How 3M's Chief Design Officer Eric Quint Explains Design

Alex Osterwalder, Swiss business theorist and author of Business Model Canvas, recently tweeted--a business idea needs three legs to stand*. The 3 legs are technology for feasibility, design for desirability and business for viability. I re-tweeted that this is one reason why companies need a Chief Design Officer (CDO) to which someone replied, you mean like Eric Quint of 3M, followed by 4 emoticons for trophy. 

The reason I am sharing this exchange is because today Quint has become a symbol for the chief design officer role, the value they bring and why companies need them to stay competitive. I recently interviewed Quint and asked him how he does it. He shared that his metaphor for design is jazz.  

Quint is a jazzman. He plays the acoustic guitar. His office in Minneapolis has great big framed pictures of jazz greats and his talks often are peppered with jazz images and examples. He says playing music has defined how he leads design. Here is how, in Quint's words--

Jazz It

My team knows me for saying, "Jazz It!" What I mean is we need to be strong in improvisation, going and exploring out of the box, experimenting. I give them a key and the rhythm, not a sheet of music. You might fail but learn from your failures and learn to manage them.

Design and music have a similar vocabulary

Music and design use the same expressions: harmony, contrast, tone sur tone, rhythm, composition, contrast. Just like in music, these expressions are crucial to drive design and design quality. 

Innovation is all about collaboration

You need real time, cross-functional collaboration in design. Innovation and brand experiences are only possible by being multi-functional. You need all the parties to run a great idea through the system and bring it to customers. 

"My drawers are filled with great ideas. Innovation is not just about the what; how you bring them to market is just as important."

The specialization and sophistication needed today require designers working together. I created a taxonomy of 40 kinds of designers for 3M's human resources. Old notions about designer as pop star doesn't hold anymore. We are team players. And just like musicians, who respect each other's ability and know you cannot swap a base player for a drummer, we cannot assume one designer to do it all.

Key is getting in the flow

Design is real time collaboration and creativity--that is where the flow happens. Flow is real time collaboration and creativity. And it often brings people out of their comfort zone and capability. You go beyond your limits by building on each other. When that happens you're happy and satisfied.

Designers need a responsive audience

Another dimension of design is about having a responsive audience. You need their excitement and engagement. You can get your audience, your customers and partners, to co-create with you through design thinking, whatI call Collaborative Creativity. 

Design for me is a strategy and not a commodity. It is a strategic partner to business. Together we make music. 

Thank you Eric Quint. 

*Quote credited to Don Norman, author of The Design of Everyday Things.

This article first appeared on Inc.com on October 27, 2017

Which Instagram Feeds Can Spark Ideas

Instagram is today's way of having your finger on the visual pulse of the design world, across art, architecture, fashion, graphic, and product. A few weeks ago I posted our favorite design websites. Now, our list of favorite Instagram feeds.

Like the websites we compiled, our Instagram list is made up of links we go to for inspiration. It is a treasure trove of eye candy for entrepreneurs and business leaders, as well as designers among you. And remember this list is incomplete and eclectic. Take a look.

1. @abstractsunday Even if you don't know Christoph Niemann's name, you probably have seen his intelligent, whimsical, inventive illustrations for The New York Times or his New Yorker covers. He calls himself a visual storyteller. A visual feast.

2. @_cindysherman_ If you want to see the world through Cindy Sherman's eyes, like our design strategy director, Seda Evis, follow this feed. It is a playground of Sherman's mind.

3. @thecindygram Another cool Cindy to follow is Cindy Allen, editor in chief of Interior Design magazine. Her humor and unique eye are the distinguishing features of her feed, which makes it one of my favorites.

4. @designseeds Our design and project manager, Leah Caplan, is obsessed with Jessica Colaluca's color palettes derived from the world around us. Great for digital mood boards.

5. @designtaxi_office Design Taxi was named as one of the "Top Five Sites for Keeping up With Creativity and Design" by Forbes in 2012, and it's still going on strong. Start with its Instagram feed and then dive into the website. (http://designtaxi.com/)

One of the trademarks of DesignTAXI's content is its unapologetically casual and flippant tone. Don't let that fool you - every article begs to be read, and you may find yourself falling down a reading rabbit hole once you log on.
--Shutterstock Best Design Blogs 2017.

