The democratisation of ideas - Kate Alexander Stumble upon, Springwise, The cool hunter, bootb… thanks to these new ‘trend collecting websites’ it is possible know what’s hip, without stepping out your front door. You can get daily inspiration boosters to your inbox. And the information transfer isn’t one way. Anyone can apply to be a spotter for springwise and send in their local cool discoveries. On Bootb you can answer a creative brief for an international company without even one meeting. So what does this mean for the traditional world of commercial design… will our clients buy an idea from a website and hand it to us to execute, will they post our visuals online for their customers to vote, maybe they might even be able to buy a full complete campaign.....

2. It’s a techo in India answering a creative pitch annonymously, via the web, for an international design project – and winning the work… What is the democratisation of ideas ? the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

4. It’s a creative director submitting his ‘spare time’ illustrations to a user-votes website and being so popular he forgives his design career to illustrate full-time… What is the democratisation of ideas ? the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

6. It’s a housewife interested in 3D design uploading her idea to a website, having it made and sent to her, taking it to her local design store and getting orders for 10 more… What is the democratisation of ideas ? the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

8. It’s a jewellery designer posting about their latest collection on a website and getting interest from a distributor on the other side of the world… What is the democratisation of ideas ? the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

10. It’s a new underground fashion magazine beating the #1 fashion magazine in the world, in 10 out of 10 battles for the best designed website… What is the democratisation of ideas ? the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

12. It’s spending Friday night at home hitting ‘stumble’, rather than reading or watching tv… What is the democratisation of ideas ? the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

14. It’s forwarding your client an email about a new idea you’ve seen, to get them excited – rather than keeping it to yourself because you didn’t think of it first… What is the democratisation of ideas ? the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

16. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / How ?

17. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / colliding trends

18. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / Participatory Design Crowdsourcing Buzzwords Citizen Science Clickworkers Collective Intelligence Configuration System Crowdcasting Distributed Computing The Long Tail Mass Collaboration Mass Customization Social Commerce Toolkits for User Innovation Wikinomics Wisdom of Crowds Web 2.0 Crowdpower

19. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / and 100 billion clicks per day

20. eg: the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

21. www.threadless.com the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

22. User-generated, consumer voted content The consumer decides what gets made… it’s the ultimate in supply+demand efficiency. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

27. www.stumbleupon.com the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

28. User-generated and voted content Spreading the word… viewers decide what websites are worth showing... there’s an element of surprise… and trust that the click will be worth it. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

32. www.wordpress.com the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

33. ‘ Almost free’ software It’s possible for ‘anyone’ to have a decent looking blog… just choose your theme and you’re away... It’s driving ‘expected’ website functionality. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

43. www.springwise.com the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

44. A network of spotters Using the worldwide community to find the new stuff… offering incentives for finding ‘cool’ means that we’re all ‘on the lookout’, the world is more aware . the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

51. www.trendwatching.com the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

52. Analysing the ideas What used to take years to cement and spread now takes less than a week… but ideas are being named ‘trends’ before they’re fully formed . the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

56. www.trendeverything… the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

57. Trend ‘everything’ Trend blogs, lists of trend blogs, tips on how to run a trend blog… finding the latest and greatest stuff is easy … then what do you do with it ? the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

63. www.ponoko.com the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

64. Design, make, sell online Now you can do it all without even leaving your desk. But does it really break down the barriers and make idea realisation more accessible ? The latest Ponoko blog post suggests not. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

70. www.bootb.com the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

71. Online pitching engine Client uploads brief, creatives upload ideas, there’s a match, chosen creative gets paid. No corporate barriers, an even playing field… but what about the time spent on ideas that don’t make it ? the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

75. www.carbonmade.com the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

76. ‘ Free’ portal Providing an easy way for creatives to put their portfolio in front of the world… if the world can be bothered sifting through 61,027 portfolios . the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

80. www.supermarkethq.com the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

81. ‘ Free’ shop Create a profile, upload your designs and wait for the sales… breaking down the retail barriers between designer and consumer, but also undervaluing design ? the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

85. www.creativecommons.com the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

86. Legalised sharing From ‘all rights reserved’ to ‘some rights reserved’ … the online world will always share, if you can’t beat it, join it and find a way to make it work. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

