YOU JUST HAVE TO FIGHT THE OTHER FIRST-CLASS PASSENGERS FOR ONE OF THE THREE SEATS.
On Virgin, I’ve appreciated my fair share of soothing purple lighting and touch-screen drink ordering. But for my next cocktail in the sky, I really want to visit their first-class cabin. In a design collaboration of Virgin Atlantic and VW+BS, first-class passengers from NYC to London will have the opportunity to walk not onto a plane, but into a glowing, spacious bar situated right inside the door, fitted like a Tetris piece against passengers’ seats.
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VW+BS’s Ian Macready tells Co.Design.
“Air travel used to be exciting and rare and we wanted to bring some of that excitement back. We were very much influenced by the rise of the pop up bar and the new speakeasy. We wanted to create a space that created a different dynamic for the passenger rather than just the straightforward bar shape. It should be a part of the aircraft that encourages interaction, that blurs slightly the boundary between the crew and the passenger, and that allows for places to stand, to sit, to lean and to perch.”
The atmosphere is meant to focus on the “immaterial” in which every surface reflects light like a JJ Abrams film, from the polished aluminum stools to the space’s champagne lacquered finish. It’s a mix of plastic, stone, and metal--all punctuated by color-changing LEDs to set the mood--combining to create an ethereal bar experience that might only make sense at 30,000 feet.
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Macready writes.
“The futuristic aesthetic was very much influenced by aviation. The way the project evolved was a very specific response to being up in the sky and does not necessarily work elsewhere, except possibly on a high-speed train or at the top of a new skyscraper. The language doesn’t have context to anything else on the ground.”
But the design isn’t just an opulent statement of aviation aesthetics; it’s a glitzy red herring for the entire clinical, safety-regulated flight experience. Few will even realize that the bar serves two lives, storing ice buckets, spirits, and stemware for entertainment, but also revealing oxygen kits and wheelchair storage for safety and comfort.
Indeed, what’s most impressive about Virgin’s new bar isn’t that it fits on a plane; it’s that it might not fit anywhere else.
COMMENTARY: That's what I call a cool bar. Drinking a Mai-Tai at 35,000 feet in a new Boeing 787 is going to be a thrill. I would love to fly Virgin Atlantic. All of their planes have names. For some incredible images of Virgina Atlantic's planes and world routes, click HERE.
NUMBERS AND BULLET POINTS AREN’T THE ONLY THINGS DRIVING EXECUTIVE DECISION MAKING. AND PRETTY PICTURES WON’T GET YOU THERE EITHER. BOTH DESIGNERS AND MBAS HAVE A LOT TO LEARN.
This year marks the third anniversary of the Rotman Design Challenge. It started out as a commendable experiment by the school’s Business Design Club to expose MBAs at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management to the value of design methods in business problem solving. This year, the competition drew teams from a few other MBA schools and some of the best design schools in North America. As a final-round judge, I had a front-row seat to the five best solutions to the competition’s challenge: To help TD Bank foster lifelong customer relationships with students and recent graduates while encouraging healthy financial behaviors.
Both this year and last--the two years that Rotman invited other schools to participate--business school students were slaughtered by the design school students. Of the 12 Rotman teams this year, not one of them made the final round. And while only seven of the 23 competing teams were from design schools (including California College of Arts, Ontario College of Art and Design, and the University of Cincinnati), design teams scooped the top three places in the competition, doing significantly better than their MBA counterparts. So what does this tell us?
Product design and development
It might tell us that MBAs significantly underestimate the skill and expertise a designer brings to the table. After all, about 80 MBA students volunteered their evenings and weekends, believing they had a chance of winning a design competition with minimal, if any, design training. Would you go toe-to-toe with even a purple belt in jiu jitsu having never taken a lesson? While the typical design-school competitor has (at the least) studied the design process in depth for several semesters and practiced it in co-ops and internships, for many MBA students, this was their very first exposure to the discipline. So while we should applaud the organizers’ efforts to open MBA eyes to the importance and value of design in solving business problems, it seems that even its most forward-thinking students may not have fully digested that design is a serious pursuit that requires serious training.