6. @ignant This beautiful curated feed features both established and upcoming talent in art, design, photography, fashion, and architecture.

7. @kimjunggius Kim Jung Gi is a Korean artist whose Instagram feed features films showing him drawing that are mesmerizing to watch. I saw him live at the New York Kinokinuya bookstore this month (his live performances are also posted on his feed) and learned that he has trained himself to have a unique visual memory that allows him to draw and create in the moment.  

I observe things all the time. I don't take references while I'm drawing, but I'm always collecting visual resources. I observe them carefully on daily basis, almost habitually. I study images of all sorts and genres.

8. @lovegoodcolor My own favorite go-to for color inspiration is Laura Guido Clark, with whom I get to collaborate on Herman Miller projects. 

9. @macenzo This Amsterdam-based Dirk Bakker posts about travel, art, design, and architecture with an eye on patterns, shapes, and colors. Inspirational.

10. @p.roduct With 310K followers, this feed is beautifully curated to showcase product and interior design.

11. @producture The intersection of product and furniture, hence the name. Its feed strives to showcase the best in these categories and has a wide, interesting range. Designers can directly submit their products to be featured. (https://www.producturedesign.com/submit)

12. @sayhito_ Curated by Kristen de Lavalliere, hailing from Paris, @sayhito_ is about "inspiring + informing curiosity."

13. @sellyrabykane Selly Raby Kane is a Dakar-based dynamo of a fashion designer, creative director, and filmmaker. Beyonce wears her. A unique, beautiful window into African fashion and its creative forces.

14. @shoparchitects Shop Architects won Fast Company's "Most Innovative Architecture Firm in the World" in 2014, and the Smithsonian/Cooper Hewitt's "National Design Award for Architecture" in 2009. Definitely worth a follow.

15. @stefansagmeister Visionary graphic designer and filmmaker Stefan Sagmeister has transformed his Instagram feed into a visual platform for vibrant commentary and conversation on new work. Anyone can submit work for Sagmeister to review and possibly share on his feed. 240K followers.

16. @victoriagranof If you want to see beautiful food design, go no further than Victoria Granof, food stylist and creative director, who has worked with the legendary photographer Irving Penn for over a decade.

17-21. @cooperhewitt, @wallpapermag, @dwellmagazine,@designmilkeveryday, and @dezeen Last but not least, take a look at these classics of design on Instagram.

What are your favorites on Instagram? Help us discover.

My special thanks to our wonderful team at Birsel + Seck: Bibi Seck, Seda Evis, Leah Caplan, Selin Sonmez, and our intern, Meltem Parlak, for helping compile this list.

This article first appeared on Inc.com on October 20, 2017

Why Is White The New Black For Instagrammers

The Wall Street Journal reports that white is the new black--or at least it's the new favored color of young Instagrammers. It's so "in" that many are even painting their walls white in search of likes.

What is it about the color white? Is this a trend or an intentional choice? From a designperspective, it might make sense--even if it's bland.

White is the safe choice

"To make their home interiors look better on Instagram and amass more followers, millennials and social-media mavens are painting their walls white," the WSJ wrote.

In Turkish we say, colors and tastes can't be argued. There's a Latin version, de gustibus non est disputandum. I learned this the hard way. When I had new products I designed for TOTO, the world's largest manufacturer of bathroom products, I painted a beautiful mermaid green and all people wanted to talk about was how wrong the color was. It threw a good bit of my research off track and I learned a lesson in design. White is the safest bet.

White creates a unified look

Trying to create a unified look on Instagram is quite the design problem. All those image squares taken at different times often come together to create a chaotic look. The current three image Instagram trend is one solution. The white wall is another. It is a simple trick that helps create a clean background that unifies a design-minded Instagram feed.

"The true beauty of white is that in its essence it is an open canvas....it is humble and highlights that which surrounds it. White is highly nuanced, most whites have an undertone which makes selecting the right white very important. We use white as backdrops in our own @lovegoodcolor Instagram feed to give our images breathing space, allowing you to draw connections and focus on the emotive power of color." -Laura Guido Clark, designer of color, material and texture of consumer products for companies like Herman Miller, Google, Samsung and Toyota.

White is the go-to-color of product photography

Take a look at Apple or Nike product photography. They're almost always photographed on a white background. White backgrounds don't call attention to themselves and mostly disappear, making the product the hero. Colors, forms, details in the foreground pop against the clean, white backdrop.

