Marrying innovation and design

In the past design has often been the poor relation when companies are creating innovative new products. At best it has been something that is done at the last minute and treated as packaging, and at worst seen as unimportant. After all the product is so amazing it doesn’t matter what it looks like or if the build quality is poor – people will buy it anyway.

I’ve seen this attitude a lot in Cambridge, which makes this month’s Design Icons exhibition an extremely welcome demonstration of the power of good product design in the city. Held at the Ruskin Gallery, Anglia Ruskin University until February 23^rd it showcases 20 key products that have been designed in the area. Ranging from obvious high tech examples such as the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer to much more consumer focused products from international companies, including the Evian action water bottle and Sureflap catflap they show how intelligent product design can help differentiate innovative products in the market.

I’ll leave it to others to work out if they all deserve to be called icons, but what struck me is how these designs had stood the test of time.

Sinclair Sovereign Calculator

Take the gold Sinclair calculator or Lecson amplifier. Despite being designed nearly 40 years ago, with minimal reworking they would still cause a stir now. Paint the Lecson white and replace the dials with a screen and you’ve got an Apple amplifier.

Obviously the exhibition and surrounding events have got a serious purpose – to show what Cambridge design can do for products of all types and to encourage companies in Cambridge and beyond to embrace good product design. The aim should be to continue this education, so it would be good to see ways of keeping momentum going beyond the timescale of the exhibition. At the very least creating guides to how product design can deliver benefits, how to work with designers and when to involve them would provide a starting point for companies, particularly those that haven’t used product designers before.

To find out more on the exhibition go to http://www.camdesignicons.co.uk/ and pop along to Anglia Ruskin to see the products for yourself.

Having your Pi and eating it

Image by paz.ca via Flickr

I grew up with a ZX Spectrum, and while my programming efforts may never have been up to much (a flickering horse racing game where you could bet and a pretty much mythical hotel booking system for a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award project) it got me interested in IT, and probably has a lot to do with my becoming a technology PR person. More successful programmers went on to essentially create the billion pound UK games industry and provide a generation of tech-savvy workers for the sector.

Now I’ve got kids of my own I can see the same curiosity about technology but the opportunities for casual programming seem so much more limited. They happily use computers but don’t necessarily know how they work or even that you can program them and make them do what you want.

So I’ve been following with interest the progress of Raspberry Pi, the Cambridge-based project that aims to create a cheap ($25/£15) stripped down computer that is affordable for all and aims to develop a new generation of programmers. Based around an ARM processor and Linux, what I like most about it is the deliberate focus on keeping it simple. The idea is to create an ecosystem of partners around the computer itself, adding additional hardware or software to fit specific needs. Add together the cheapness of the computer and its openness and the potential uses are pretty much endless – from education to embedded projects. In a stroke of marketing genius the first 10 beta boards are being auctioned on eBay, to raise funds for the charitable Raspberry Pi Foundation – and they are selling for thousands of pounds.

Both OFSTED and the likes of Eric Schmidt of Google have complained recently about how ICT and programming is taught in UK schools. The advent of Raspberry Pi provides the start point to address these issues – providing the tools to interest and teach a whole new generation of kids. Obviously making it central to the ICT curriculum will take work (and a case), but given the government’s oft-repeated desire to provide young people with the skills a 21^st century economy needs, it’s time for David Cameron to put some investment into putting them into every school before we fall further behind.

 

 

Related articles

• Resurrection of the BBC Micro (rasremmos.wordpress.com)
• $25 Raspberry Pi Computer Prototypes Selling for $3,000 (blogs.wsj.com)
• Raspberry Pi Credit Card Sized Computer Will Handle 1080p Video for $25, Due Out Next Month (inquisitr.com)
• Raspberry Pi, a Tiny But Powerful $25 PC, Coming Soon [VIDEO] (mashable.com)

Celebrating Cambridge design

Good design is at the heart of successful products – just look at devices such as the iPad and iPhone.

Image via Wikipedia

And when I say design it isn’t just whether it looks pretty or cool but something that delivers a good user experience – essentially creating a product that is simple and intuitive and delights the customer every time he or she uses it. Not an easy thing to do, but get it (and pricing) right and you have a timeless classic.

A new event aims to showcase some of these classics that have been designed in Cambridge and had an impact across the world. Design Icons: Cambridge Innovation Festival will celebrate the design talent in the area by highlighting some of the key products of the last 40 years. The range of products is incredible, stretching from the well-known, such as the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and BBC Micro computer to those with less obvious Cambridge connections such as the Dulux PaintPod and the Proprio prosthetic foot.

The event, organised by Creative Front Cambridgeshire and backed by the Design Council, will take place throughout February 2012 combining a high profile exhibition and design-related events across the city.

90 products have been nominated, but only 20 will make it to the exhibition. 19 will be chosen by a panel of industry experts with the public having the chance to have their say and nominate the People’s Choice. Voting runs until 31^st December 2011 so log on now to www.camdesignicons.co.uk and make your selection. My money is on the sleek, elegant and completely impractical Sinclair C5 electric vehicle….