The competition outcome might also tell us that designers have reason to be encouraged. With only 15 minutes to convince a skeptical panel of experienced professionals about a new idea that doesn’t exist in the world today, they fared significantly better than their MBA counterparts. Why? Because they shared real user insights to engage us emotionally, used narrative and stories to compel us, drew sketches and visualizations to inspire us, and simplified the complex to focus us. It’s proof positive that numbers and bullet points, while important, aren’t necessarily what drive executive decision making.
Finally, it tells us that we still have a long way to go to develop business professionals who both appreciate and can engage the tools of design effectively. Rotman gets kudos for taking a step in the right direction. But a few workshops and an extracurricular competition won’t produce business leaders with real design-thinking skills. Business education must be completely redefined to include the best, most appropriate principles of design in every curriculum. Marketing classes should teach a deep reverence for the user in context and the power of observational research methods. Finance classes should teach the art of storytelling and information design. Strategy classes should teach systems thinking and synthesis. If the goal is to create great "hybrid thinkers" who will have real impact, design should not be tacked on to existing business education but infused throughout it.
I’m not letting design schools off the hook either. While design students fared much better than their MBA counterparts that Saturday afternoon, I should point out that only the winning team from the Institute of Design at IIT actually charged a fee for the service they developed (a fact that was not overlooked by my final-round co-judge Ray Chun, the senior vice president of retail banking at TD). Some competitors were able to offer a vague notion that their ideas would generally create economic value, but crisp articulations of a profit model and underlying assumptions were hard to come by.
And I was less than impressed with the business-thinking skills of designers the following Monday morning, when I interviewed 10 of them at the Institute of Design in Chicago for jobs at Doblin. To most candidates, I asked of the ideas they presented in their portfolios, “But how does it make money? Who will pay for that? How much would you need to sell to be profitable?” and was met with far too many blank expressions when I did so. Design schools have a long way to go to integrate good business thinking into their programs. In order to make their value known to the world, designers need to speak the language of business--that’s where great ideas get funded and developed. Design education needs as much of an overhaul as business education if we are to benefit from the talents of design thinkers in the business world.
I hope that we see meaningful reinvention of both design and business education so that the business world can realize the true value of design thinking. Until that happens, Rotman’s Business Design Club would be wise to require challenge teams to comprise both designers and MBAs. At least it would level the playing field, and it may improve the educational experience for both--assuming each can decipher what the other is saying.
COMMENTARY: I could've predicted that a designer would win a product design contest over an MBA, no matter what school he or she attended. You're talking about two different brain types--Type A (serious business, marketing, lawyers) versus Type B (creative types like musicians, artists, engineers and designers).
I agree that combining elements of design into a graduate business program would be a great idea. It would certainly open the graduate student in business, finance and marketing to the importance of good design in designing products, attracting the consumer and being able to compete in the marketplace.
Graduate programs would certainly be more interesting than just debits and credits, and boring case studies. Design is very important whether you are marketing a line of fashion apparel, accessories, or mobile devices like smartphones or tablet computers.
I don't think you need too much proof to convince people that good design wins over the consumer. Apple has clearly demonstrated that simple, elegant and well engineered products increase perceived value and win over consumers, and that they are willing to pay premium prices.
I spent several years in the advertising agency business, and having worked in such a creative environment, learned the importance of design and creativity from an advertising perspective. Even an inferior product can be made to look and sound good, and from a marketing perspective this is very important in communicating with your marketplace.
According to the Rotman School of Management, a team from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) emerged as the winner of the 2012 Rotman Design Challenge. The competition was held at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School on Management on March 24, 2011. The IIT team narrowly edged out a team from OCAD University who won the competition in 2011.
