Founder, Manual
Craighton Berman is a designer of objects, illustrator of ideas, and facilitator of creativity.
Stemming from a background in industrial design and strategic creative consulting, Craighton simply loves bringing ideas to life—both for clients and as self-directed projects. His illustration practice combines design-thinking and napkin-sketching to tell idea-driven stories. His design practice is focused on running Manual, a home goods brand that creates products for slow living.
He has design work in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago; he was the first designer to use Kickstarter to launch a product; he taught "design entrepreneurship" at the University of Illinois at Chicago and design sketching at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; and his drawings are featured in a YouTube video with over 34 million views.
Getting Ideas Out of Your Head and Into The World
It’s a great time to be an independent designer. With new tools and services constantly being introduced, the ability to make things and get them in front of customers gets easier every day. The real challenge is deciding what to make and how to get it out of your head and into the world. This workshop will sketch through all of the stages required to bring a product to life independently—with a special focus on using Kickstarter—and will introduce a “Project Canvas” tool for attendees to use to shape their own ideas.
Workshop | Getting Ideas Out of Your Head and Into The World
It’s a great time to be an independent designer—the ability to make things and get them in front of the people who want them gets easier every day. New tools and shared workspaces make prototyping in your kitchen a thing of the past. Easier access to manufacturing has allowed smaller runs to be produced affordably and locally. Storytelling tools, fundraising and community come to life through crowdfunding tools like Kickstarter.
The challenge now is, what should I make? And what’s the right way to get it out of my head and into the world?
This workshop will sketch through all of the stages required to bring a product to life independently: ideation with constraints; project budgeting; small-batch sourcing; planning for manufacturing; Kickstarter wireframing; project promotion; and fulfillment.
Come with a rough idea for something that you would want to launch (and possibly share in small groups).
