Imagination Sprints™ Case Study
Milken Institute
Introduction
The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank with a focus on financial, physical, mental, and environmental health. They create spaces for bringing the best ideas together to tackle critical global issues.
Challenge
The Philanthropy group has been researching and developing an initiative to help advance sustainable innovations in the apparel industry. After more than a year, they have not been able to settle on a viable focus and a plan of action.
Opportunity
As many sectors move toward net zero and sustainability goals, the apparel industry has an opportunity to revolutionize its production methods and set new standards in sustainable business practices—not just for fashion, but for consumer markets across sectors.
Vision
Their goal was an event series as a first step toward building partnerships to support the adoption of sustainable materials and practices in supply chains. Philanthropic capital can play a critical role in offsetting the cost of developing, producing, and adapting new sustainable materials and methods at scale.
Research and Analysis
We produced a summary research of the eco-fashion industry and market to inform the foundation for our conceptual design. Our sources invariably reveal the factors and trends that affect the present and the futures of their industry.
Milken Institute feedback: “It is very helpful to have additional sources to cite in our own research, especially sources that come previewed and pre-vetted!”
Narrative Development
We crafted a powerful conceptual narrative around their sprint, bridging the gaps between their vision and the present, with a glimpse into adjacent, possible futures.
“The Living Weave” is a Milken Institute Research story that explores a future where bioengineered, adaptive clothing revolutionizes both fashion and environmental sustainability, following a scientist's journey to create a symbiotic relationship between humanity and the fabrics we wear.
Milken Institute feedback: “Seeing how you went through this process gives me ideas about how we can use narratives and conceptual design to excite and engage potential collaborators on this and other projects as well.”
Concept Generation
We developed original concepts and design artifacts based on their summary research; adding new details, ensuring alignment with their goals, and fine-tuning the content with the narrative research.
730LAB is a potential ‘future concepts division’ for convening industry partners to collaborate on issues that present systems of challenges, that require deeper exploration:
“Practicing expert curiosity across multiple sectors, developing solutions for a more sustainable world and creating a healthier future for everyone, 730LAB puts a premium on developing integrated concepts for complex problems and driving catalyzing collaboration together with like-minded partners. Our teams share through overlap and singular focus for basic research and real-world applications by creating and maturing breakthrough solutions. “
Click/Tap to expand images
AURA is a fictional bioluminescent retail fashion product in “The Living Weave”, the invention of science entrepreneur Dr. Zuri Kimani. It’s the concept of a new fashion trend without creating more garment waste:
“The fashion world had gone wild for the technology. Music artists incorporated the garments into their stage performances, becoming living light shows. Even sports teams got in on the trend, with some incorporating glowing elements into their uniforms for night games, much to the delight of fans. The bioluminescent clothing wasn’t just fashion; it was a phenomenon, a symbol of the seamless merger of technology and biology.”
Milken Institute feedback: “Seeing these concept images makes me realize how much a literal visualization can help you explore an idea. I don’t think we typically generate new images for a pitch at MI, but perhaps concept art generation is worth including in the R&D process for a potential collaboration.”
Presentation and Review
We presented our concepts and a teaser video, sharing feedback for their team on next steps, and reviewed possible actions for the next-level.
All concepts were intentionally produced for the customer to use in their own content strategy for internal stakeholders and external audiences.
Milken Institute feedback: “The quality of the creative assets produced exceeded my expectations. The creative assets will make it much easier to share with our leadership the outcomes and ideas generated from this session.”
“An Imagination Sprint can help to catalyze or rejuvenate a project, saving valuable time and providing fresh perspective, ideas, and creative assets.”
Sara ElShafie, Senior Associate
Environmental & Social Innovation, Milken Institute Philanthropy
Strategic Imagination: Conceptual Design and R&D
Our Imagination Sprints™ are open-ended, speculative, and focused on exploring opportunity in the possibilities. We use them to leverage our strategic imagination and ‘science fiction’ thinking to solve real problems. Our methods encourage your vision to break free from conventional constraints and explore radical ideas that may seem absurd at first, but hold extraordinary treasure.
Embracing a speculative mindset, conceptual design will help you see perspectives through a creative mind first, before your critical thinking hides them from your view. Your first sprint will be an “Aha!” moment, and every sprint after will create insights that are more targeted and strategic—with compounding interest.
Important: This is not a conventional design project with draft designs and multiple iterations for approval. The emphasis is on disrupting the habits of your process with originality while still maintaining a connection to the present and a new, radical empathy for the problems you want to solve or the threats you wish to avoid.
These concepts are meant for discussion and research, like binoculars looking beyond the horizon. They produce results rapidly and provide greater value when repeated using the insights from the previous sprint(s). Strategic imagination is a practice, not an event.
Experience an Imagination Sprint™ for yourself.
Traditional design and conceptualization processes can be lengthy and costly. Our sprint workshops compress that timeline, focusing on high-value activities to derive meaningful outcomes quickly. Imagination Sprints™ are accelerated discovery exercises for developing your vision and mapping growth.