Teams from the Darden School of Business, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NYU Stern, California College of the Arts, Illinois Institute of Technology, OCAD University, the Rotman School and UofT’s Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design presented their ideas on developing concepts and products which will shape students’ financial behavior that will lead to a more sustainable and economically viable adult life.
Here are the Top 3:
Winner - Team Beta (Lauren Braun, John Shin, Helen Wills, Jorge Angarita, and Janice Wong) from Illinois Institute of Technology won the competition with their TD Stacks engagement model.
2nd Place - The A-Team, (Jen Chow, Josina Vink, Jessica Mills, Martin Ryan, and Phouphet Sihavong), from OCADU, last year winners of the Rotman Design Challenge, placed second with their TD Table Talk platform.
3rd Place - FabFore, (Ben McCammon, Uma Maharaj, Eric Leo Blais, and Ana Matic), also from OCADU placed third with TD BranchOut.
Martin Ryan of The A-Team said.
“Competitions like the Rotman Design Challenge are vital to the future of graduate education in business and design. They are the closest students get to real life experimentation with the evolving mindsets and toolsets of innovation, and how they can be best put into practice to deliver both human and business value.“
This was the first year participants, visitors and judges were also able to cast their vote as part of the people’s choice awards for:
The Best Story, won by OCADU’s FabFore.
Most Fun Presentation award to Team Beta from IIT.
Most Disruptive Idea won by OCADU’s The A-Team.
Lauren Braun speaking on behalf of the Beta team said.
“We're so grateful to have been part of the event this year. The chance to compete against such a diverse group of schools was both challenging and rewarding. The exposure to different perspectives and problem-solving methods left a lasting impression.”
Plans are already underway for the next Rotman Design Challenge as it continues to develop as one of the premier international venue for sharing best business design practices and solving wicked problems.
Josina Vink of The A-Team said.
“There is so much we can gain from sharing our unique approaches to thinking through these sorts of complex challenges.”
TD Bank Group was the lead sponsor of the 2012 Rotman Design Challenge
The Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto is redesigning business education for the 21st century with a curriculum based on Integrative Thinking. Located in the world’s most diverse city, the Rotman School fosters a new way to think that enables the design of creative business solutions. The School is currently raising $200 million to ensure Canada has the world-class business school it deserves. For more information, visit http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca.
Kengo Kuma's ultra-cool new Japanese Starbucks located in Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan (Click Image To Enlarge)
Starbucks recently commissioned starchitectKengo Kuma to design an outpost in Dazaifu, a small city in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture, that, with walls covered in a matrix of wood planks, is a striking departure from the company’s typical uninspired (if familiarly friendly) interiors filled with tacky pendant lighting and faux-wood finishes.
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And that’s the point. Starbucks shares a history with a host of other American companies that have plunked its cookie-cutter stores into countries around the world. But the coffee empire is now becoming more sensitive to cultural differences--and designing its branches to reflect regional tastes. Earlier this year, it opened an experimental shop in Amsterdam, a showcase of slow-brew coffee, local craftsmanship, and eco-friendly furnishings. And according to The New York Times, Starbucks is investing millions in making over hundreds of its stores in France to appeal to coffee aficionados who favor the personalized atmosphere of cafés.
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Kuma’s interior for the Starbucks in Dazaifu is a pearl in a growing strand of customized spaces--one that is an outgrowth of the architect’s fondness for natural materials. More than 2,000 wooden batons line the 2,260-square-foot shop, creating a loosely woven lattice that extends beyond the storefront’s edge. A few signs, nestled into the wooden structure, are the only outward indicators of the brand.
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According to Kengo Kuma and Associates, the design is meant to blend with the other buildings along the road to Dazaifu Tenmangu, Fukuoka’s most famous shrine, dedicated to the god of learning. “Along the main path to the shrine, there are traditional Japanese buildings in one or two stories,” the firm’s press release states. “The project aimed to make a structure that harmonizes with such townscape, using a unique system of weaving thin woods.” And yet with such a strong sculptural focal point, one can hardly imagine it blending in.
