Method’s Ted Booth – Principal and Managing Director of Method’s NY office – recently presented at the RDV_Design conference in Montreal, Canada. Hosted by Infopresse and Grafika, RDV_Design conference is a day of inspiration, case studies, and discussions of all forms of design. Ted was the opening keynote for the conference, presenting a thought-provoking perspective on experience design based on his recent Method 10×10, “11 Rules For Great UX Design, Adapted From An Original Mad Man.” The article draws on timeless principles from David Ogilvy’s book, “Confessions of an Advertising Man.” 50 years after it was published, Ted points out the similarities between designing great, contemporary user experiences and creating great campaigns.

Ted explains: “I put together a talk about the convergence of product development and advertising. In a digital world, there is brand engagement and connection throughout a product experience. It is no longer a top-down message, but instead multiple conversations and messaging touchpoints. What is a product? The product and the marketing used to be separate, and now they are beginning to overlap. Instead of creating a pure message, you create an experience that someone uses.”

As we start moving from a world where trends in advertising are changing, the role of digital is becoming increasingly important. Budgets are now shifting from traditional advertising into digital mediums. In a 2013 survey by Econsultancy, 55% of marketers globally are planning on increasing their digital marketing budgets this year, with 39% of them planning on reallocating existing budgets toward digital channels.

Ted reminds us that the Mad Men days are over. In those days, “the way that you got a message out and created an impression was through traditional media: print, television, and radio…but all three are starting to change. The publishing world is not what it was. Meanwhile, everything is being replaced by all these screens.”

The impact this has on both marketers and product designers is massive. It also opens exciting new opportunities to engage with audiences in a more meaningful, contextual, and rich way. Ted’s presentation to RDV_Design challenges the audience to collaborate between disciplines, as product and marketing teams are both responsible for creating a memorable and positive experience for customers.

View Ted’s presentation deck to RDV_Design below.

We are excited to announce that the film is going to be screened! On June 25th,Bassett & Partners and Astro Studios will be hosting a one-night only Connecting screening in San Francisco, and a panel that will bring interactive and industrial design to center stage. The two firms are organizing a special design-centered discussion inspired by the documentary that delves into future projections for connectivity and interaction design.

Afterwards, the Q&A panel discussion will feature four prominent figures in the industry: Carl Ledbetter of XBOX, Aaron Higgins of Native instruments, Steve Mason of Obscura Digital, and Method’s former Principal, Robert Murdock, now a Creative Lead at Google Glass.

The event is a must attend for all those in the design community, especially those interested in the growing impact of interaction design. We hope to see you there!

RSVP on Eventbrite
Where: Astro Studios | 348 6th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103
When: Tuesday, June 25 from 7:00 – 10:00 PM

Watch the full documentary below

Using humor in a marketing campaign is something a lot of companies want to do, but few can actually pull off. Done smartly, you can end up with Kmart’s viral ‘Ship My Pants‘ commercial. Miss the mark and risk widespread criticism and a spot on various news blogs’ “Worst Campaign Ads of the Year” lists.

Our friend Baratunde Thurston, former digital director of The Onion, comedian, and New York Times Best Selling Author, knows a lot about this. He’s the co-found of Cultivated Wit, a company that combines comedy, tech, media, and strategy to “make the tech space more creative and the creative world more innovative.”

Baratunde tackled the topic of humor in marketing in a recent blog post on the Cultivated Wit Blog titled, “PBS’s Embrace Of Comedy In Marketing Proves We Know Everything“.

In the post, Baratunde explores the hesitation business leaders have when deciding to use humor in their own marketing, and the insights he’s learned from his own experiences. Baratunde draws directly from this past SXSW, when he teamed up with Method’s Paul Valerio to discuss what people charged with “innovation” can learn from standup comedy. The principles Baratunde outlines are directly influenced by Paul’s original 10×10 piece. Read the full blog post at Cultivated Wit!

Read the original 10×10 piece that inspired the SXSW event, “What’s so funny about innovation?“

Method is happy to announce that we received the Interactive Media Awards Best in Class award in the category of ‘Architecture & Interior Design,’ for our work with NBBJ on their website redesign and launch!

The Best in Class award is the highest honor in the IMA Awards and represents the very best in planning, execution, and overall professionalism. Working with our client, NBBJ, a successful international architecture firm, we helped re-envision their brand and identity, resulting in a new, strong online presence. Method collaborated with NBBJ to implement an effective digital strategy to effectively communicate the firm’s architectural expertise. With a clean and sharp design custom-tailored to displaying NBBJ’s portfolio, we envisioned and designed a visually stimulating layout to convey NBBJ’s work.

