imagery as well.