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COMMENTARY: Kengo Kuma's use of natural wood in a beautiful and intricate matrix of wooden planks is an artform that is so very Japanese. It's almost as if you were inside a giant wooden basket or tornado pattern looked sideways. It definitely gives this Japanese Starbucks artsy class, something you just don't find in any Starbucks here in the U.S. In a blog post dated March 8, 2012, I covered Starbucks new store in Amsterdam. That store made liberal use of natural woods throughout the store. The ceiling was absolutely beautiful. When is Starbucks going to start doing the same thing here in the U.S.?
USING TECHNIQUES IMPORTED FROM TOYOTA, HERMAN MILLER HAS ACHIEVED STUNNING EFFICIENCY WHILE EMPOWERING ITS WORKERS.
Amidst all the doom-and-gloom about the death of American manufacturing, the one, simple fact that’s usually forgotten is that we’re still the world’s No. 1 manufacturer. No joke, and not a typo: We produce one fifth of the world’s total manufacturing output.
Herman Miller factory worker assembles Aeron chair (Click Image To Enlarge)
Herman Miller puts all Aeron chairs through stringent quality control tests to insure quality and reliability (Click Image To Enlarge)
Herman Miller puts all Aeron chairs through stringent quality control tests. Here test chairs backs are pulled by cables numerous times to insure quality and reliability (Click Image To Enlarge)
The difference between how Americans once made stuff and how that stuff is made today is that manufacturing in the U.S. has reached a stunning level of efficiency that can be hard to really comprehend. Unless, of course, you visit a factory like the one that makes Herman Miller’s Aeron chair. We recently did, and saw a process which has yielded a 500% increase in productivity and a 1,000% increase in quality since 1998. Those numbers sound made up, but bear with me for a second, and I’ll explain.
The Kaizen ("continual improvement") process that yielded all those results was imported directly from Toyota, in the 1990s. At the time, Herman Miller was hoping to bring down costs in order to stay competitive across the world. And Toyota was hoping to build better relationships in the U.S., as part of its effort to build more cars in America. Herman Miller’s present EVP of operations, Ken Goodson, eventually cajoled Toyota into making Herman Miller one of the first companies in a pilot program to teach American companies Japanese manufacturing techniques. Toyota eventually sent Hajime Oba, a legendary manufacturing genius, to lead the lessons. (Oba himself, humble to the end, prefers that he be called sensei or coach.)
The sloped feeder that delivers chair bases to the worker use gravity rather than machinery to do the job--thus decreasing the breakdowns. (Click Image To Enlarge)
Herman Miller assembly worker places paper wrapping on completed Aeron chair for packing (Click Image To Enlarge)
Herman Miller assembly worker takes notes on production performance to insure everything is going according to plan (Click Image To Enlarge)
Kaizen, as many people will tell you, isn’t about grand ideas or huge structural changes. Rather, it’s about tiny improvements that accrue over time. So for Herman Miller, these involve adjustments as minute as the placement of a bin of washers so someone has to reach over 6 inches less, or the height of an assembly line, so people don’t waste a fraction of a second bending over.
The process is as important as the results: It’s the individual employees on the line that are suggesting these improvements. At Herman Miller, they average 1,200 "plan-do-check acts"--that is, little proposed changes to the assembly process--ever year. Eric VanDam, Herman Miller's director of operations in seating says.
"The biggest thing is to empower people to change the work in ways that matter to them."
All of these tiny improvements, in the course of 13 years, have meant that a new Aeron chair, which used to come off the line every 82 seconds, is now boxed and finished every 17 seconds. A decade ago, an Aeron took more than 600 seconds in total to build. Today, it’s about 340. Meanwhile, safety metrics have improved by a factor of 6. Quality metrics have improved by a factor of 10. A single Aeron takes one fifth of the labor to make that it once did. The actual factory itself is 10 times smaller.
Today, Herman Miller is doing far more with the same labor force that was once producing a sum total of five different office chairs. Today, they produce 17, using roughly the same number of people. And all the while, lead times have shrunk from two months to as little as 10 days.
