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I celebrated Halloween this year.

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Book Review: Design Driven Innovation

Design Driven Innovation: Changing the Rules of Competition by Radically Innovating What Things Mean by Roberto Verganti, Professor of Management of Innovation at Politecnico di Milano Summary: In order to gain a competitive advantage, companies need to change the way their customers think, rather than do what they think the customers want them to do. Design thinking is not a creative process per se; it comes from the result of many years of research to find new ways of seeing things. “We do not look at market needs. We make proposals to people.” – Ernesto Gismondi Critical Points: Many of the design thinking companies highlighted, such as Alessi and Artemide, fall exclusively in the luxury brand realm, and as such, sell form (traditional visual design) as well as function and price out the general public. Most examples provided about consumer goods producers and providers, such as Target, are told as a cautionary tale.

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Tilt-Shifting the Eames House, Case Study House #8

Since the maturation of the landscaping at the 1949 Eames House, the house has had the uneasy sensation of being engulfed by trees. I found I could visually reverse that effect by counterintuitively using the tilt-shift technique. Embracing the smallness returns the focal point to the house.

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Film Series: James Stewart, Afflicted Hero

After his service in WWII, James Stewart returned to work as an actor and became increasingly drawn to macabre, psychological thrillers and characters with dark pasts. His attraction to complex, conflicted protagonists reflect his own state of mind after his war experiences as a bomber pilot and commander pilot.

James Stewart receiving the French Croix de Guerre for service as a B-17 observer-gunner. (1944) Winchester '73 1950, 92 min. A sharp-shooter who loses his gun as quickly as he wins it, Stewart is out for blood and vengeance in this story of brotherhood and betrayal. The Man from Laramie 1955, 104 min. Among the best of Stewart's Westerns directed by Anthony Mann, Stewart plays another quick-fingered stranger accustomed to killing without hesitation. Rope 1948, 81 min. In this six-take thriller, Stewart plays a philosophical boarding school teacher who influences his students to believe that intellectuals can be virtuous killers. Vertigo 1958, 125 min. Stewart portrays a well-intentioned former police officer-turned private investigator who develops an obsession that creates tragedy. Suggested additional films: The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) The Naked Spur (1953) Two Rode Together (1961) The Man Who Shot Liberty Vance (1962) Pre-combat films: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) The Shop Around the Corner (1940) The Philadelphia Story (1940) The Mortal Storm (1940)

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Book Review: Change by Design

Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation Author: Tim Brown, CEO, IDEO Summary: One of the pioneers of design thinking explains the process. He reminds us that we can only make the best decisions possible, as opposed to finding one right answer. To do so, we must remain flexible and open-minded, including incorporating new insights instead of ignoring them, sharing processes and be willing to fail in order to learn and discover for better outcomes later. Critical Points: Acknowledges that company leadership and vision is a critical factor in using design thinking successfully, but only towards the end of the book and briefly. As a result, it is lacking in helping a business leader know what is asked of her or him.

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During the MoMA's exhibit, "Bauhaus: Workshops for Modernity," I came across their semester schedule, inspiring an updated version of my own.