We enjoyed working with NBBJ to launch a brand new platform to help with workflow, providing easily accessible information to clients and communicating brand vision and strengths.

Check out the award-winning website at NBBJ.com

Method held the kick-off studio session for the conference with a workshop that aimed to get attendees taking ideas to action. We led participants through a 90-minute Lightning Brand Hackathon, working through potential design opportunities for IKEA and Airbnb.

We quickly broke attendees up into groups of 7-8 to dive deep into their assigned brand. The goal was to develop uniquely branded product and service experiences that engage users in ways that are authentic to the brand and true to the core brand values. Teams were assigned either IKEA or Airbnb to explore. The final deliverable was a one-minute elevator pitch for that product or service that the team might deliver to the CEO.

The first part of the workshop focused on articulating attributes using various stimuli to generate both literal and abstract ways of expressing the brand. Then, each team built on specific product or service extension opportunities and evaluated them against the brand attributes to determine if the proposed solution was on point with the brand.

The selected solution was storyboarded and then summarized for each group to present. In 90 minutes, teams generated product or service solutions around bespoke furniture and food offerings such as the official IKEA furniture hacking community, IKEAhacks.org, an interactive diary of a Airbnb host that gives visitors “keys to my life,” and a network of “local chefs” that invite traveling guests for authentic, homemade meals.

After the kick-off workshop at Method, myself and our attendees headed over to the conference, held at the Lincoln Center. Throughout the duration of the two days, the conference maintained an incredible energy with thought-provoking discussions around how to become more action-oriented and persevere through the creative process. Experts from all walks of life shared their experiences: social/behavioral psychologists, startup founders, brand gurus, authors, educators, and designers.

After it was all over, three major takeaways emerged that resonated strongly with me.

1: Feedback is important for more than just building a good product. It helps you persevere through the darkest times.

For many speakers what kept them motivated during challenging times wasn’t a blind passion, but a constant remainder that their work was having some, big or small, impact in the world. And the best way to see that was by getting feedback from users.

Jane ni Dhulchaointigh, the founder and inventor of sugru, talked about staying motivated through a rough patch by sending samples to her friends and family and requesting that they send in a photo of themselves using the product. Seeing her product in action gave her a sense of pride, joy and responsibility to get the final product out to the world.

2: It’s not about building awesome products, but building products that help people be more awesome.

Every product idea is born out of a need, superficial or deep. But sometimes the vision for addressing that need can get blurred by the pursuit of perfection during the creative process. The result is a product that makes sense to the one who created it, but not to those who would benefit the most by using it.

For example, Ramit Sethi, author of a NY Times bestseller and a dedicated personal finance blog, talked about a personal investment guide offered by the Wall Street Journal. Although written by investing experts, the guide was way too complex to the average American. Because there was a mismatch between what the creator considered as an “awesome product” and what the user needed to become more awesome in managing their money, the product became irrelevant for many.

3: Being action-oriented is less about tactics, and more about the mindset.

The topic of fear came up consistently throughout the conference. Mainly, creators talking about the importance of looking beyond users’ needs to gain a deep understanding of their fears and concerns.

For example, Josh Reich, CEO and co-founder of Simple, an intuitive digital personal banking solution, had observed that people think they need complexity in tools that help manage their finances. But after digging deeper into the users’ minds, he realized that their fears boil down to simpler things like carelessly spending way more than they can afford. To address the latter, Simple incorporated a feature that tells the user how much money it is “safe” for them to spend at a given point in time.

The 99U Conference was a valuable escape from everyday life to get fully immersed in thoughts that inspire reflection and realization. I left both inspired and ready to bring these learnings to practice at Method.

In our London studio, we decided to dedicate a Method PLAY to exploring this technique.

The results were beautiful– from alphabets to beautiful patterns, ghostly pictures to creating a scene out of a superhero movie. It was an interesting approach to creativity photography, which required a bit of trial and error and a rather meticulously calculated formula of timing, camera exposure, and the positioning of the light source in space.

At the expense of looking a bit ridiculous waving tiny LED’s in the air – the excitement of seeing the results was very much worth it. Every image was a surprise and no two images were the same. It was probably one of the most fun and engaging Method PLAY sessions we have had so far.

Check out some of the results below!

A few weeks ago, we congratulated our friends at Whole Foods Market for their James Beard Foundation Awards nomination. Dark Rye, their new online magazine, had been nominated as a 2013 Best Group Food Blog, alongside long-running food blogs, Easter National and Grub Street New York.

This week we’re happy to announce that Dark Rye is the 2013 winner for Best Group Food Blog!