You might think that all this means that Herman Miller should be running into a practical limit in how efficient they can be. But they’re still getting improvements of a quarter to a half of a second at a time, month by month. They’re on track this year to beat all their records--again.
COMMENTARY: I wish I could put together a new office chair in 340 seconds. If you have ever had to put together an office chair, or even a wodden desk, it can be a very time-consuming and frustrating experience, even with a set of written instructions to work from. SmartFurniture, Herman Miller's San Francisco distributor, makes it look easy in this video.
I do love Herman Miller office furniture, especially those ergonomic and comfortable Aeron chairs. I view them as a form of art, not just office furniture. Plus, they are 100% made in the U.S.A. They are a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for. Herman Miller products are sold only through authorized office furniture distributors.
The basic price for the Aeron chair is $629.00, and can be customized with lumbar support adjustment, leather arm rests, fully-adjustable arm support and other goodies. It costs $50.00 extra to buy one fully-assembled. Beware of cheap foreign imitators. There are several of them out there, but they are just not the same thing.
Courtesy of an article dated March 28, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design
Featured in the Swiss architectural magzine Hochparterre’s “Raumtraum”section, these visualizations of future architectures employ the accidental in computer driven manufacturing processes.
Based on iconic housing shapes, these buildings were intended as prototypes for mass-customization. Yet, as things go with computerized manufacturing, there have been misplots. The cartridge was not loaded properly. The concrete was set to the wrong parameters or scale. The printer module falsely translated a data set…
These misprints are the rejects of this early process, and they are now being used as shared homes by elderly people from the former squatter scene.
Concrete Misplots - Marginal archictures of the future by German designer Zeitguised (Click Images To Enlarge)
COMMENTARY: I love the beauty of designs of all times, but when I first saw Zeitguised's "Concrete Misplots," I knew that I had write a piece about them in my blog.
Zeitguised describes his monolithic "Concrete Misplots" as the random outcome of an accident in computerized design of the architecture of the future. However, there is nothing really random in the art form itself.
Concrete Misplots took some work on the part of Zeitguised. We are so used to pouring concrete into slabs or using cement in stucco to cover the outside of homes, then adding some texture to give it surface tone, character and uniqueness, but Zeitguised is on the very outer edge of "concrete design," if there is such a thing.
The textures in Zeitguised's Concrete Misplots are not minute or subtle, but thick, robust, undulating, powerful and definitely not uniform straight angles as we are accustomed to seeing, but everything still fits together whether its the stacked clay balls design of image #2, the deflated rubber inner tubes of image #4 or the undulating intestinal tract design of image #5. All of it has form and purpose, so it is definitely not "misplotted" by any means. This is true concrete art on steroids for lack of a better description.
I do hope that Zeitguised will not stop with just designing Concrete Misplots prints, but actually take his concrete art to the next level--building full-scale concrete housing that incorporate his concrete art form. Certainly there must be a gifted architect out there who can colloborate with Zeitguised and build the real thing.
Frustro, a 3D typeface that will play tricks with your eyes and blow your mind (Click Image To Enlarge)
If you like typography and appreciate the mind-bending genius of M.C. Escher, this typeface has no equal: An alphabet made entirely of “undecidable” figures, two-dimensional objects that look like 3-D projections but, on closer examination, are geometrically impossible.
Frustro, the 3D typeface that plays tricks with your eyes and will blow your mind (Click Images To Enlarge)
Frustro is the work of Martzi Hegedűs, a 25-year-old graphic designer at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts who was inspired to create a typeface inspired by Escher. He tells Co.Design.
“At the beginning I did not expect Frustro to be used. However, I started to make it as a computer font just for the challenge.”