"...uptick in popularity of graphic prints and bright colored accessories that pair well against white backgrounds." WSJ

White is luminous

Try photographing something in a colored or patterned background. Then do the same thing in a white room. White rooms will look brighter, cleaner. White reflects light and creates a luminous glow that simply doesn't happen with a black or saturated color background which absorbs light. So if you're an amateur, like me, working with a phone camera, white becomes a practical choice.

There are also other practical considerations when you think of these young millennial instagrammers. White paint is plentiful, easy to find, inexpensive, and easy to repair or paint over.

So here is an Instagram formula for success I posit and you can test--paint the walls white, throw in the bold colored accessory, like a cherry red pillow or an orange carpet, and whether you're in the photo or not, don on your the little black dress--and click away.

This article first appeared on Inc.com on October 9, 2017

Why Go On a Working Vacation With Your Team

Building trust, breaking silos and recruiting talent.

This is the trifecta of pain-points for so many of our clients, especially in the innovation space. One of these is hard to resolve, let alone all three, but there is a solution that is as unexpected as it is counterintuitive--take a "workation" with your team.

I first heard about the idea of a workation from Amit Gupta, who defines himself as an optimist/entrepreneur/designer on his Twitter profile. He is the founder of Photojojo, an online photo store. He survived leukemia, sold Photojojo and now is exploring what comes next, alongside his fiancee.

Gupta is not your usual entrepreneur. When he had to lay off 20 of his friends from his first venture, he decided that at Photojojo he would save up a year's worth of a person's salary before hiring someone new to make sure he could offer some financial security even if the business didn't pan out. He is also one of the first practitioners of the workation, a mash-up of work and vacation.

When Photojojo was just a one person start-up, Gupta had a flexible work schedule. But as the company grew that flexibility fell away and, with it, the flexibility to travel for fun. Travel became more business-like, in the form of buying trips and convention attendance. Nevertheless, Gupta and his team still got to see what other people were doing, learn about new products and meet new people. Travel was energizing and inspiring, yet not everyone got to partake.

That was when Gupta thought, "But what if everyone at Photojojo traveled?" So, he decided to relocate the whole company to India for 3 weeks, all 16 people staying in one house. This first workation was in 2011. After that, the entire team went to Mexico, Costa Rica and Thailand. And the tradition has continued after Gupta sold the company.

These Workations were a major expense for a start-up, $1,500 to $3,000 per person including tickets, accommodation and meals. The return, Gupta says, was priceless.

They even started launching new projects while they were traveling. Gupta says, "We got a lot more done than I could've imagined." Up to 90% of progress on the new launch would be done in 2 to 3 weeks of a workation. In contrast, it would take them a month to complete the remaining 10% once they got back to the office, what with all the meetings and emails.

In addition to new ideas and projects, better relationships, higher morale and getting more people onboard with the plan--there were three key, unexpected benefits:

1. Building trust over impromptu conversations and downtime encounters.

What amazed Gupta and convinced him of the value of workation wasn't just the efficiency of working away from the office. It was the way it brought everyone together. Living together meant impromptu conversations and downtime encounters. It got people on the same page. It created a sense of trust born out of knowing what was going on, on a personal level. Relationships were meaningfully different, and continued to be different long after the workation.

"Trust paid big dividends for us."

2. Breaking silos by blurring boundaries between vacation and work.

When boundaries between vacation and work blurred, so did the boundaries between teams. Silos that hinder so much of innovation disappeared. There was a natural cross-pollination between teams and between disciplines. People contributed freely and without fear. This enabled a much richer exchange and faster ideation. The team carried this fluidity back to the office, giving each other credit, remaining open to one another and continuing the exchange.

3. Recruiting great talent because they too want to go on a Workation.

A side benefit Gupta also didn't expect but relished, was that the workation turned out to be great for recruiting. His team was posting their workation like crazy on social media, on Instagram and Facebook, which got their friends and network excited about this out-of-the box way of working. It helped them attract new hires and retain talent.

When I asked Gupta how much of workation was work and how much was vacation, he laughed and said, it was 100% work and 100% vacation. Now that is the kind of R.O.I. we can all use.

For more, you can listen to my conversation with Amit Gupta which was the seed for this article.

This article first appeared on Inc.com on October 6, 2017