Costas Papaikonomou - Grumpy Innovator - Costas Papaikonomou

Sign Language - farewell board guys

08 March 2010

A little jewel by Oscar Sharp about the unsung heroes at the very bottom of the marketing mix pyramid. Make sure to watch it to the very end. [via VIBE]

Using brains scans to validate concepts

08 March 2010

If you thought frame-by-frame video analysis of facial expressions to interpret respondents' feedback on concepts is hi-tech... read on or dream on. According Dan Ariely and his pals at Duke University and Emory University, the big next thing is to skip that awkward interface called 'face' entirely and plug straight into respondents' brain waves. Read directly what the really think about your new marketing propositions.

Personally, I'm not sure that the inside of an MRI scanner is a comfortable enough environment to make anyone think anything but 'get me out of here' but we'll keep an eye on 2nd hand scanner prices just in case.

Read the article at Science Daily.

An era ends, R.I.P. High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle

01 March 2010

Automotive design is about evoking emotion and where there's emotion, there is discussion. And few designs managed to spark discussion in polarising ways like the HMMWV. Love it or hate it, the fact the Hummer was discontinued this week will ignite many more passionate discussions. Formally, it ended because Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines couldn't get all the legislation organised in time for GM's deadline, but I can imagine the Chinese government wasn't to keen to see it represent the country's way forward.

Obituaries will appear everywhere this week, celebrating the end of an era. Last of the gas-guzzlers, last symbol of old skool US car design, eternal proof that emotional drivers outweigh rational ones. It'll be interesting to see what the type of people who used to buy Hummers will turn to next. Simply because you can't pimp a Toyota Prius, nor will the Honda Insight ever ooze 'F*U' from every pore.

Using analogies to explain new stuff

01 March 2010

Dan Heath, co-author of the great 'Made to Stick', explains beautifully the power of metaphor when trying to explain the essence of something new (aka the elevator pitch). So many great breakthrough innovations fail simply because no one really thought about how to explain their audience what/who/why they were. [Via Hidden Persuader]

100W bulb exits - and so does the inventor of the Easy-Bake™

01 March 2010

I was deeply touched today by a connection made by BoingBoing.net. This week the genius inventor Ronald Howes, creator of the Easy-Bake™, died at the age of 83. The connection: it's in the year Europe discontinues the 100W light bulb, the energy source powering his great invention. Best creative abuse of a light bulb ever. We had one of these when I lived in the US as a small boy. *sigh*

Logorama - nominated for an Oscar

20 February 2010

There are 2,500 logos hidden in this little gem, nominated for the Best Animated Short at the Oscars. Created by the French studio H5, view more about the film here. If anyone finds a link to the full movie, do let me know!

Flatbeds in Economy air travel, finally

04 February 2010

Air New Zealand has found a way to introduce the flatbed seat into economy class. Most probably the most overdue and eagerly anticipated innovation amongst hip & funky people, right after the iPad. The leg rest raises to seat level... hey presto: a wide bed to fit two. How have we ever lived without it?

Creativity quotes, beautifully visualized

04 February 2010

From Freshbump.com:

"There's no shortage of uninspiring quotes punishing our eyes and ears on a daily basis. Blame advertising, or HR, or your annoying Facebook 'friend' who won't stop posting on your wall. These pithy statements bombard us by the hour, often in miniscule type, often completely irrelevant to our lives. Freshbump has commissioned 10 designers to stop the madness. Feast your eyes on 10 creative quotes, presented how they should be. Visually."

Check them out here.

Ten gadgets that defined the decade

30 December 2009

Engadget.com nicely clarifies how revolutionary the technology this past decade has been, by revealing its expert opinion on the defining gadgets from 2000-2009. That said, the leaps in the decade before were even bigger. Much bigger actually. Are we slowing down, or just getting used to this? Read the article here.

Lecture @ TUDelft, Strategic Product Development

20 November 2009

Back to the roots for me today - presenting a lecture on strategic product development & being an entrepreneur at the Technical University of Delft where I once graduated (what feels like a century ago). The world has changed beyond recognition since I left there: no email, the internet bubble hadn't even started and Beavis & Butthead still had new episodes coming out. For the undergraduates in front of me, the world will be equally different by the time they look back like I did today.