The principle behind the Frustro 3D typeface is the optical illusion created by two competing planes (the two typefaces above) are combined within the same typeface (the single typeface below). The mind becomes confused and the viewer sees the "R" letter differently depending on which plane it focuses its eyes on. If you focus your eyes on the top part of the bottom "R" the letter tips downward. If you focus your eyes on the bottom part of the "R" the letter tips upward. Weird, isn't it? (Click Image To Enlarge)
He’s now finalizing an OpenType version, which he hopes to make available more widely. Hegedűs has done a fine job of producing perfectly legible letters that still meet the "impossible" criteria.
More Frustro 3D typeface images and the original concept for the typeface (Click Images To Enlarge)
COMMENTARY: Boy, that Frustro 3D typeface really does play tricks with your mind. I would love to do at least one blog post using Frustro just to blow my readers minds and get the feedback.
Courtesy of an article dated March 28, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design
INSPIRED BY "CINEMAGRAPHS," FLIXEL LETS YOU SNAP PHOTOS AND TRANSFORM THEM INTO HIP ANIMATIONS WITH JUST A FEW SWIPES.
If you’re as big a fan of Kevin Burg and Jamie Beck’s animated-GIF "Cinemagraphs" as we are, you’ve probably wondered: How could I make some of those myself? To use Apple’s trademarked-but-annoyingly-useful phrase, there’s an app for that. It’s called Flixel, and it transforms your iPhone’s camera into a Cinemagraph-making marvel.
Flixel co-founder Mark Homza told Co.Design.
"We were so enthralled by Cinemagraphs but burdened by the complexity and time required to create them. With Flixel, we wanted to propose a creative experience that blended simplicity, artistic integrity, and pushed the boundaries of iPhone imagery."
Indeed, part of what made Burg and Beck’s Cinemagraphs so bewitching was their subtlety -- and the technical skill that no doubt went into achieving it. How can you automate and package that process into an app that any schmoe can use?
Flixel animated image of a train moving past a passenger platform (Click Image To Enlarge)
Amazingly, Flixel pulls this feat off. Simply snap a photo just like you would normally, and the magic elves inside the app capture a handful of video frames, process them, and even image-stabilize everything for you. But the real genius of Flixel’s interaction design reveals itself when it’s time to animate the GIF. Rubbing your fingertip over the image animates just that portion of the frame, so you can create subtle effects like a candle flame flickering or a cat twitching its tail. (Note: Flixel didn’t invent this clever interaction, but does refine it in comparison to similar apps like Kinotopicand Cinemagram.) If you want to get fancy, you can choose starting and ending frames for your animation, decide to repeat it or loop it back and forth (the latter avoids distracting "jump cuts"--a nice touch), and even apply Instagram-esque filters (some of which cost money--well played, guys).
The app bungles the "first impression" user experience a bit by displaying a social-network-like feed of other people’s Flixels when you launch the app. (I’d have preferred to see the camera function as the default launch screen--I don’t want to miss capturing any Cinemagraph-worthy moments.) But other than that minor quibble, using Flixel is a delight. The results aren’t as pristine-looking as Burg and Bell’s Cinemagraphs, but the ease of making them with Flixel far outweighs any other concerns. It’s the first photo-enhancing app I’ve seen since Instagram to really add unique value to the cameraphone experience. Your first Flixel might be crude, but you’ll have so much fun doing it that you’ll immediately want to make another one. And another, and another. Cat photos, baby pics, and party shots may never be the same.
Flixel of someone holding a camera and taking pictures while another individual uses his smartphone (Click Image To Enlarge)
So is Flixel just a crass "product-ization" of Bell and Burg’s innovative art form? To their credit, Mark Homza and CEO Phillipe LeBlanc acknowledge right on Flixel’s homepage that the app was "inspired by Cinemagraphs." Homza says.
"The app in a way, is an homage to [Bell and Burg’s] work. The goal is to propagate the art form and make it accessible to a mainstream audience. It would be an honour to work with them and get their feedback."
Despite these good intentions, some will inevitably say Flixel is a ripoff. Others--like me--will say even if it is, who cares? This app is awesome.
