<![CDATA[The Innovator's Sourcebook - Book Blog]]>Sat, 06 Aug 2011 00:16:05 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Saturday Sourcebook: The 20 best innovation links of the past two weeks]]>Sat, 06 Aug 2011 00:03:27 -0800http://www.innovatorssourcebook.com/1/post/2011/08/saturday-sourcebook-the-20-best-innovation-links-of-the-past-two-weeks3.htmlSaturday Sourcebook Volume #51-52.  Yes folks, today marks the one year anniversary of this weekly post.  While I have had to bundle a few weeks worth of links into one post sometimes, I haven't outright skipped any weeks of content in the last year.  That's 520 curated links for your brain to chew on.  I hope you have enjoyed reading the links as much as I have enjoyed finding them.

The point of this post is meant to be provide you with real world examples of the concepts I talk about in my book, The Innovator's Sourcebook.  If you've been following along, hopefully by now you see the patterns that emerge in new venture ideas.  If you have any thoughts on how to improve this post for the upcoming year, please send me your feedback.  As always, thank you so much for your support!  Now, back to your regularly scheduled link fest...


Week of 8/1/11:

The Most Basic Answer:
Springwise:  Ironed into clothes, nano-porous fabric tags neutralize body odor

Projection \ Exploiting Technology:
Fast Company:  Kinect Hacked For 3-D Scanning Of Archaeology Site

Reducing Transaction Costs:
PSFK:  Kinect Allows Users To Shop And Try On Clothes From Home

The Most Basic Answer:
Fast Company:  How A 21-Year-Old Design Student's Sleeping-Bag Coat Could Break The Cycle Of Homelessness

Exploiting Technology:
Springwise:  RFID technology helps farmers identify sick cows

Consumer Targeting:
PSFK:  Fresh Vending: A Quick And Healthy Snack Fix

Waste:
Cool Hunting: Ecotensil

Reducing Transaction Costs:
Fast Company:  This $1 Plastic Chip Can Diagnose HIV In 15 Minutes

Constraint Innovation:
Springwise:  Israeli designer creates five pairs of shoes from one

Waste:
Fast Company:  Heating Homes With Human Waste Is Saving Lives And Tigers In Nepal



Week of 7/25/11:

Substitutes:
PSFK:  Soluble Tea Pills Create An Instant Cup

Biomimicry \ Projection:
Fast Company:  Festo's Robotic SmartBird Wants To Join The Flock

Reducing Transaction Costs:
Springwise:  Video interviewing platform simplifies recruitment process

Combining Alternatives:
PSFK:  Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Twixt’ Reimagines Cinema With Directors As DJs

Projection \ New Knowledge:
Fast Company:  Bringing An Injured Sea Turtle Back To Life With Human Tissue Regeneration Technology

Reducing Transaction Costs \ Exploiting Technology:
Springwise:  Mobile app diagnoses malaria from a single drop of blood

Non-Innovators \ Product Design:
Cool Hunting:  Door Handle Redesigns

Constraint Innovation \ Product Design:
Yanko Design:  Foldaboat

Exploiting Technology:
Fast Company:  Toyota's New Steering Wheel Knows If You're Having A Heart Attack

The Most Basic Answer:
PSFK:  Hotel Trials Snore Absorption Room

]]><![CDATA[Saturday Soucebook: The 50 best innovation links of the past 5 weeks]]>Sat, 23 Jul 2011 21:08:01 -0800http://www.innovatorssourcebook.com/1/post/2011/07/saturday-soucebook-the-50-best-innovation-links-of-the-past-5-weeks.htmlSaturday Sourcebook volumes #45-50.  The bad news is that I haven't been able to do this as a weekly post in quite some time.  The good news is that you get 50 curated links at one time.  If you like what you see, hit that tweet button!

