What?

Method Design Lab (MDL) is a business accelerator aimed at driving design-led innovation. The new partnership is between CSM and Method, a world-class innovation and design consultancy.

Why?

Simply to develop great ideas from CSM students and graduates.

When?

MDL will be scouring this months graduate degree shows for those groundbreaking ideas. It’s a busy time so make sure to submit your ideas no later than June 28, 2011. Each year up to 20 concepts will be developed with investments ranging up to $500,000.

Where?

For more information visit the MDL site: www.methoddesignlab.com.
For submission details email: i2i@csm.arts.ac.uk.

MA Innovation Management has left the studio to promote their upcoming degree show Create | Destroy | Innovate.

Difficult to miss, a sea of pink has washed over London with the launch of a guerilla campaign from MA Innovation Management. Donned in neon attire, with reflective signage and eye-popping stickers, these MA students are on a mission to find out what the world would create, destroy or innovate if given the opportunity.

Interacting not only with people on the street, the pink flash has also invaded organisations and agencies like Sense Worldwide, Brothers and Sisters, London Design Festival, Hill & Knowlton and BBH.

Watch out for more pink in the week to come, especially if you are in the Old Street or Clerkenwell areas.

• For more information about the upcoming events visit www.createdestroyinnovate.co.uk
• Follow on Twitter @CSMmaim and to see post-coverage of these activities search #WatchOutforPink.

Ideas worth spreading

Central Saint Martins MA Communication Design and MA Innovation Management students are proud to be hosting the international speakers event TEDx at the brand new Kings Cross campus in March 2012.

The theme selected for the conference is ‘Emergence’:

‘Our world is no longer easily compartmentalized. Archetypes and predictable stereotypes no longer reflect our world, and these ideals can no longer be used as a shortcut to understanding a global culture and the people in it. Emergence theories suggest that we must study each individual, each detail, each small space in order to understand a topic, group or individual. In short: systems of order that govern and explain our world are becoming outmoded, and a new shift in order is emerging. In reaction to this shift, we would like to host an event that allows experts from different disciplines to engage with Emergence, investigating how spontaneous order, self organization, complex patterns, chaos and their affect on the world society will shape the future of order for decades to come.’

The event will host speakers with varied perspectives from design, political, social and third sector backgrounds, new voices in sociology and anthropology, as well as those involved in new media behaviours, gaming and the often tumultuous private sector.

A limited amount of 100 guests will be able to attend TEDxCentralSaintMartins. Information on how to attend will be released in the near future.

TEDx is a program of local, self- organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event.

Contact information: e.salonen1@csm.arts.ac.uk, a.peplinski2@csm.arts.ac.uk or m.smith44@csm.arts.ac.uk

Visit:
- More on TEDx
- MA Innovation Management course page
- MA Communication Design course page

MA Innovation Management students Eri Tsustumi and Emma Berg write: year 1 students showcased their recent work on Social Innovation Monday 23rd May 2011 in an exhibition celebrating their collaboration with UK Sport and the Beckwith International Leadership Development (BILD) organization. Students were challenged to create innovative frameworks to aid BILD in creating youth leadership through sport in Ghana.

Students from MA Innovation Management collaborated with students from the University of Ghana (Accra) and University of Development Studies (Tamale) to create solutions for locally sourced, sustainable sport equipment across both urban and rural regions of Ghana, enabling the youth to enjoy sport, and at the same time build leadership skills within the BILD Ghana programme.

Monday’s celebration allowed students to present their concepts to UK Sport and BILD members, exchanging ideas to make an impact on youth leadership. The MA Innovation Management outcomes were received with positive feedback from UK Sport and BILD; some of the innovative outcomes will be prototyped and tested by BILD trainers this summer in Ghana.

Visit the MA Innovation Management course page

Each day a new idea to shake-up convention, unlock new business opportunities or make a better society.

As part of MA Innovation Management’s Create | Destroy | Innovate degree show, 29 graduate projects are being shared with the world via Twitter. Each day brings one new project into discussion, with tasters already including innovation opportunities for fashion, enterprise management, retail, real estate and finance.

There’s been chatter about how infographics can aid the sustainability movement, debate about the objectives of innovation and strategies for cross-cultural entrepreneurial success. As we leap into June, nearly 20 more ideas are to come, so follow MA Innovation Management at http://twitter.com/CSMmaim.

All 29 projects will be exhibited in the Innovation Centre during Central Saint Martin’s Degree Show Week, 20 to 23 June.

Find out more about MA Innovation Management: Create | Destroy | Innovate.

Reinventing the Racing Silks Pictures copyright: Hugh Routledge

Henry Griffin, of BA (Hons) Graphic Design has hit the jackpot by becoming the first person to design revolutionary new colours for jockeys. Racing for Change announced Henry as the winner of their competition on Wednesday evening at a special event held at the CSM Innovation Centre. Henry’s designs will be made into shirts and caps to be worn by jockeys in the first race at Ascot on July 9.

