by Matthew E May My father’s 78th birthday would have been this year, had he lived to see the day. It’s been ten years since his passing from complications arising from a rather rare blood disorder called polycythemia…too much blood. In honor of the decade without him, I thought I’d post part of my book that did not make the ...

I was pondering recently why it can be so hard for a large firm to innovate successfully. Too often it seems we are trying to graft an innovation capability or process on top of existing teams and workflows. While these grafted processes can work effectively for a short time, while the white hot focus of management is felt, often these ...

by Matthew E May Just a quick weekend note. The idea behind the elegance element of seduction is very simple: limiting information creates intrigue and engagement. Why? Because not having the whole story leaves us without the symmetry we naturally seek. So our curiosity is piqued and our imaginations sparked, and off we go to chase closure. My friend Iain ...

Scion Exile Concept Sketch by Matthew E May I’m fortunate enough to count car designer Kevin Hunter, president of Toyota’s CALTY Design Research, among my board of muses. CALTY (California+Toyota) is one of Toyota’s most influential design centers, located in Newport Beach, CA. CALTY is involved in nearly all of Toyota’s major vehicle design programs. According to Kevin, Toyota wants ...

You may or may not know this: Art has its foundations in utility. Great works of earlier centuries were never meant to hang in museums and adorn private collections any more than elegant Egyptian hieroglyphics were meant to simply beautify crypts, wooden totem poles to garnish the forest, or coarse images of the hunter’s kill to decorate the walls of ...

Lots of bad stuff happening in China right now. So let’s talk about some good stuff. Like the design coming out of Shanghai. Innovation, no matter where it occurs, always begins with a burning question (or questions), centered around “Is there a better way?” Artist-turned-designer Lu Kun has almost single-handedly put Shanghai on the international fashion map by pursuing three ...

In the race to create a sustainable world, designers will be key players. I’ve always been a big design fan and I salute the new sense of purpose now apparent in every aspect of this industry. It’s becoming more experimental, more challenging, more ethical, and more exciting without losing its core functions – to stimulate ideas, change behavior, and offer ...

THE POINT: Leading electronics companies can lead a movement to future-proof their businesses by innovating updatable products that encourage customer loyalty, sustainability and pragmatic fun. Creating Consumer Electronics 2.0 It’s easy to blame tighter purse strings for falling electronics sales figures. But it’s not just lack of money that’s keeping customers away; it’s fear of instant obsolescence. Today’s consumer consideration ...

Here is an interesting and funny video from Ted with David Carson speaking about the importance of graphic design and intuition: During his presentation, David Carson uses a great quote on intuition: “The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes ...

Here is another video from Tim Brown of IDEO, this one is “Innovation Through Design Thinking” from a visit to MIT (skip ahead three minutes if you’re pressed for time): According to IDEO, Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation. This video highlights how companies use design thinking in their businesses, from Motorola thinking about strategy to P&G thinking ...