Week of 7/18/11:

Projection:
GigaOm:  Nautical Monkey: Like car sharing but for boats

Shifting Demographics:
TechCrunch:  Mi-Look: Cell Phone For The Elderly, Pedometer And Mobile Alarm System In One

Consumer Targeting / Consumer Appeal Levels:
Springwise:  Travel agency for dogs seeks out luxury canine-friendly accomodation

Complementary Products:
PSFK:  Flowers From Facebook: Turn Happy Birthday Wishes Into A Bouquet

Waste:
Springwise:  Concrete pipes transformed into eco-hotel in Mexico

Bases of Competition:
PSFK:  Japanese Vending Machine Dispenses EBooks

Product Design / Biomimicry:
DesignBoom:  Margus Triibmann: tulip fun fun and grazz bike racks

Bases of Competition:
Yanko Design:  Dentistry Gone Mobile

Exploiting Technology:
PSFK:  Smart Sunglasses Digitally Block The Sun’s Glare

Waste:
Neverware:  Neverware Virtual Desktop Appliance


Week of 7/11/11:

Combining Alternatives:
PSFK:  Floating ‘Botel’ With Detachable Cabins [Pics]

Combining Alternatives:
TechCrunch:  The Backpack Scooter Lets You Walk Then Ride

Substitutes:
Springwise:  Lightweight soil is designed for rooftop urban gardens

Reducing Transaction Costs:
TechCrunch:  Visually Launches To Automate The Making Of Infographics

Reducing Transaction Costs:
VentureBeat:  Pay on the go with a picture of your credit card

Projection:
TechCrunch:  Zipments: The Zaarly Of Courier Services Arrives In NYC And Chicago

Reducing Transaction Costs:
NYTimes:  Photofly Brings 3-D Models to the Masses

The Most Basic Answer:
TechCrunch:  Video: The Bicycle Wine Rack In Action

Complementary Products:
Springwise:  Minibar-in-a-box for sale to hotel guests

The Most Basic Answer:
TechCrunch:  CarabinerKey Is Part Carabiner, Part Key (Naturally)


Week of 7/4/11:

New Knowledge / Combining Alternatives:
PSFK:  Water Jetpack Lets You Fly Like James Bond

Shifting Demographics:
Fast Company:  The Pandora For Old People Taps Baby Boomer Music Market

Reducing Transaction Costs:
PSFK:  Drive Your Own Food Truck With Mobi Munch

Projection:
Springwise: Fractional boat ownership network offers increased simplicity and trust

Consumer Targeting:
PSFK:  Gucci And Fiat To Launch Luxury Car For Ladies

Waste:
Springwise:  Zero-waste grocery store will eliminate food packaging

New Knowledge:
PSFK:  Cheap, At-Home Spray Treatment Makes Clothing Germ-Free Forever

Exploiting Technology:
Springwise:  Photocatalytic clothing that can purify the air as you walk

Substitutes / The Most Basic Answer:
PSFK:  Gum That Doesn’t Stick To Anything

Projection:
TechCrunch:  Hotwire For Surgery


Week of 6/27/11:

Exploiting Technology:
Springwise:  T-shirt monitors sleep patterns of the wearer

Non-Innovators:
PSFK:  Your Grave Gets an Upgrade

Consumer Targeting:
Springwise:  In Prague, a new shopping mall caters for men

Substitutes:
NYTimes:  The Virtual Hotel Concierge

Substitutes:
Springwise:  Unlocking doors and granting access via smartphone

Waste:
PSFK:  Power Your Devices With Solar And Typing

Complementary Products:
Springwise:  Cane monitors users’ health as they walk

Substitutes / New Knowledge:
Fast Company:  How "Super Sand" Could Provide Drinking Water To Millions Of People

Projection:
PSFK:  ArtsThread Aims To Be The LinkedIn For Design

Combining Alternatives:
Springwise:  Berlin hotel re-creates the joy of camping, minus the rain and bugs


Week of 6/20/11:

New Knowledge:
TechCrunch:  Lytro Launches to Transform Photography with $50M in Venture Funds

Bases of Competition:
Fast Company:  This Vending Machine Will Give You (Live) Crabs

Copy Cats / Biomimicry:
NYTimes:  War Evolves With Drones, Some Tiny as Bugs

Combining Alternatives:
Fast Company:  Business Card-Encoded Wristbands

The Most Basic Answer:
A VC:  Inspiration (Capture Camera Click System)

Non-Innovators / Consumer Appeal Levels:
Fast Company:  The Sticky Business Of Popsicles

