The American Presidency Project (americanpresidency.org), was established in 1999 as a collaboration between John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

If you’re the stereotypical “technical” or “business” founder of a startup, partnering with a designer co-founder can give you an important advantage and help you achieve early success. Let’s talk about the characteristics of designer founders, scenarios where design is particularly important, and how to spot designer founders in the wild.

Once the supporter of entrepreneurship, there is a shift toward designer as entrepreneur in tech startups and other business initiatives. I find design thinking lacking as a supposedly all-inclusive capsule of design innovation. However, I do find that is serves as a chewable tablet to identify some of the strategies used by design for innovation.

Richard Saul Wurman founded and chaired the TED  and TEDMED conferences from 1984-2002. They are now the preeminent venues for the exchange of the most progressive and challenging technology, entertainment and design ideas. If you were wondering what Mr. Wurman was up to for the past nine years, he has not been resting on his laurels. Wurman is currently the creator and director of a brand new conference called WWW.WWW, a celebration of improvised conversation, or what he calls “Intellectual Jazz.”According to Wurman there are NO presentations, No Schedule and No Expensive Tickets. “Simply pairings of amazingly interesting individuals prompted by a question, generating a conversation. For 10 to 50 minutes.”

Tumblr Tag Clouds A free tag cloud generator for Tumblr

Two years ago Flores did just that. Carrying only a camera and a backpack with a change of clothes,Flores made a journey of more than 5,000 miles, mostly on foot, from Ecuador to North Carolina, tracing the route many immigrants take to reach the United States and the promise of a better life.

Along his journey, which he called the “walk of the immigrants,” Flores took more than 20,000 photographs documenting both the breathtaking beauty and heartbreaking poverty of the region. On his return to the United States, Flores began displaying his photos and giving talks to raise awareness of immigration issues. And he set aside money from the sale of prints to support an elementary school in his mother’s hometown of Atencingo, Mexico.

From the beginning, the response to his journey was remarkable. Within weeks of returning to campus, Flores was invited to give the keynote address at the 15th annual Latino Diamante Awards, presented with a leadership award at NC State and invited to give a two-hour lecture at rival UNC-Chapel Hill for Hispanic Heritage Month. He was a featured speaker at the first TEDxNCSU event andappeared on the American Public Media interview program, “The Story,” heard on more than 100 public radio stations.

Flores graduates in May with a degree in graphic design. After completing two summer courses, he will also earn a degree in business marketing.

• http://refiningthelines.com/
• http://iamsaul.com
• http://www.ncsu.edu/features/2012/05/think-big
• http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/el-paseo-the-incredible-5000-mile-journey-of-saul-flores/Content?oid=2885246

In this video, Marty Neumeier presents concepts from his three bestselling “whiteboard” books—THE BRAND GAP, ZAG, and THE DESIGNFUL COMPANY—to give you the tools you’ll need to thrive in the new economy.

The 45-minute video includes downloadable exercises to help work through crucial brand and innovation questions, as well as an iPod version of the video. Overall, this product expands to fill a one-day workshop!

Here’s just some of what you’ll learn:
• Why the old business rules no longer apply
• How to beat the twin foes of speed and clutter
• The modern definition of “brand”
• How brands create barriers to competition
• The three questions that can focus any company
• The modern definition of “design”
• The qualities that make for good design
• How to use stories to shape company success
• Why every company needs a CBO

Marty Neumeier’s INNOVATION WORKSHOP is available in two formats:

Online Streaming Video
This streaming video will not download to your computer. After making your purchase online, you can log into your Peachpit account page to view the video. Run time: 47 minutes.

DVD
Closed Captioned in English. Run time: 47 minutes

Not saying that I totally agree, but I’m posting because I recently thought about the shift in the designers’ portfolios considering the availability of creative portfolio templates, such as Cargo Collective or Carbonmade. I am left with the question of what are portfolios really about. Is it about showing work or showing value?