Local Cultures – Global Spaces
Abstract
Boost Lab is a research-fueled launchpad for culturally-informed products. Housed within a school of art and design, it exists to bridge the gap between creative conception and commercial activation. Designers and artists are uniquely qualified to produce artifacts that tell compelling stories, objects that harness the spirit and ambition of a particular place and time. The ability to know when and how to monetize creative insight, however, requires a separate skillset. The language of business sounds foreign to many artists and designers. Incubators and accelerators seek profit potential; they work by narrowing options to arrive at focused, accessible solutions described in sound bites. Designers are trained to do the opposite—to expand and reframe, to resist easy labels and embrace ambiguity. The two approaches are not mutually exclusive, but to get from one to the other requires translation. That’s where we come in. We provide structured mentorship, inviting individuals with promising ideas to become Boost Lab Research Fellows. Research Fellows develop products in a sequence of time-limited phases. Completing defined milestones within each phase, they emerge with a market-tested prototype and strategy. As each product leaves the nest, new projects follow. Boost Lab leverages institutional support to provide prototype development, market research, intellectual property protection, and marketplace feedback. Our efforts have generated peer-reviewed research dissemination, sales revenue, and a US Design Patent. Boost Lab started as a response to local needs and opportunities, but our story offers lessons that are broadly transferrable.
Rab McClure’s teaching and creative scholarship mine the sweet spot where design and fine arts overlap. He is the Director of the Master of Fine Arts in Design program, at VCUarts Qatar. Rab’s work investigates form, light, space, material, memory and imagination. He holds a US Design Patent and has exhibited projects and presented research in Lisbon, London, Eindhoven, Milan, Venice, Rome, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Doha, Dubai, Kyoto, Vancouver, Miami and Washington, DC. Rab is a registered architect, a certified interior designer, and he holds a Master of Architecture from Yale University.