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Successful Innovation

By Hartmut Esslinger with Reena Jana

Successful Innovation

Apple (AAPL), Louis Vuitton (LVMH), and SAP (SAP) represent three very different sectors. But all share one thing in common: Their brands and products were shaped in part by designer and innovation strategist Hartmut Esslinger.

Here, Esslinger, founder of the 40-year-old San Francisco firm frog design, shares an exclusive list of 10 tips on how to innovate successfully and consistently. Pictured: the Apple IIc personal computer, which frog designed with Apple in 1984 and which represented the beginning of Apple's "Snow White" design strategy of creating small, clean-looking machines that are simple to use. Esslinger and frog helped Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and team develop this enduring idea throughout the 1980s.