According to a recent article in the Economist, the latest vogue in corporate management circles is... art. CEOs, apparently, are reading books like "The Fine Art of Success" and "Artistry Unleashed," which argue that fine art can teach the business set a lot about innovation. Now, a new initiative at London's Central St. Martin's is pushing the art-as-innovation idea a step further, launching a "business accelerator" at the art school called the Method Design Lab in partnership with Silicon Valley venture capital. The partnership, with San Francisco's Method consulting firm, will allow Central St. Martin students and others to submit product design ideas, which will then be submitted to online voting by design experts, with the winners being fast-tracked for funding and development.
Jeremy Innes-Hopkis, a recent Central Saint Martins graduate, has designed several products through the school's new Method Design Lab. / Photo by Richard Install
Why the team-up with the prestigious art academy? "There is a 'halo' effect," Method CEO Kevin Farnham told the Wall Street Journal. "The association with St. Martins is very attractive for a lot of companies." As for Central St. head Jane Rapley, she's bullish about the joint effort's potential. "We will not only uncover many ideas that may never have seen the light of day but will be able to develop, improve and commercialise them in an a way not possible before," she told the London Daily News. "There is no reason why the UK should not produce the next Facebook, Google, or Apple."
Jeremy Innes-Hopkis holds his sunblock crayons. / Photo by Richard Instal
Method has invested some £500,000 ($802,000) in the business accelerator, and is actively seeking new investors in the hopes of raising an eventual £20 million. According to its Web site, the firm has arts connections, having worked with the Museum of Modern Art on its "Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement" Web site, SFMoMA on its "ArtThink" site, and the TED Conferences to sharper their Internet presence. It has also worked with clients like Microsoft (on the Zune relaunch), Comedy Central (to create an app that provides fast access to a library of jokes), and Yahoo! (to create a resource for their ad sales people).
The Method Design Lab aims to bring 20 new British designs to market every year. And what kind of product do you get when you put St. Martin's students in touch with venture capital? The first product, set to be commercialized "within weeks" according to the WSJ, is the brainchild of 24-year-old graduate Jeremy Innes-Hopkins. It is described as a giant marker pen, containing brightly colored sunblock instead of ink, which aims to encourage very young children to protect themselves from burns by drawing on themselves.
-ARTINFO, ARTINFO
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