Projection:
PSFK:  Plum: Netflix For Baby Clothes

Waste:
Fast Company: This Touchy Tech Could Abolish Wall Warts

Bases of Competition:
Springwise:  Custom pizzas by mail with more than 70 possible toppings

Combining Alternatives
PSFK: Sound Charge T-Shirt Keeps Your Device At Full Power


]]><![CDATA[Saturday Sourcebook: The 30 best innovation links of the past three weeks]]>Sat, 18 Jun 2011 01:33:02 -0800http://www.innovatorssourcebook.com/1/post/2011/06/saturday-sourcebook-the-30-best-innovation-links-of-the-past-three-weeks.htmlSaturday Sourcebook volume #42-44.  If you enjoy this post, tell your friends! 

Week of 6/13/11:

Substitutes:
PSFK:  Wi-Fly: The World’s First Semiautomatic Public Transport Pod

Constraint Innovation:
TechCrunch: Household Air Conditioning Unit Doubles As Water Heater

Waste:
PSFK:  $4.5 Million Plane Parts Upcycled Into Luxury Desert Living

Substitutes / Exploiting Technology:
FastCompany:  Bike Helmet Of The Future Could Detect Traumatic Head Injuries

Combining Alternatives:
PSFK:  Construction Equipment Playground Opens In Las Vegas

Projection:
Springwise:  For fashionistas, sunglasses for short-term rent

Substitute:
PSFK:  Bike-In Movie Theater: The Drive-In 2.0 [Video]

Reducing Transaction Costs:
Springwise: All-in-one kits for growing vegetables at home

Substitutes / Exploiting Technology:
PSFK:  Touch Screen Steering Wheel Aims To Improve Driving Safety

Projection:
Springwise:  A ‘deal-a-day’ site for sports tickets


Week of 6/6/11:

Non-Innovators:
FastCompany:  Doorknobs Get An Upgrade

Reducing Transaction Costs:
Springwise:  Bus tickets purchased & presented via SMS

Support Systems:
NYTimes:  An iPod Dock Without the Docking

Projection:
Springwise:  Site connects authors & readers to crowdfund new books

Product Design:
PSFK:  Switch Your Look With Ray-Ban’s Interchangeable Lenses

Consumer Appeal Levels:
Springwise:  Riesling wine, reconceived & repackaged for modern tastes

Exploiting Technology:
PSFK:  3D-Printed Bikini Is Ready-To-Wear

Consumer Appeal Levels:
Springwise:  Guided tours by private jet cut travel time to a minimum

Substitutes:
Cool Hunting:  Sanomagic Wooden Bicycles

Reducing Transaction Costs:
Springwise:  Social payment site helps friends share expenses



Week of 5/30/11:

Support Systems:
PSFK:  Hasbro’s 3D iPhone Viewer

Constraint Innovation:
Springwise:  Spiral growing tubes enable farming in small spaces

Substitutes / Waste:
PSFK:  Grow Your Own Clothes [Video]

Specialization / Niche Markets:
Springwise:  Drink designed for air travelers, sold in customized quantities

Substitute:
PSFK:  The Revolutionary 100% Effective Birth Control For Men

Projection:
TechCrunch:  Kodesk Is Like An Airbnb For Office Space

Combining Alternatives:
PSFK:  BearHug: Wearable Deep Pressure Therapy

Exploiting Technology:
ReadWriteWeb:  ArtFinder Brings Recommendations and Image Recognition to the Art World

Waste:
PSFK:  Humanufactured Design: Road Signs Upcycled Into Home Furniture [Pics]

Reducing Transaction Costs:
Springwise:  In Brazil, insurer sells policies at newspaper stands

]]><![CDATA[Saturday Sourcebook: The 50 best innovation links of the past five weeks]]>Sat, 28 May 2011 22:51:49 -0800http://www.innovatorssourcebook.com/1/post/2011/05/saturday-sourcebook-the-50-best-innovation-links-of-the-past-five-weeks.htmlSaturday Sourcebook volume #37-41.  Wow, I apologize for slacking on the weekly post.  But, look on the bright side, I'm delivering you 50 inspiring links in one blog post.  It's Memorial Day weekend, so you've got the time to soak them all in.  Check it out and retweet!