91. is it good ? the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

92. you can be famous

93. have clients anywhere in the world

94. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / work in an industry that doesn’t exist here

95. start a new career Kate Alexander Blog Strategist and Online Reputation Manager

96. the democratisation of ideas ask the world for their opinion

97. start a website to sell all those ideas that never made it… http://www.unlovedideas.com

98. or bad ? the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

99. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / The ethical, social, and economic implications of user-generated content are subject to wide debate. Some reports have focused on the negative effects on business owners, particularly in regard to how a user-generated project can sometimes end up costing a business more than a traditionally outsourced project. (source: wikipedia)

100. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / The democratisation of ideas could lead to our clients thinking that…

101. ideas are free

102. good ideas = good design

103. DIY is easy

104. DIY design it yourself MIY make it yourself PIY photograph it yourself WIY write it yourself BIY brand it yourself SIY sell it yourself

105. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / Recent feedback from Ponoko users suggests it’s maybe not that easy: (Source: The following 8 pages are an edited excerpt from the Ponoko blog, August 21, 2008)

106. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / W hy Most Product Ideas Are Doomed R eason #1 – where the hell do I start?!... There is no one place that instantly springs to mind to go and get started. So, very little gets beyond the idea stage.

107. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / W hy Most Product Ideas Are Doomed Reason #2 – the design process isn’t simple enough It’s not easy to turn an idea into a design that can be made.

108. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / W hy Most Product Ideas Are Doomed Reason #3 – talking different languages Fixed setup fees, minimum orders and shipping costs… a manufacturer ’s ideal customer is someone who knows exactly what they want, and they want lots of it.

109. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / W hy Most Product Ideas Are Doomed Reason #4 – limited materials selection Oh what fun this great idea has turned out to be, why can ’t someone just supply me with an unlimited selection of materials with no minimums!

110. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / W hy Most Product Ideas Are Doomed Reason #5 – small orders VS small cost Your idea is doomed unless you ’r e willing to take the risk of mass production or you compromise the high value and precise nature of your manufactured idea and hand make from scratch.

111. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / W hy Most Product Ideas Are Doomed R eason #6 – will anyone actually buy my creation? A number of people said they do not make things because they do not know if their product will sell or how to promote it.

112. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / W hy Most Product Ideas Are Doomed Reason #7 – give me another 40 hours of spare time! Given Ponoko has chopped the process down to about 1 hour, they were surprised at how many people said they love making stuff, but just do not have the time.

113. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / W hy Most Product Ideas Are Doomed Reason #8 – show me some (more) love While there ’s plenty of ‘h ow-to ’ content out there, users want it served up, backed up and from a single trusted source that understands their specific situation as a creator.

114. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / And while Ponoko promise to address these issues in Ponoko mark 2… CafePress.com who opened in 1999 in a garage in California with just four products – a t-shirt, two mugs and a mouse pad – now averages 11 million unique visits per month . Over 5.5 million orders have been shipped to customers worldwide and roughly 45,000 new, unique products are added each day .

115. the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 / The single thing to remember is:

116. you can’t stop technology

117. you can stick your head in the sand

118. or you can embrace it

119. The smart thing to do is to find a way to make it work in our favour, a way that doesn’t undervalue what we do… the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

120. the democratisation of ideas ideas will always need creative execution

121. brands will always need to differentiate

122. design will always help win the hearts of consumers

123. design will always require skill

124. maybe we’ll be involved less but charge more

125. work with our clients rather than for them

126. share our knowledge rather than keep it secret

127. We’ll have to work harder at prooving our value … the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

128. we’ll need to be flexible

129. honest

131. clients will be better educated

132. will it happen tomorrow, next week or next year ?

133. It’s taken the internet 5000 days to get this far

134. And we’re only just beginning to predict what the next 5000 might hold instore for us… the democratisation of ideas / design assembly / © kate alexander august 2008 /

136. Stay tuned. Be in touch. Sign-up. Register.

137. and remember: Ideas are like words – powerful when written, more powerful when understood and most powerful when lived. (source: praxindy/oreillynet.com)