Design research is only good for small incremental changes, but useless when it comes to new, innovative breakthroughs, according to design visionary and professor Dr Don Norman in his recent essay “Technology First, Needs Last”.

In it he argues that conceptual breakthroughs rarely occur because of detailed consideration of human needs. Instead they are invariably driven by the development of new technologies. These, in turn, inspire technologists to invent things. That is to say that grand conceptual innovations happen because technology has made them possible. Whether people need them or not is not initially the issue.

He asks: “Are flush toilets, indoor plumbing, electric lighting, automobiles, airplanes, or modern telecommunication essential needs? Civilization got along quite well without them for thousands of years. Today, many consider them not just needs but essentials. And every one of these was driven by technology.”

Most innovations involve changes that lower costs, add simple features, smooth out glitches of a product. Revolutionary innovation is very rare.

How do you promote a product that is so inextricably linked to the summer during the winter? Flip flop brand Havaianas decided to raise its profile during the winter months by putting its shoes to the test - are they winter-proof?

Here are the results of the experiment:

Havaianas welcomes Winter from Havaianas Seasons on Vimeo.

A Romanian beautician is promoting its bikini waxing services with an innovative poster. The number of the salon is effectively printed on what are supposed to be pubic hairs poking out of a pair of knickers. Passers by are invited to tear off said pubes to ensure that they have the number of the salon to hand.

From Tempo Advertising in Bucharest
 

If someone said to you, "you look like a balloon in those clothes", you'd probably be offended. Well you shouldn't be if you have been shopping at Worn Again. The clothes recycling company has created a range of garments out of the red silk from an old Virgin hot air balloon. Choose from a bag, a parka or a hooded jacket.

See how they were made here.

What is it about agencies opting to torture themselves during the festive season? Last week we saw DLKW inviting people to give their reluctant office members tasks to do. Then we saw LDI try to extract sensitive information from their receptionists with an interactive musical sculpture in its lobby, controlled by Twitter users.

Now web design company Torchbox is inviting Twitter users to make it snow (with what looks like shredded paper) on one lucky employee. It would be rude not to:

Is it fake? Did Intel really shoot 5 people out of human canons and into enormous chimes to create the famous Intel ear-worm/soundbite? Probably not, but its pretty amusing nevertheless:

No, it's not a joke. Just as Willy Wonka released his highly-prized golden tickets, Libra Tampons is targeting girls surfing the crimson wave in a promotion for its new Click Lock Box...Each month the brand is giving away $10,000 to one lucky menstruator! What is the competition called? Lucky Box. Amazing. Don't we all wish our boxes were that lucky.

Commonly associated with death by powerpoint, projectors don't generally cause excitement and intrigue. Epson is challenging preconceptions with what it calls "extreme gaming". Yes, it's largely dependent on the gaming, with the projector merely being a facilitator, but nevertheless, the idea of being able to play GTA on the side of the Empire State building or similar is sure to cause a ripple of excitement amongst gaming geeks.