Week of 5/23/11:

New Knowledge:
Fast Company:  Gel-Suspended Mushrooms Could Save Us From Starvation

Reducing Transaction Costs / Social Entrepreneurship:
PSFK:  British Inventor’s Spectacles Revolution For Africa

Specialization and Niche Markets:
TechCrunch:  Happy Toy Machine Allows You To Build Your Own Plush Toys

Projection:
PSFK:  GetAround: An Airbnb For Cars

Consumer Appeal Levels:
PSFK:  Subway Tries Out Upscale Cafe Concept [Pics]

Waste:
Springwise:  In Brazil, service rewards consumers for using less water

Projection:
PSFK:  LoveYourLarder: The Online Farmers Market

Complementary Products:
PSFK:  Ford Develops Car Seat That Monitors Your Heart [Video]

Projection:
TechCrunch:  Deja Is Flipboard For Video (And It’s Very Slick)

Exploiting Technology:
PSFK:  Wi-Fi Light Bulbs For Your Smart Home



Week of 5/16/11:

The Most Basic Answer:
Springwise:  Thermodynamic 'stones' help keep coffee at the right temperature

Consumer Targeting:
Fast Company:  Fly Like You're Rich With Social Flights (And Private Planes)

New Business Models:
TechCrunch:  From Business.com To Brighter, Jake Winebaum Introduces A DIY Dental Plan

Bases of Competition:
PSFK:  Crowdfunded Ad Space From LoudSauce

Projection / Support Systems:
Fast Company:  The Bulletproof Dog That Stormed Bin Laden's Lair

New Knowledge:
VentureBeat:  Volvo pushing for wireless electric car charging

Pure Profit Play:
PSFK:  Chameleon Lamp Changes Colors To Match Surroundings

Projection:
TechCrunch:  TurningArt Raises $750K To Be The Netflix For Artwork

New Business Models:
Springwise:  Social insurance company relies on communities to reduce premiums

Reducing Transaction Costs:
TechCrunch:  BioPro Takes DIY Approach To Biofuels



Week of 5/9/11:

Waste:
Fast Company:  Introducing The Self-Cleaning, Smog-Eating Building

The Most Basic Answer:
PSFK:  ‘Low-Annoyance’ Car Horns For New York’s Taxis

Support Systems:
Springwise:  Platform helps hotels build custom mobile apps

Sustainability:
PSFK:  Biodegradable Urn: New Life Through Death

Reducing Transaction Costs:
NYTimes:  The Kitchen-Table Industrialists

Complementary Products:
Springwise:  World’s first airport park opens in Amsterdam

New Knowledge:
Fast Company:  Foldable Device Screens, Coming Soon To Your Pocket

Specialization and Niche Markets:
Springwise:  Design-your-own skincare, including ingredients and concentrations

Exploiting Technology:
Fast Company:  Superphones Spot Infant Brain Injuries, Diagnose Malaria, Zap Mosquitoes

Reducing Transaction Costs:
ReadWriteWeb:  Android-Controlled Robots? Build Them Now With An Arduino-Based Development Kit



Week of 5/2/11:

Waste:
PSFK:  Scotland Toasts New Whisky-Powered Bioenergy Plant

Complementary Products:
Springwise:  A combination of books and cookies to keep kids sweet

Projection:
TechCrunch:  ‘FarmVille’ With Live Animals. No, Really.

Waste:
PSFK:  Fishing For Plastic To Save Our Seas

Reducing Transaction Costs:
Springwise:  Peer-to-peer currency takes banks out of the picture

Social Entrepreneurship:
PSFK:  New Cafe And Gift Boutique Supports Homeless And Low-Income Women In L.A.

