Signal/Noise

I know I have issues, but I love whiteboards.  The best design aspect of my office is the fact that in just about every room there is an entire wall of nothing but whiteboard.  To me, they are a great catalyst for creativity.  Why?  Because they are a blank canvass that allows you to dump all those ideas banging around your head into the real world and easily share them with others.  Also, they allow you to do so while standing and moving around–motion (at least, for me) facilitates thought and action, so ideas flow more easily.

Cliff Kuang at Fast Company points to a really interesting product: IdeaPaint

Essentially, you can turn any flat wall surface into a whiteboard by simply applying some IdeaPaint.  This has a number of advantages:

The benefit–besides being able to brainstorm on almost every inch of your office–is that the paint is half the cost of whiteboard and better-performing–you can leave marks up indefinitely, and they won’t stain the wall. Of course, it takes a bit of time–you may have to sand the wall and prime it–but one other benefit is that you’re not incurring all the carbon involved in manufacturing and shipping a whiteboard.

How did they come up with the idea?

The concept of IdeaPaint was hatched in 2002 when a group of college buddies were brainstorming on a business project. The more ideas they had, the less room they had to write them. Frustrated, the conversation turned away from the assignment to the problem at hand. Too bad we just can’t paint the walls and write all over them. Eureka.

Personally, I think it’s a brilliant idea and a great illustration of how an innovative business can evolve from asking a very simple question.

Of course, I am now scouting out the walls in my office, looking for the right place for an idea canvas.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Creativity, Innovation, Whiteboard