Vision means seeing things that others don’t.

Vision means seeing muddled communications as a chance to connect, knowledge deficits as an opportunity to inform, shortfalls as a reason to improve and unmet market needs as a motive to build.

As partners to visionaries for almost 23 years, we know each vision is unique. That’s why—while having proven processes and approaches helps us support our partners fluidly—it’s our openness to new ideas, curiosity and flexibility that helps our partners bring their visions to life so others can see them too.

In the spirit of shining a light on vision, below are a select set of cool ideas that we have had the pleasure of helping bring to life. Be it rocking gamification to build skills, helping people live and work during the pandemic or introducing a new way to get around—it all started with a vision. And yeah—we have it too. 😉

Contineo

Enriching D+I Training through Gamification

Inspired by the rapidly growing trend of gamification, we partnered with inQUEST to help them launch a game that teaches players about the value of D+I in a fun, engaging way. Contineo combines D+I concepts and terms with easy-to-understand play. We served as a partner dedicated to naming, branding, designing, packaging and marketing the unique product—everything inQUEST needed to see it to life. Monotonous training sessions were transformed into engaging activities that teams remember and enjoy. Contineo was a Top 100 Finalist at the Chicago Innovation Awards and was featured on WGN news.

RDI Medical

Leveraging Expertise to Respond to Consumer Demand

The COVID-19 pandemic meant masks went from something only found in the operating room to something we couldn’t leave home without. As demand for American-made PPE grew, the RDI Group saw an opportunity—to leverage its industrial machinery expertise to meet the market’s demand. Enter RDI Medical disposable face masks. We helped them bring the product to life by designing packaging that, while distinctive, remained aligned with the RDI brand. We also conducted research to identify how to promote the product and which markets to target for optimal results. The final result? A new product, diversification and an authentic response to a real, human need.

“Effective people are not problem-minded; they’re opportunity-minded.”
—STEPHEN COVEY

Divvy

Engaging the Public to Shape a New Service

In 2012, the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) sought programs that would reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality. Successfully launching a new transportation system is no small order, however, and that’s where we came in.

Blue Daring partnered with CDOT to create public awareness for Divvy, Chicago’s bike-sharing system. Over the course of our engagement, we leveraged our extensive experience with public outreach to conduct research, host public meetings and develop an outreach strategy that promoted equitable use of the system. One of our most successful initiatives was Design-A-Divvy, a contest for high school students that encouraged city youth to design bikes that represent their communities. The seven winning designs were printed on Limited Edition Divvy bikes that could be seen across the city. Today, Divvy operates in all 50 wards of Chicago, and the program continues to grow, achieving record ridership for four consecutive years.

See It To Life

Expanding a Service Brand into a Product

For Blue Daring’s 15th anniversary in 2018, Melissa launched our first ever Creative Challenge, dividing team members into groups to create a work of art that embodies our company values. Vanessa, Ideation Lead and Blue Daring’s first employee, pitched a card deck to start conversations and brainstorm ideas. Melissa loved the concept, so we decided to bring it to life.

We designed, branded and developed the packaging for See It to Life, a game that includes a customized card deck, eight-sided die and ideation worksheet. The interactive ideation toolkit, available by order and in selected stores, now helps individuals or groups explore and develop their vision into actionable ideas.

Turning a vision into an actionable idea is a process as unique as the vision itself and not without its challenges. But it can be done—with the right perspective, the right investment, persistence and creative partners who can see your vision through.