Exploiting Technology:
Springwise:  GPS sensor monitors inhaler use to bring asthma under control

New Knowledge:
Fast Company:  World's Smallest Medical Camera Is Disposable, Too

Projection:
Springwise:  DIY platform enables fractional ownership of rarely used items

Exploiting Technology:
Springwise:  Restaurant tablet lets diners order, pay and play games from their table



Week of 4/26/11:

Combining Alternatives:
PSFK:  LEGO Helmet Adds Audio To Children’s Books

Reducing Transaction Costs:
Springwise:  Personal brewing device makes beer in 7 days

New Business Models:
Fast Company:  Fighting Water-Borne Disease In Africa, And Making Millions In The Process

Constraint Innovation:
Springwise:  Flexible condos can be reconfigured and resized

Waste:
PSFK:  Pantene Debuts Sugarcane-Based Packaging This Month

New Business Models:
Springwise:  Online hosiery store offers subscription-based deliveries

Projection:
Fast Company:  Introducing A Priceline For Live Events

Reducing Transaction Costs:
Springwise:  Website connects aspiring sports stars with professional agents

New Knowledge:
Fast Company:  The Backpack That Gives You X-Ray Vision

New Business Models:
Springwise:  For USD 60 a year, magazine delivers monthly works of art


]]><![CDATA[Branding Hacks: Volume 3]]>Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:07:38 -0800http://www.innovatorssourcebook.com/1/post/2011/04/branding-hacks-volume-3.html Volume #1 and #2 of Branding Hacks can be seen below for those of you who are just joining us.  For those of you who are caught up to speed, let’s get started with volume #3 of Branding Hacks.  Today we’re going to look at choosing a color scheme for your company.

At this point you should have a pretty solid idea of what your brand attributes might be and, hopefully, you have found a collection of pictures that visualize those attributes for your “brand board.”  Now, we can start diving into the practical application of these last two exercises.  The first thing I want to talk about is; color.

Unless you are the designer at your startup, choosing a color scheme for your company might be bit out of your comfort zone or something that you feel is best left up to someone else.  It’s also possible that, up until this point, you haven’t put much value on getting the color scheme right for your branding efforts.  But, now that you have a brand board (or have mine to reference below), I hope you can see how crucial color can be in the message that is projected from a picture, or collection of pictures.  If I were to change the glowing blue color of Apple’s iPod screen to brown, would it still look cutting-edge to you?  Doubtful.  The same goes for the rest of the images.  Color is not a trivial decision.  It either reinforces, or detracts from the message you are sending to consumers about your brand.

The good news is that I have a true hack for you when it comes to color.  You don’t need to know anything about it!  You just need your brand board and a link to a website called Kuler.  Kuler is an Adobe website completely devoted to the topic of color.  Sure, you could go learn about analogous colors, monochromatic colors, triads, etc. and embark on choosing colors on your own.  But, thanks to Adobe, you don’t need to.  Kuler does all the work for you. 

The first step in utilizing Kuler is to capture some of the colors that ended up on your brand board. The colors that ended up in the pictures you chose are there because they are representative of your brand attributes.  It only makes sense that we should be using those colors to represent your brand moving forward.  These are the colors that will ensure that you are projecting the exact message you desire to your customers. 

Capturing colors from your brand board can be done in any program that has an “eyedropper” tool (Adobe Creative Suite, etc), or by uploading your brand board image in the “Create” section of the Kuler website.  Once you have the image open or uploaded, you can use an eyedropper to grab a color and find its RGB, CMYK or hexadecimal color profile.  Once you have a profile, you can use it in the “Create” section of the Kuler website that I mentioned earlier.  The Create section of the website allows you to input your color profiles and take a look at the different color schemes that might be built around that color profile.  The various color scheme options are near the top center of the page and are as follows: analogous, monochromatic, triad, complementary, compound, shades, or custom.

The process of choosing the right base color from your brand board and then the right color scheme is iterative.  There is no right answer.  You might try out 10-20 different base colors from your brand board and cycle through the various color schemes for each until you find something you like.  The most important thing is that the color scheme you end up with feels like it is representative of your brand and brand attributes.  Having your color scheme in hand is going to ensure that all of the assets you create from here on out are both consistent with the other assets and consistent with the brand image you are trying to project. 

