Design Thinking; The New Business Model
Besides nature, everything in this world has been designed. Street signs, kitchen utensils, web applications, clothing and business strategy, all begin with a need which translates into a concept and into a product, service or process. The end results are outcomes of the design process and business strategy, but they don't begin to touch on the capabilities of design strategy and the real-world results it provides.

The basis of any strategy should be founded by market research, which can lead to new ideas and insights providing a real grasp on the potential failure or success of the original strategy from early development stages. Observing people's behavior in real-life settings is vital to the impact and success of the design strategy. It leads to jarring discoveries of the markets tendencies, personalities and reactions that were not apparent during the beginning stages. Those discoveries can be used to change the strategic model allowing a greater user experience and relationship with the marketplace because they came directly from the real world.

The next stage is to build concepts and prototypes which brings the strategy to fruition. This trial and error process enables the design team to observe the strategy in real world settings, generate new ideas based on feedback, notice behavioral patterns allowing trends to take place and repeat this stage until you have a solid strategy that's ready for the marketplace. This stage not only provides great research to build your initial product, service or process, but allows the team to begin looking towards the future for possible spin-offs, revisions and new products.

Statement of the Eames Design Process by Charles Eames for the Louvre Show, "What is Design." 1969

Design thinking plays more of a role than producing the visuals for your company. It is analyzing the marketplace, developing strategies, building upon them and creating a solid base for success, all based on ideas developed by research and prototyping from the people purchasing the product. As the market changes, and it always does, this way of thinking will ensure high level satisfaction even as your strategy and business model changes. It's all relevant to survive in business with companies like Starbucks and among others who's success is built on design thinking. They understand it's importance in identifying a need, laying the foundation for success, testing to ensure you're on the right track and adapting to the new discoveries found allowing quick changes to be made before a launch.

In an age of new media and internet born companies, design thinking is becoming increasingly popular. Implementing this way of thinking into your organization now will increase your chances of survival and align your company's business model with the ever changing world of commerce.

*AI BLOG MUSINGS
Rebranding; Lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my! Indeed.

February brings change for the Animal Planet network, a change in programming and also a visual change, with a new logo and new imagery for the television brand. This new identity isn’t a mild-one in the least, the network says the change is “designed to reach a more adult audience with gripping entertainment rather than pure observational documentary and host-driven formats.” The new programming sounds compelling, smart and rather interesting television, especially coming from a channel where the main characters don’t speak the same language. With such a dramatic change you’d expect the networks new brand would reflect it as such—you’d be mistaken.

Finish this story and read more at our new blog.

CLIENT SPOTLIGHT
Carnegie Endowment For International Peace

To help the Carnegie Endowment promote their new vision of the transformation "from a think tank on international issues to the first truly multinational—ultimately global—think tank", Ace Inc. redesigned the "New Books" magazine advertisement, that's placed in magazines such as Foreign Policy Magazine. The goal was to update the look of the ad, but we thought it pertinent to incorporate the Carnegie Endowment's brand into the advertisement to spread the organizations newly founded vision. The new ad also works as a template to make sure the design remains consistent and also works as a time and money saver when it comes time to promote new titles.

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Understanding market research
I have three retail stores and would like to open three more in larger markets. My database includes more than 10,000 clients, but they seem as different as soup and nuts. What market research will help me choose other locations?

Your Websites: Age-Old Problems; New Age Solutions
How to get maximum impact.

Creating e-mail surveys that work
E-mail marketing managers love to include quick surveys in their e-newsletters—so much so that they risk overdoing it.

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COMPANY INFORMATION
Ace Inc. Marketing&Communications
Office. 301-632-2095
Email. info@aceincmarketing.com
Located. Waldorf, MD

www.aceincmarketing.com