Ji Lee, Creative Director Google Creative Labs starts his master lecture titled “Personal + Professional = Awesome” at the occasion of the Opening of Design at Work 09.

It was an AWESOME presentation, for about 1.000 guests. 

Unluckely there were even no seats anough for all the guests.

With all his projects, including the Bubble project and Goollery he inspired many of us, from CEO’s to students.

“Ideas are nothing. Doing is everything” was the strong concluding message of Mr. Lee.

A brandnew mobile bar of Veuve Cliquot, design by Enthoven Associates, served bubbles after the lecture.

Before entering onto the Rambla, guests were served champaign and could discover the new Nissan Cube.

After his lecture, Ji Lee shared his vision and learned about Belgians. Here with Jo Libeer, general manager Voka.

During the meet & greet with Vlerick Alumni, with Peter De Groof and Peter Poelman.

View on the ProductShow.

Guests searching and exploring…

Detailed view on the ProductShow.

Hendrik-Jan Degrootte (Product Design Director Tupperware), Susan Perkins (VP Global Design Tupperware) with Joost Vanhecke (Projectmanager Design at Work 09)

Ji Lee with the Dyson Air Multiplier, avant-première of a ventilator without fan.

Axel Enthoven (founder Enthoven Associates) and Marc Dubois (Designmeester, Designregio Kortrijk)

View on the premiere presentation of ‘Opera’

Exhibition “De Bedenkers gaan verder”.

Rollnet, the excellent tool developed by Oxylane Design for pingpong-networking.

The yellow highway of IEA Architects, creators of the scenography for Design at Work 09.

The installation of Oxylane Design, honoured company Design at Work 09.

Participants during the Oxylane Design sports creation workshops.

Views on the unique booth concept from various exhibitors.

Danny Venlet (Designer) and Marnick Smessaert (founder Dark) with the Samsonite Scooter Luggage.

Marie-Louise Van Dyck and Jimmy Delaet of Nissan Belgium in front of the just released Nissan Cube.

The Forum with its 120 Panton chairs.

Piet Saegeman of Apple during his lecture ‘Product Design at Apple’

Toon Coppens (founder Netlog) during  his snake preview of Gotcha, the new gaming platform.

Designers from ISD Valenciennes at Work.

Relaxation after inspiration.

Original design by Belgian designer Luc Donckerwolke.

The Jury of the IP Award 09. Announcement of the winner on Jan, 28th 2010.

Impression of the trade show.

Logowall.

Parking Shuttles at Kortrijk Xpo.

Bubble work by Ji Lee…

DO-guide

Baptiste Hannebicque is Design Manager at Estech, a company specialized in developing industrial design projects, and split into four key core competencies, i.e. design, Class A surfacing, digital and physical prototyping. Before that he was a teacher at the International Design School of Valenciennes.

In an interview with Design at Work he highlights the importance of technology for innovation;

Which company has been able to surprise you this past year on the subject of innovation?

When we talk about innovation, we talk about technology. In these terms, Dyson is one of the brands that surprised me a lot. It’s simply amazing the way they use a technology in the most evident way. You just have to take a look at the Dyson Air Multiplier to see how they have the capacity to surprise people. I really believe that surprise or making people dream is a good way to know if you’ve achieved a successful design. James Dyson has well understood that he can diversify his product range thanks to technology. And this diversification is the solution to ensure the future of the company.

In your opinion, what product should win all the design awards this year?

Dyson with its Air Multiplier has true potential. Not for the product but for their capacity to make us imagine a future different from what we know at the moment. A world of clear evidence, where global thinking comes above all. I really believe that the world needs more global thinking nowadays.

Which sector still has a lot of potential when it comes to innovation?

We could talk about a lot of sectors. Automotive industry, biology, healthcare, IT, etc. all have great potential. But in this particular period of ecologic consciensness, I would focus on sustainable energy and especially solar power. On this subject, our company Estech has started a collaboration with Solusun.

How is the aspect of sustainability changing industrial design?

Sustainability is not a new challenge for industrial design. It is something rather evident for a designer to make the best product in terms of price, look, ergonomy, etc. but also sustainability. But the industry’s objectives are not always compatible with this direction. The difference is that sustainability is now recognized as mandatory. From cradle to grave, in every sector of the industry, each brand has to think about this aspect for their products. When sustainability will be mature for designers, this will be really interesting. And communication about those products will talk about another aspect, as sustainability will not be the main one anymore. But a good analysis and technology knowledge is often more profitable as a purely sustainable way of thinking.

In an interview with Design at Work he presents you his view on design & innovation:

Which company has been able to surprise you this past year on the subject of innovation and why?

Conventional wisdom says that small start-ups are quick and nimble while big, old companies are slow and rigid. So I am always pleasantly surprised to see giant corporations flex their innovation muscles, and one compelling example from the past 18 months is General Electric. GE has launched dozens of recent innovation initiatives, but none more interesting than what CEO Jeffrey Immelt calls “reverse innovation.” In the traditional model of 20th century research & development, ideas originated at the headquarters and then got dispersed throughout the global organization. In reverse innovation however, simple cost-effective solutions created in the field—especially in the challenging environment of developing countries—get cross-pollinated back to the home office where they can be adapted for value-oriented customers in developed countries or anywhere on the planet.

GE Healthcare’s compact electrocardiogram (ECG) for the Indian market is a case study in reverse innovation: in 18 months a team in India, working on a shoestring budget, developed a unique ECG machine that was one tenth the cost and one third the weight of previous units. Having proven its success in rural India, GE’s new MAC 400 ECG is now a candidate for use in all the other healthcare markets in the world. Reverse innovation is an idea whose time has come.

