innovation

Design Debut: Meet Doug Foreman and the biēm Butter Sprayer

Design Debut brings the very latest new products to the Show. These entrepreneurs come from the dynamic start up culture and often establish their companies with Kickstarter support. For example, the biēm Butter Sprayer, which transforms a real stick of butter to a spray in seconds, launched on March 1st. This new hand-held device gives users a much more efficient way to use…

The Smart Kitchen: Trends and Early Success Stories

By Vicki Matranga Design Programs Coordinator Informing Innovation: Meet Greg Kahn, GK Digital Media, Santiago Merea, Yummly; Jenny Cooper, Google and Mike Fretwell, Jarden Consumer Solutions Home environments, kitchen appliances, phones—how do they connect and why? Physical products that respond to our activities and communicate with each other and with services promise…

Informing Innovation: Designers Get Social

By Vicki Matranga Design Programs Coordinator Social media has changed business and culture rapidly in just a few years. Makers and sellers of new products and services spot trends and track consumers’ preferences via numerous social platforms. Today we are speaking with four designers who are influenced by the same developments. They give us their views on how social media…

Informing Innovation: Meet Tom Boettcher, HumanLabs

By Vicki Matranga Design Programs Coordinator The connected world faces new and complex questions for society and personal life. Tom Boettcher, the opening speaker of the Innovation Theater’s four-day schedule, is uniquely positioned to outline some answers about the Internet of Things. Tom is a Mensan, electrical engineer and founding CEO of HumanLabs, Inc. Not only a…

Discovering Design: Meet Corkcicle

By Vicki Matranga Design Programs Coordinator A cork on top of an icicle? In 2011, inventor Ben Hewitt and entrepreneurs Eric Miller and Stephen Bruner created Corkcicle, an icicle inserted into a wine bottle to chill the contents from the inside. Simple in design, yet high in functionality, this market-disrupting idea changed adult beverage drink cooling. The original…

Discovering Design 2016: Meet French Bull

French Bull debuted in 2002 with a line of tableware acclaimed for its mastery of pattern and color. Today, the company’s celebratory style and LIVE VIVID™ message can be found across a wide range of categories including kitchen appliances, home decor, and fashion accessories. French Bull’s distinctive designs in melamine dinnerware and accessories such as kitchen textiles…

Discovering Design: Eva Solo

For more than 100 years, the Danish company Eva Solo, founded in 1913, has believed that Good Design is Everything. Known for its distinctive functional and stylish products for kitchen, bath, home and garden, each Eva Solo product begins with an idea for an item that enhances life at home. Such good design results in beautiful products that are a joy to use and to own. Now…

Informing Innovation: An Interview with Udo Jansen, GfK Retail and Technology|GmbH

By Vicki Matranga Design Programs Coordinator GfK, founded in 1934 in Germany, is one of the largest global marketing research companies. With more than 13,000 employees in countries on every continent, GfK identifies and develops strategic opportunities; collects and analyzes large data sets and offers business solutions in many areas from consumer experiences to supply chain…

Informing Innovation: An Interview with Stephen Reily, Vibrant Nation

By Vicki Matranga Design Programs Coordinator Stephen Reily was a male marketer in his early 40s who was surprised to learn that his global consumer packaged goods clients were ignoring some of their most profitable customers: women 45+. After asking women how they interacted in a marketplace that ignored them, he built Vibrant Nation as an online platform for them to support…