The SmartDumb idea

When an idea stupidly works brilliantly

Some ideas are smart.

Email is a smart idea. So are Barcodes. Washing machines, GPS, the Lightbulb. Breakthroughs that make a process more efficient, fix a problem and complete a function.

Smart ideas tick all the boxes and cross the Ts. And yet for all their efficiencies and cleverness, there’s something ‘human’ missing from them.

Then some ideas are dumb.

Chewing gum. Rollercoasters. Balloons.
What do they actually do? Or achieve? .… But who cares, they make us happy and our world a brighter place. (Note a dumb idea isn’t a bad idea)

And then there are SmartDumb ideas.

Equal parts stoopid and smart.
So ingenious that they shouldn’t work, so ridiculous that they do.
Function + Form + Fun. These are the ideas making oddly-shaped waves — and the ones to look out for.
My old ECD Andy Sandoz penned the term and I’ve been trying to find and build SmartDumb ever since.

How to SmartDumb (as told by me & Sandoz, for now)

SmartDumb solves a problem in a new way.

The Selfie Stick. A new way to take a photo. Designed by Wayne Fromm in 2005. Image via.

SmartDumb looks weird but functions brilliantly.

The Gehry Residence. Essentially a new house wrapped around an old house using unconventional building materials. Designed by Frank Gehry in 1977. Image via.

SmartDumb at first doesn’t make sense.

The Visible Air unit in the AirMax 1. A pocket of air in a shoe for extra bounce. Designed by Tinker Hatfield in 1987. Image via.

SmartDumb defies categorisation.

The Spork. The centaur of cutlery. Image Via.

SmartDumb understands humans.

Bloomberg Businessweek cover for ‘Euro Crisis’ story in 2012. Creative Director Richard Turley. Image via.

SmartDumb connects Humans.

Attract people to visit Sweden. ‘The Swedish Number’ by INGO Stockholm and the Swedish Tourist Association. Visit the site.

SmartDumb questions and pushes technology.

A car without a driver. Google’s Waymo seen here. First prototyped in 1925 by Houdina Radio Control. Image Via.

SmartDumb puts on a show.

Tesla’s Insane Button in the model S P85D. Zero to 60mph in 3.2 seconds. Image Via.

SmartDumb can be divisive.

Alessi’s Juicy Salif. A lemon squeezer by Philippe Starck, 1990. Image via.

SmartDumb tap-dances over rules.

‘The Unusual Football Field’. Community pitches in unused areas of Bangkok. From CJ worx and APThailand in 2016.

SmartDumb does, what nobody else is doing.

Humour(ish) to stand out in the insurance market . Image via.

SmartDumb delivers.

Patent Application for Amazon ‘Drone Beehives’ in inner-cities (Image via)

SmartDumb commits.

Make headlines. The Burger King gets a girlfriend — E! Model Brooke Burke. See their snaps.

SmartDumb makes you look twice.

Schipol Clock by Maarten Baas, 2016. A clock drawn in real time.

SmartDumb makes you grin.

The Singing Sailor. A defence system against Russian submarines invading Swedish waters. By The SPAS in 2015.

Once seen, SmartDumb is never forgotten.

SongWig by Party Tokyo Agency in 2016. A headpiece of earphones so a group can share music.

The hunt for SmartDumb is a work in progress.
This article will grow as and when SmartDumb appears.

Know anymore? I’ll add them > @SimonCheadle

Compiled with Andy Sandoz