Design Continuum
Encyclopedia
Continuum is a design
and innovation
consultancy based in Newton, Massachusetts
, with other offices in Los Angeles
, Milan
, Shanghai
and Seoul
. The company’s core disciplines include Industrial Design
, Design strategy
, Service Design
, Human Factors
, Interaction Design
, Sustainable Design
, Mechanical Engineering
and Electrical Engineering
.
The company was founded in Boston
as Design Continuum in 1983. Their goal was simple: to design products for businesses. Since then, the mission has grown to include strategy and brand services along with experience and product design.
The firm now employs approximately 200 people across its 5 offices. The company has worked with clients in industries including: medical, consumer, computer, automotive, hospitality, and financial services. Project work includes the Swiffer
for Procter & Gamble
., the Reebok Pump
, and the initial design direction for the MIT Media Lab
's $100 laptop.
The company has won 14 IDSA/BusinessWeek International Design Excellence Awards since 2003. Practitioners at the company have been featured in the book A Whole New Mind
by Daniel H. Pink
. During the summer of 2007, the company hosted the finale of the PBS series, “Design Squad
,” a show that encourages kids to explore design and engineering as a career path.
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
and innovation
Innovation
Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
consultancy based in Newton, Massachusetts
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
, with other offices in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
. The company’s core disciplines include Industrial Design
Industrial design
Industrial design is the use of a combination of applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, and usability of a product, but it may also be used to improve the product's marketability and production...
, Design strategy
Design strategy
Design strategy is a discipline which helps firms determine what to make and do, why do it and how to innovate contextually, both immediately and over the long term...
, Service Design
Service design
Service design is the activity of planning and organizing people, infrastructure, communication and material components of a service in order to improve its quality and the interaction between service provider and customers....
, Human Factors
Human factors
Human factors science or human factors technologies is a multidisciplinary field incorporating contributions from psychology, engineering, industrial design, statistics, operations research and anthropometry...
, Interaction Design
Interaction design
In design, human–computer interaction, and software development, interaction design, often abbreviated IxD, is "the practice of designing interactive digital products, environments, systems, and services." Like many other design fields interaction design also has an interest in form but its main...
, Sustainable Design
Sustainable design
Sustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability.-Intentions:The intention of sustainable design is to "eliminate negative environmental...
, Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
and Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
.
The company was founded in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
as Design Continuum in 1983. Their goal was simple: to design products for businesses. Since then, the mission has grown to include strategy and brand services along with experience and product design.
The firm now employs approximately 200 people across its 5 offices. The company has worked with clients in industries including: medical, consumer, computer, automotive, hospitality, and financial services. Project work includes the Swiffer
Swiffer
Swiffer is a line of cleaning products by Procter and Gamble. Introduced in 1999, the brand uses the "razor-and-blades business model"; in this case, the consumer purchases the handle assembly at a low price, but must continue to purchase replacement refills and pads over the life of the product...
for Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
., the Reebok Pump
Reebok Pump
The Reebok Pump is a line of athletic shoes that was popular in the early 1990s. It was the first shoe to have an internal inflation mechanism that regulated a unique fitting cushion in two versions: the lower tongue; and also in the upper to provide locking around the ankle.-History:The original...
, and the initial design direction for the MIT Media Lab
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a laboratory of MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology, the Media Lab has been widely popularized since the 1990s by business and technology publications such as Wired and Red Herring for a...
's $100 laptop.
The company has won 14 IDSA/BusinessWeek International Design Excellence Awards since 2003. Practitioners at the company have been featured in the book A Whole New Mind
A Whole New Mind
A Whole New Mind: Why Right-brainers Will Rule the Future is a book by Daniel H. Pink, author of Free Agent Nation. A Whole New Mind posits that the future of global business belongs to the right-brainers.-Key concepts:...
by Daniel H. Pink
Daniel H. Pink
Daniel H. Pink is an American author and journalist. From 1995 to 1997, he worked for Vice President Al Gore in the capacity of chief speechwriter, and before that as an aide to Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.- Personal history :...
. During the summer of 2007, the company hosted the finale of the PBS series, “Design Squad
Design Squad
Design Squad is a PBS reality television series geared towards middle and high-school children, where they design whimsical machines in order to win an Intel college scholarship worth $10,000. The show is produced by WGBH.- Hosts :...
,” a show that encourages kids to explore design and engineering as a career path.