Below, I have continued on with the Wired Museum example from previous posts.  I have screen grab of the color scheme I chose to move forward with on that project.  One thing to note is that, during this project, I was not allowed to use Kuler.  Being at a design school, I had to learn about colors and how to choose them manually.  In any event, I think the example is OK, but the digital scans of the colors I chose from physical color chips are not perfect.  This is a good example of the trouble with maintaining consistency in your brand.  Something was lost in the colors when they were translated from the physical world to the digital world.  So, take them for what they are worth. If you have done everything digitally up to this point, you are in a great posi

Take some time this week to figure out a color scheme from your brand board.  As soon as you have that done, I will have volume #4 of Branding Hacks ready to go!

Wired Museum Color Scheme:

Picture

Adobe Kuler Website:

Picture
]]><![CDATA[Saturday Sourcebook: The 10 best innovation links of the week]]>Fri, 22 Apr 2011 22:10:05 -0800http://www.innovatorssourcebook.com/1/post/2011/04/saturday-sourcebook-the-10-best-innovation-links-of-the-week1.htmlSaturday Sourcebook, volume #36.  If you like this weekly post, tell somebody!  10 retweets of the link to this blog post and I will mark down the ebook version of The Innovator's Sourcebook by 50% for the entire week.  Enjoy!d

Week of 4/18/11

New Knowledge:
Fast Company:  Coming Soon: Genetically Modified, Malaria-Fighting Mosquitoes

Reducing Transaction Costs:
PSFK:  Tinkercad Makes 3D Printing Easy [Video]

Substitutes:
Gizmag: Laser igniters could spell the end for the humble spark plug

Exploiting Technology:
PSFK:  Washable RFID Tags Save Hotels Money

Reducing Transaction Costs:
Springwise:  Homemade meals delivered directly to students’ doors

Constraint Innovation:
Fast Company:  Can Harvesting Fog Bring Water To The Thirsty?

Consumer Appeal Levels:
PSFK:  Hate 3D Movies? Try Using New 2D Glasses

Projection:
TechCrunch:  Cardnap: The Hipmunk of Gift Cards Wants To Make Card Search A Breeze

Support Systems:
PSFK:  Guitar Embedded With LEDs To Assist Learning [Video]

Consumer Appeal Levels:
Fast Company:  Greasy, Humdrum Ballpark Food? Think Again.

]]><![CDATA[Saturday Sourcebook: The 10 best innovation links of the week]]>Sat, 16 Apr 2011 03:50:59 -0800http://www.innovatorssourcebook.com/1/post/2011/04/saturday-sourcebook-the-10-best-innovation-links-of-the-week.htmlSaturday Sourcebook, volume #35.  If you like this weekly post, tell somebody!  10 retweets of the link to this blog post and I will mark down the ebook version of The Innovator's Sourcebook by 50% for the entire week.  Enjoy!

Week of 4/11/11:

Substitutes / Waste:
Inhabitat:  Biodegradable Golf Ball Made from Lobster Shells

Projection:
PSFK:  24symbols Aims To Become The “Spotify For E-books”

Combining Alternatives:
Fast Company:  DARPA Designing Augmented Reality Goggles to Fight Friendly Fire

Constraint Innovation:
PSFK:  Bike Rack Concept Scales The Urban Heights

Substitutes / Bases of Competition:
Springwise: Brazilian video rental service distributes using USB drives

Non-Innovators:
PSFK:  A 3-D Running Track Defies Convention [Pics]

Substitutes:
PSFK:  Farming Goes Sunless With LED Greenhouses

Waste:
VentureBeat:  The future of lumber is … plastic?

Reducing Transaction Costs:
Springwise:  Connecting buyers and sellers of agricultural goods & services

Consumer Appeal Levels:
Springwise:  New Perfume Line Based On Blood Type


]]><![CDATA[Branding Hacks: Volume 2]]>Tue, 12 Apr 2011 23:45:35 -0800http://www.innovatorssourcebook.com/1/post/2011/04/branding-hacks-volume-2.htmlIf you haven’t had the chance to read Volume #1 of the Branding Hacks series, go check it out!  If you have had the chance, then you hopefully have some brand attributes that you are looking to put to use.  Great!  Let’s get started.

