by Christian Bayley
We featured GE’s augmented reality campaign a few months ago (Check out Post Here) and saw the immediate potential this technology could have in the future of marketing. We have used this benchmark in several client pitches and it never ceases to amaze the audience. Our friend Nancy Hoffman over at ADi sent us a link to this other group that had similar feelings and began to sketch out what some of these applications might look like.
by Christian Bayley
I think we are rapidly approaching the time when the idea that we ever “downloaded” and “stored” thousands of songs and dvds will be looked at as sooo old school. All of this content is increasingly available in the cloud. I was an early Napster/Kazaa user (shhhh) and compiled the required 10,000 song library. Bittorrent allows for the same approach for video and as a result I have friends with thousands of dvds (shhhh). My father had a discussion with me once about this and remarked that when he was younger they had a couple hundred movies that had been recorded to beta tapes but saw that all this effort was kinda useless as the technology was replaced. . .so what happens when the same thing happens to dvd. . .he asked?
My initial response was to look at mediums like Blue-ray, and the PS3. . .they offer a superior product generation and that is what has gained them traction. But they are also sensitive to backwards compatibility so that dvds still work fine. . .something that the tape to dvd shift could not accommodate easily. But the true solution goes further than that. There will come a time when all music and video is available instantly and everyone will pay a monthly fee to access it and stream it right from the cloud. This is already available to some extent with Netflixx and youtube for video, and a host of great online music services like Pandora and songza.fm.
At the end of the day all this content is overwhelming so the successful applications are the ones that deliver it in easy and fun ways. Songza’s playlist feature allows you to find like minded playlists from other people and it delivers the music AND the music videos for these playlists. Pandora uses complicated music profiles to deliver songs to your preferences and the more you use it and rate what you listen the smarter that system gets. These are the beginnings of the killer media apps of the future. . . .cant wait to ditch all these binders.
by Eric Goldstein
Hepper are designing and manufacturing some of the coolest, modern-styled furniture/beds for cats, dogs and even birds. The beds range from $25-$150.
by Eric Goldstein
Fun, whimsical, retro, franki valli, this house party ensemble of images, sequences, cuts, spirit and adventure fused with fashion, energy and gravity-free branding – it’s a testiment to the continued branding efforts at Adidas.
by Eric Goldstein
I get asked this pretty often by friends, when we discuss, what would you do if you won the lottery, or what car would you love to have in your garage. For me, I would have to say, ONE of these cars would have to be a Karmann Ghia convertible.
VW had this car in production from 1955 through to 1974 (shown is a 74’ convertible). I think the appeal for me is to know I can fix what needs fixin’ with the tools I have in my tool chest – but aside that, the classic VW/Porsche lines and the top down – I look forward to the day
by Eric Goldstein
The 60 Bag biodegrades in 60 days. The bag is made of flax-viscose non-woven fabric and was developed and manufactured in Poland. The flax-Viscose fabric is produced with flax fiber industrial waste, which means it doesn’t exploit any natural resources and requires minimal energy during its production. In January this year 60Bag was honoured with the Green Dot Award.
I commend this type of material audit/exploration as well as the conscious investigation around the energy and resources to make such products. How long will it take for this type of product execution to make it’s way to our own land?
by Eric Goldstein
Argentinian illustrator Gustavo Aimar’s ability to capture mystique and wonder is so inspiring.
More of his work can be seen here.
Another Illustrator I admire from the Brazil is Pedro Franz. You can see his work here.
by Eric Goldstein
Sebastian Errazuriz is an artist-designer from Chile whose style provokes humor and quirkiness with functionality in everyday objects. These simple transformations result in unexpected fashion solutions.
Here’s his “N3″ zipper dress, made of not fabric but 120 metal zippers. It’s the ultimate in adjustable clothing: just zip or unzip it to whatever style or length desired.
Also shown below is his glove dress. Not sure about the functionality but for sure, it will turn some heads.
by Eric Goldstein
Great story from Robin at Design Galleria – around a visual store installation (nationwide) sure to turn heads.
Enjoy the story and enjoy their “Word of the Day around Design”. Click here to read the story.
Another aspect of Anthropologie’s branding efforts is their catalog. I personally made the statement this week “THIS is the kind of photography I really wish I could shoot”. Natural lighting, or the appearance of natural light, soft skin tones, art direction is really solid, issue after issue – overall, a tremendous brand synched up with their in-store experience.
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