All change is hard at first,
messy in the middle and so gorgeous at the end!
Where innovation comes from
Wright Brothers used the most common and essential materials to humankind for flying: fabric and wood. Which means Ancient Egyptians could have been flying if it’s approved by the religious faiths. Da Vinci could only dared to do preliminary sketch for bold attempts to fly until the fear of church prevented him from doing the proper test.
It took ages for humankind to realize the first flight. It was until the beginning of the 20th century that the religious beliefs were set aside for progress. Then started the passionate human discovery in and out of the earth. We climbed the mountain Everest, we invented all kind of airplanes, discovered new species in new places like north and south poles, dared to leave Earth and set foot outer space on the moon.
As we can understand by this little example; innovation isn’t necessarily linked to concept of new ideas but strongly lies in the new way of thinking. New way of thinking leads to discovery of hidden perceptive, solutions for better opportunities and most importantly for a better life for all. That’s why the people outside of the system generate innovation. Our future can be surprisingly shaped by anyone’s unpredictable effect. For instance, Elon Musk’s irrelevance with automotive or aerospace sector doesn’t stop his inspiration to shape radically the automotive industry and future of space technologies.
Data driven design approach
Most of the time, as an innovation seeker I’m creating my projects based on intense research such as an R&D engineer, and my explorations are not limited to visual analysis. I’m working as a strategist, business data analyst, market researcher, information designer and more. So the keynotes of my projects show position statements, rationalities, the way of thinking behind my designs, additional diagrams and information such as business graphics, quadrants, fundamental keywords, comprehensive data sets, philosophical approaches, etc. based on my intense research.
Because we’re living in the data age, and the meaningful data helps to smarter business moves, more efficient operations, higher profits, and better customers experience.
Because of information overload, minimalism is a call for elevating our feelings for control and setting us free from the clutter and chaos we live in. So I’m constantly seeking simplicity. Whether I’m designing a product design or creating a brand Identity operatically the motivation is always “less is more.”
A dose of minimalism
I try to externalize social effects of consumer culture at my conceptual projects in the best possible way.
I produced my project called “Minimalist effect in the maximalist market” a few years ago and shortly after, it had an immense impact globally. The project was an obvious point out to the necessity of minimalism for the persona of the 21st century who is being heavily crushed under waves of massive information.
Project contributed to minimalism fact by carrying it to global agenda nonetheless awarding it with a global awareness. When the global brands like Starbucks and Target simplified their logos, the international mainstream media like adage.com and Washington Post linked the strategic simplification move with the project itself. In same year, the project was exposed in the Beijing International Design Triennial in a group exhibition called “The Reason for Design Emotion”, side to side with work of creatives such as Naoto Fukasawa, Zaha Hadid, Ross Lovegrove, Marc Newson, Norman Foster and Philippe Starck.
It was an inspiration to British retail giant Selfridges “No Noise” campaign. During the exclusive campaign, the simplified products of major brands starting from Heinz, Levi’s, Beats by Dre, Marmite was put to sale on a conceptual shopping spot called “The Quite Shop”.
The Pandora’s box of the Silicon Valley
Apple’s packaging room is so secure that those with access to it need to badge in and out. Inside the covert lab were hundreds of box prototypes. Hundreds of boxes whose sole function was to give the designer the ability to experience the moment when customers picked up and held their new toy for the first time.
“Attention to detail, to me, symbolizes that you really care about the user, all the way through,” said Deep Nishar, an early Google executive who leads user-interface design for the Web company LinkedIn. Nishar described the reverence some of the designers who work for him have for the box that held their first iPhone. “Some of them have kept it on their shelves. For the first time in history it was a spring-loaded box. It opened slowly. It continued to evoke that emotion and that feeling of anticipation, that you are about to see something beautiful, something great. That’s the attention to detail, the feeling you want to invoke. (from “Inside Apple” book by Adam Lashinsky)
The packaging for iPhone XS is highly recyclable, and 100 percent of the fiber in its retail box is from recycled content, bamboo, waste sugarcane, or responsibly managed forests. Through design and material selection, nearly all of the plastics in the packaging have been eliminated.
Also Apple has done so much with so little. For instance, the iPhone 6s packaging is extremely material efficient, allowing 50 percent more units to be transported in an airline shipping container compared to the first-generation iPhone.
More for less, less for more
Simplicity is not just a visual style. It requires discovering complexity in-depth. By this chance, it is possible to gain material efficiency by ultra compact design. Augmenting the usage of bio-based material can seed sustainable approaches. The innovative forms that decrease the transfer cost could deliver the same amount of product delivered to the consumer with optimum efficiency forms. Reusable packages for some products can be produced in help of innovative technologies. In order to reduce the amount of waste, 3D printing technic can be used in some packages to add certain functions in line with secondary, tertiary objectives.
Conclusion: Innovation comes from outside
Even though some important progress has been leading the production technology, today’s design approach is so much like NASA’s space programme with similar design formulas and resistance for change in certain perspectives. However, it is an absolute necessity to move towards a world with “Space-X” empowered by innovative approaches. For such progress, an R&D project of a multidisciplinary approach that integrating design and engineering, led by the innovation can be developed.