Hopefully the last exercise helped you to hone in on the essence of your brand.   The next few steps in the branding process will be likely reveal whether the attributes you have chosen are going to work, or whether you need to tweak your attributes along the way.  There is not a right answer here.   Your brand attributes can be shaped and refined over the course of the next few exercises.  It is only when you start finalizing assets for your new company that you have truly committed to a set of attributes.  If you weren’t sure of the value of this exercise at the outset, imagine that you hadn’t thought through this step consciously.  Every asset (logo, website, colors, fonts, partnerships, etc.) that you would have chosen for your business would be communicating something to your customers about your brand.  If you weren’t deliberate about what you were trying to communicate about your brand, what message would they have taken away?  There is a good chance that the intended message and received message were two different things altogether.

Anyways, let’s get on to the next step.  The next piece of the puzzle is to create a “brand board.”  The brand board is essentially a collection of pictures that represent each of the brand attributes that you have chosen.  Targeting 3-5 pictures for each attribute should give you a great start.  For each attribute, ask yourself; what does “attribute X” look like, or what other things in the world are “attribute X.”   As you find pictures, paste them up on your “board.” Although it could be a physical board, it is likely that a digital version is more practical for most of you.  Any program where you can paste multiple photos into a document will work.  In the process, you will start to form a visual picture of what your brand might look and feel like.  As you find pictures that you feel embody an attribute, you are going to start seeing elements (colors, textures, graphic styles, etc.) that you can use to inspire your company’s branded assets.  Creating a brand board will give you and your team something to guide you as you make branding decisions and ensure that the message you are communicating is the one you meant to convey.

So, over the next week or so, start collecting pictures that you think represent your brand attributes and get your digital brand board started.  (Google Images and Flickr are great places to start.) At that point, I should have the next volume of Branding Hacks ready to go and we can move on to the next step in branding your new company.   Like last week, I have included an example below to help you understand the concept of a brand board a little better.  The brand board pictured is one I created for the fictional Wired Museum project that was detailed in last week’s edition of Branding Hacks.  Enjoy!


Wired Museum Brand Board:

Attributes:  Cutting-Edge, Sensory, Retrospective


Picture
  
Picture
  
Picture
]]><![CDATA[Saturday Sourcebook: The 10 best innovation links of the past week]]>Sat, 09 Apr 2011 00:22:10 -0800http://www.innovatorssourcebook.com/1/post/2011/04/saturday-sourcebook-the-10-best-innovation-links-of-the-past-week17.htmlSaturday Sourcebook, volume #34.  If you like this weekly post, tell somebody!  10 retweets of the link to this blog post and I will mark down the ebook version of The Innovator's Sourcebook by 50% for the entire week.  Enjoy!

Week of 4/4/11

New Knowledge:
Fast Company:  Nanoparticle Rubber Stamps Could Help Heal Wounds

Waste:
Springwise:  Old billboards repurposed into unique placemats

Reducing Transaction Costs:
TechCrunch:  Too Lazy To Count Calories? Now You Can Just Take A Picture Of Your Meal

Projection:
Springwise:  Pay-as-you-go easyGyms offer no-frills workouts

Waste:
PSFK:  3D Printed Sawdust Turns Refuse Into Art

Specialization and Niche Markets:
Springwise:  Immersive art history lessons for kids, dress-up included

Projection:
VentureBeat:  Rome2Rio launches travel search with planes, trains, and automobiles

Waste / Substitute:
Springwise:  From Japan, gardening in reused bottle caps

Substitute / Projection:
PSFK:  Holocube Streamlines The Photo Booth Experience With A Snapshot ATM

Bases of Competition:
Springwise:  Interactive t-shirts narrate a 'book of the world'


]]><![CDATA[Saturday Sourcebook: The 40 best innovation links of the past month]]>Sat, 02 Apr 2011 16:40:44 -0800http://www.innovatorssourcebook.com/1/post/2011/04/saturday-sourcebook-the-40-best-innovation-links-of-the-past-month.htmlSaturday Sourcebook, volume #30, #31, #32 and #33.  If you like this weekly post, tell somebody!  10 retweets of the link to this blog post and I will mark down the ebook version of The Innovator's Sourcebook by 50% for the entire week.  Enjoy!