Established in 1990, the James Beard Foundation Awards is one of the preeminent recognitions, awarding culinary professionals for excellence in their fields. To win a James Beard Award is an enormous achievement and honor for any culinary professional, and we couldn’t be happier for Dark Rye!

Dark Rye is an online magazine that explores food, art, health, and sustainable living. Read the latest edition of the award-winning Dark Rye: www.darkrye.com

IEEE is the world’s largest professional association for the advancement of technology, bringing innovators and leaders together with the goal of “advancing technology for humanity.” Their flagship magazine, IEEE Spectrum, is an award-winning source for technology news and analysis and is highly regarded by the science and engineering professions.

Today, IEEE Spectrum announces the relaunch of their website, designed by Method. The website is responsive and allows visitors to view and browse the site on multiple devices – whether they are viewing on TV, desktop monitor, laptop, or tablet. Viewers are offered enhanced ways to explore and discover IEEE Spectrum’s vast library of content, as well as a revamped reading experience, making IEEE Spectrum a recognized destination for leading technology content.

Additionally, we developed a new identity for IEEE Spectrum, which represents the brand’s namesake, “Spectrum,” while also communicating their formative voice in the technology industries.

Read the full case study behind Method’s approach to designing IEEE Spectrum’s new brand identity and website.

Read about all of the enhancements IEEE Spectrum has rolled out in this article about the details on the redesign.

We’re particularly excited about the new digital magazine as it positions IEEE Spectrum as a content leader in the science and engineering fields. Check out some of our favorite articles on the new website, on whichever device you prefer!

What Robots Can Learn from Art, and What Artists Can Learn From Robots
Hacking Pacemakers
Smart Paper makes Traceable Money Possible

Martin Venezky is a creative force. Best known for his collages and experimental typography, his work has appeared in Wired and The New York Times, as well as countless books. In 1997, he was listed among ID magazine’s “ID40″ list of influential designers, and in 2001, an exhibit of his collected design work was held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Additionally, Martin is an Associate Professor at CCA in the Graduate Design and Graphic design programs.

He’s also the mastermind behind Appetite Engineers, an internationally recognized design firm, which just happens to be located a few blocks from Method’s San Francisco studio!

A small group of us had the pleasure of visiting Martin in his studio, which is less of a typical workspace and more of a mini wonderland for discovery and play. Every inch of wall space is covered by photo collages. Children’s toys line the book shelves and scraps of paper are everywhere. Martin explains that he likes his materials on hand should inspiration strike. As he took us through his work, his unique process, which centers around deeply engaging with the content as a means to guide design, inspired our group at every turn.

“Hearing Martin talk about his process is always so inspiring for me. His work reminds me that play is an important part of the design process. He has a unique combination of rigor and openness to chance that, in my opinion, lends itself to discovering solutions that otherwise would have gone uncovered.” – Melissa Martin, Lead Interaction Designer

“Getting the walkthrough of Martin’s painstakingly detailed and manual creation process was a breath of fresh air, to know that powerful designs can be created with everyday objects like cutouts from The Yellow Pages and regular old tape. It was also inspiring to get Martin’s POV around creativity and art, that it’s less about accuracy and perfection and more about decision and mark making, which everyone is capable of doing.” – James Lee, Insights

“It was really interesting to see someone applying traditional cut and paste graphic design while intentionally limiting the involvement of software in his process. The clusters of toys and collectables in Martin’s studio came together to create the entire space as curated collection of ephemera. This idea mirrored his work in the way that small  groupings of type and graphical elements created the sum of the entire design in his work pieces.” – Mark Roudebush, Interaction Design Lead

“Martin’s work (and studio) was amazing! From super detailed book design and typography to giant posters to hand cut paper sculptures to photo collages, he does everything. And does it well. And has fun doing it! Tons of fun and food for creative thought.” – Ryan Gates, Design Technologist

Visit Appetite Engineers.

Leading global digital creatives and strategists from will be joining London’s tech community at this year’s Digital Shoreditch Festival May 20th – 31st, for a series of interactive exhibtions, showcases and presentations around the future of innovation and business.

Taking place at a number of premiere venues in London, the conference will be dedicating each day during the full festival week to discussing and debating various issues affecting companies and brands worldwide.

Method Principal David Eveleigh-Evans is scheduled to present on Digital Shoreditch’s Future Brands day on May 22nd alongside a diverse lineup of leading product innovators to explore opportunities and threats facing communications and advertising for the world’s most forward looking and successful brands.

Join us and the hundreds of design and tech innovators at Digital Shoreditch! Register for Digital Shoreditch before April 15 for 50% off!