Henry says:

“I’m proud and delighted that my designs have been chosen to be worn in the race at Ascot in July. The colours have to be vibrant and easily identifiable by the crowd, so I made the fruits and symbols on the silks as bold as possible.”

Rod Street, Chief Executive of Racing Enterprises Limited, added:

“Each of the designs presented by the students have been outstanding in their own, very unique way, and we’ve spent weeks eagerly looking through the students’ work. They’ve well and truly earned their Central Saint Martins reputation on this occasion!”

Two runners-up have also been named as duo Jessica Hall and Ella de Weijers, whose concept offered a humorous take on Lucky Charms, and Krista Radoeva, whose designs were influenced by modern art movements.
Competition winner Henry Griffin pictured with legendary horseracing commentator, Sir Peter O’Sullevan.

In an effort to bring jockeys’ attire into the 21st century, Racing for Change – an initiative set up to broaden the appeal of horse racing – has commissioned a series of new innovative designs from BA Graphic Design students at Central Saint Martins.

The traditional coloured diamonds, stripes, chevrons and circles used on racing silks have been replaced by an array of eye-catching modern designs. A shortlist of 13 finalists has been announced and their amazing work, along with work from all students who participated in the challenge, will be shown at a public exhibition at the CSM Innovation Centre from 19-20 May. Judges will be choosing one winner, whose designs will be worn by the country’s top jockeys in a race at the country’s premier racecourse, Ascot, on 9 July 2011.

Rod Street, Chief Executive of Racing for Change said:

“Students who took part weren’t constrained by the current shapes and colours, but were expected to come up with striking designs that would communicate to punters, race goers and TV viewers.

“The students spent a day at the races and went away to design their racing silks for the 21st Century, resulting in some hugely impressive work produced to date.”

For more information visit www.lovetheraces.com

Now in its 5th year, CSM Innovation in conjunction with Clarion Events is offering the opportunity for students and graduates to showcase their work at an interior, giftware and homeware trade show, Pulse London, 5 – 7 June 2011.

It is a great opportunity to launch and sell their works and expand business contacts directly with both major and independent retailers from all over Europe. Last year, the buyers included Liberty, House of Fraser, Urban Outfitters and John Lewis.

“My buying team and I visited Pulse to order new lines from existing suppliers as well as to find new suppliers. We found some exciting new product at the show – particularly in the Launchpad area. This area provides Pulse with a fantastic point of difference over other UK trade shows and makes it a must attend event.”

Geraldine James, Buying Manager, Home, Selfridges

Products can include:

• Interior accessories
• Soft furnishings
• Lighting
• Glass, ceramics, jewellery
• Fashion accessories
• Gifts
• Stationery
• Tabletop
• Frames, pictures, prints

Download the application form and submit it to peichin@ecca-london.org by 15th May 2011, 5pm.

For more information, visit: www.pulse-london.com

Livingstone’s Medicine Chest. Courtesy of Wellcome Library, London

We are excited to announce First Time Out, a new collaboration across five London art institutes – the Horniman Museum, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Natural History Museum, Science Museum and Wellcome Collection, coordinated by Caterina Albano at Artakt, Central Saint Martins.

Each organization was asked to select one previously unseen artefact from their archives and display it for the first time. After six weeks each object moves around to a different institution and is displayed with a new label, written by the curatorial team at its host venue, allowing millions of visitors across the five institutions to see how different experts interpret the same object.

First Time Out runs until 21 August 2011.

Visit:
- First Time Out
- Artakt

Central Saint Martins has teamed up with Method to launch a business accelerator that will drive design-led innovation and support UK economic growth. The new partnership aims to bring up to 20 new British innovations to market each year!

Method is a leading global design and innovation consultancy based in San Francisco. The venture is going to bring a radical new approach to developing ideas focusing on world class, design-centric products, services and companies.

Kevin Farnham, Chief Executive of Method, said:

We’re willing to invest the expertise and resources to build the brands, products and services that will shape our future. We recognise that London is a hotbed of new ideas and creativity and Method Design Lab is focused wholly on fulfilling the potential of that.

Professor Jane Rapley OBE, Head of College, CSM said:

“Innovation is at the core of what we do at Central Saint Martins. Our students are some of the world’s most creative, dynamic and ambitious. Through our partnership with Method we will not only uncover many ideas that may never have seen the light of day but we will be able to develop, improve and commercialise them in a way that was not possible before. There is no reason why the UK should not produce the next Facebook, Google or Apple.”

More information:
- Reuters video: Silicon Valley taps UK design talent (YouTube)
- Method Design Lab
- Method Design Lab at CSM