Week of 3/28/11

Biomimicry / New Knowledge:
PSFK:  MIT Scientists Successfully Mimic Photosynthesis

Waste / Substitutes:
Fast Company:  How Skis Made From Ground-Up Animal Parts Help You Shred Sustainably

Exploiting Technology:
Springwise:  Helping home chicken farmers manage & share their eggs

Complementary Products:
ReadWriteWeb:  Watch, Shoot, & Edit Videos with Vimeo's New (Free) iPhone App

New Business Model / Social Innovation:
Springwise: Free mobile banking network launched in South Africa

Projection:
ReadWriteWeb:  Sparkbuy Introduces a "Kayak for Gadgets"

Exploiting Technology:
Fast Company:  Who You Gonna Call? FireBusters: The Electrical Blaster-Equipped Firemen

Product Design:
Springwise:  New building block design serves multiple purposes

Projection:
TechCrunch:  Heartsy Is Groupon For Etsy

Waste / Substitute:
PSFK:  Simple Lunch Innovation [Pic]


Week of 3/21/11

Combining Alternatives:
PSFK:  Collapsible Shopping Cart Bicycle Makes Errands A Breeze

Biomimicry / Projection:
Fast Company:  It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's ... a New Seagull-Like Robot Spy Drone!

New Knowledge / Combining Alternatives:
PSFK:  Internet-Enabled Contact Lense Could Bring You Eye To Eye With Web Surfing

Shifting Demographics:
Springwise:  In Florida, Dell laptop designed specifically for Spanish-speaking users

The Most Basic Answer:
PSFK: New Product Caters To Pen Chewing Compulsion [Pics]

Waste / Sustainability:
Fast Company: Green Hogs: The U.S.'s First Zero-Waste Pork Processing Plant Coming Soon

Reducing Transaction Costs / New Business Models:
PSFK:  Pop-Up Truck Dealership Housed in Containers

New Knowledge:
Fast Company:  This Lens Takes Pictures From Nine Angles at Once to Make a 3-D Image

New Knowledge:
PSFK:  Automated Chip Can Quickly Diagnose HIV And TB

Waste:
PSFK:  Recycling Plant Sorts The Plastic From The Trash


Week of 3/14/11

Support Systems:
PSFK: A Multimedia 911 Emergency Service In Chicago

Reducing Transaction Costs / New Business Model:
Springwise:  HolidayCrowd lets travel agents compete for consumers' business

Substitutes / Waste:
PSFK:  Pepsi Reveals World’s First 100% Plant-Based Bottle

Exploiting Technology:
VentureBeat:  Laser beam uses graphics chip to identify and zap mosquitoes

Waste:
Springwise:  Schools constructed from discarded plastic bottles

Being Trendy:
VentureBeat:  9 emerging minitrends to watch

Projection / New Knowledge:
PSFK:  DIY Anatomy Enters New Territory With 3D Printed Bones

Waste / Sustainability:
Fast Company:  How to Make Live Fish Transportation Sustainable

Substitutes / New Business Models:
PSFK:  The supermarket growing food on its roof

Substitute:
Springwise:  Literary magazine published exclusively in audio form


Week of 3/7/11

Waste / Sustainability:
PSFK:  Upcycled Roof Shingles Made Of Old Tires

New Business Models:
TechCrunch:  YC-Funded Earbits Brings A Twist To Music Startups: Online Radio That Lets Bands Pay For Playtime

Exploiting Technology:
PSFK:  NEC’s Object Recognition Technology Identifies Fruit Origins

Combining Alternatives:
Springwise: Dutch company takes pop-up dining to the great outdoors

Product Design:
PSFK: The New Heinz Ketchup Packet: Design Thinking For The Masses

Reducing Transaction Costs / New Business Models:
Springwise: Virtual portal gives patients remote access to healthcare services

Support Systems:
Fast Company:  Exoskeletal Arm Gives Everyday Laborers Superhuman Strength, Endurance

The Most Basic Answer:
David Airey:  Universal Wrapping Paper

Projection:
TechCrunch: Pawsley Aims to Become the Facebook, And Groupon, For Dogs

Support Systems:
Springwise:  Buying drinks for friends via email, SMS or Facebook ]]>