In your opinion, what product should win all the design awards this year and why?

I believe the winning product for 2009 should actually be the whole new product category of smartphone applications. Sure, a handful of applications may have existed in 2008, but 2009 is the year of the app, with the number of applications for the iPhone alone headed toward a hundred thousand, and the number of downloads now over a billion. A cottage industry of designers and developers has sprung up virtually overnight, and is now creating apps so fast that no one can even keep track. In fact, a new behavior pattern has emerged in the Silicon Valley where I live—and probably among iPhone users around the world—where people frequent do “show and tell” of their favorite apps because the universe of potential apps is too overwhelming for any individual to comprehend. In other words, friends don’t let friend miss out on good apps. Of course some smartphone apps may seem frivolous, but I feel like some have changed my life. As someone who’s always lost, for example, the GPS app on my iPhone is practically indispensible, and I literally never leave home without it.

And in some ways my favorite app is Shazam (created by London-based Shazam Enterntainment), because it’s a harbinger of the kind of apps that can make me a better, smarter person. The first week I downloaded Shazam, I was at a great party, and a woman next to me on the dance floor said “Tom, what’s this song, do you know?” In the past, I’d have been clueless, but fifteen seconds later, I knew the answer for sure. Now if Shazam would just help me recognize people…

Which sector still has a lot of potential when it comes to innovation?

In spite of the great success already experienced by companies like Facebook in the U.S. and Skyrock in France, I believe we have only seen the tip of the iceberg on innovation opportunities around social networking. It will replace “expert” data with information, reviews, and advice from our personal networks or “people like you.” For example if the most famous film critic in the UK gives a film four stars, but my extensive network of friends is unanimous that it’s a dog, who am I going to believe? Humans are social animals and the power of social networking has only begun to emerge.

What evolution in the design and innovation field has been the most important one according to you?

The most important evolution in design and innovation is the transition from a narrow definition of design to the broader field of “design thinking.” “Design” still sounds a bit like aesthetics to some people, like a surface treatment added after the “real” work of creating something new is mostly done. But design thinking is an intuitive process for human-centered problem solving that engages the whole brain and opens up the possibility of new more multi-disciplinary solutions. Design can be a powerful tool for creating new products or services, but design thinking can be applied to broader social or issues and ultimately can help change the world. At IDEO and places like it around the world, design thinkers are working on new approaches to issues like environmental sustainability, childhood obesity, and access to clean drinking water in developing countries.

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Why shoud you come for pingpong networking? Because Design at Work is ‘serious fun’, where you can meet new people but also have some fun!

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Top-level speakers are lined up: Matthijs van Dijk (TU Delft), Axel Enthoven (Enthoven Associates) and Philip Taillieu (Flow / Be-Mobile, winner of the IWT Innovation Award 2009), Paul Van Droogenbroeck (IBM Belgium), Bernard De Potter (Agentschap Ondernemen) and Maka De Lameillieure (Flanders InShape) have confirmed their presence.

Flanders InShape will be advancing six propositions about the strengths (or weaknesses) of innovation and industrial design. It has long become clear that innovation should not be limited to technology alone. It should also apply to services, durability and user-friendliness. But how do the government, educational institutions, designers and companies deal with that ? Each proposition will be presented to 2 of our guests, who will then each in turn express their opinion. Lisbeth Imbo, our moderator, will be intervening and asking additional questions.

Subscribe to attend this debate

We asked him to give his perspective on design and the future of the automotive industry;

Which company has been able to surprise you this past year on the subject of innovation?
It was a calm year for innovation during the crisis. Google Wave however is intriguing, even if it’s still under testing. Looks like it has the potential to work and communicate together at distance in a more natural and fluent way.

In your opinion, what product should win all the design awards this year?
Microvision’s ShowWX Laser handheld projector. A true innovation. Not only because of it’s size, but also because it’s a lasertechnology with auto focus, which means you can project also on non flat surfaces and still have the image sharp everywhere. This will allow us to use projections into our daily life and environment in a new way.

Which sector still has a lot of potential when it comes to innovation?
I’m convinced a lot of potential for innovation lies exactly in crossing the border between different sectors. Everything is becoming interconnected, and it’s those connections that have potential.

How do you see the automobile design sector evolving in the next few years?
After the current consolidation of the global market into big players, a continuous focus on design and a growing one on efficient technologies. With an emerging influence from markets such as China and India.

Download the full announcement: ENG – FR – NL

Do you have a creative and innovative mindset? Are you passionated by sports? And do you want to share your ideas and vision in a dedicated workshop set up by the Oxylane Design team? And last but not least do you want to learn from their result driven methodology? It will all be about imagining new sports at home.

To participate:
1. Register here as visitor to Design at Work 09
2. Compose a short email to info@designatwork.be with:
- your name, gender, age, profession, address and mobile phone
- which sports you are passionate about and you also execute
- your short motivation to take part to the workshop: why the Oxylane team should select you?
- Your preference for the workshop: fitness, racket sports, collective sport
- Cv is optional as well as other references.

Your selection/non selection for participation will be confirmed in week 48 . Note that the language of the sessions is English and français.

Timing
Workshop 1: Fitness: Tue December, 8th, 2.30 – 5 pm

Workshop 2: Racket sports: Wed December, 9th, 2.30 – 5 pm

Workshop 3: Collective sports: Thu December, 10th, 2 – 4.30 pm