Update: Some of our commenters have mentioned that if Flixel is "a ripoff" of anything, it’s earlier apps like Cinemagram and Kinotopic. I checked both of them out and while the interface conventions of these apps are very similar, Flixel’s feels uniquely well-designed. Kinotopic forces you to jump through account-setup hoops before you can even experiment with the camera--a big UX fail. And Cinemagram’s interface, while responsive, is rough and one-dimensional compared to Flixel. Cinemagram is presented as a video app rather than a photo app, so it lets you record long clips--and forces you to throw most of that material away before creating an animated GIF. (Then why let me record that much in the first place?) Flixel’s snapshot-like UX makes more sense: you capture a photo--one moment--and paint video-like effects onto it in a nonlinear, opt-in interface (versus Cinemagram’s card-like interface, which pushes you through every step, including optional afterthoughts like color filtration, whether you want to or not).
Animated image of snow falling on the ground using Cinemagram's app (Click Image To Enlarge)
Animated image of a cat scratching his ear using Knotopic's app (Click Image To Enlarge)
COMMENTARY: That's what I call a cool iPhone app. Wish I could tryout this new on-the-fly GIF-making app. Too bad that I'm a loyal BlackBerry phone user, have been for years.
Courtesy of an article dated March 26, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design
A NEW COFFEEHOUSE IN AMSTERDAM WILL BE THE TESTING GROUND FOR IDEAS THAT WILL FIND THEIR WAY TO THE REST OF EUROPE.
Starbucks is known for its unwavering consistency, from its unoffensively homey store décor to its burnt-coffee smell. But this Thursday, the brand that normalized the $4 latte is opening an experimental concept store in Amsterdam that offers a glimpse of the Starbucks of the future--at least in Europe.
The historic Amsterdamsche Bank, a landmark building on Amsterdam's famous Rembrandt Square is the site of Starbuck's concept store (Click Image To Enlarge)
Close-up of the historic Amsterdamsche Bank, which has been redeveloped into a commercial center, and is now the site of Starbuck's concept store in Amsterdam (Click Image To Enlarge)
Located in the former vault of the historic Amsterdamsche Bank on Rembrandtplein (Rembrandt Square), on the ground floor of The Bank, a commercial and retail development, the new Starbucks concept store will be a showcase for sustainable interior design and slow coffee brewing, with small-batch reserve coffees and Europe’s first-ever Clover, a high-end machine that brews one cup at a time. But the most radical departure is in the aesthetic: the multilevel space is awash in recycled and local materials; walls are lined with antique Delft tiles, bicycle inner tubes, and wooden gingerbread molds; repurposed Dutch oak was used to make benches, tables, and the undulating ceiling relief consisting of 1,876 pieces of individually sawn blocks. The Dutch-born Liz Muller, Starbucks concept design director, commissioned more than 35 artists and craftsmen to add their quirky touches to the 4,500-square-foot space. The new concept store will officially be open for business on Friday, March 9, 2012.
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The designers took great care to retain some of the building’s original details, such as the 1920s marble floor and the vault’s exposed concrete. But while the design respects the bank’s architectural history, the store’s overall look approaches that of a theater, with the baristas visible from every vantage point of the multi-tiered spaces (which also cameo as stages for local bands, poetry readings, and other cultural events). The coffeehouse will also use social media to communicate relevant moments throughout the day--for example, by sending out a tweet when warm cookies roll out of its in-house bakery. The concepts that go over well in Amsterdam will find their way to other stores across Europe. They may even filter into the highly individualized local concept stores that Starbucks has been stealthily opening in the United States, including one made from shipping containers outside of Seattle.
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This isn’t the first instance of a quintessentially American brand revamping its approach to appeal to foreign tastes and markets. Check my other blog posts dated December 6, 2011 about the new Burger King concept restaurant in Singapore and November 22, 2011 about the new McDonald's concept restaurant in Paris, France.
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COMMENTARY: Now that's my idea of what a Starbuck's store should look like. BIG. Roomy, beautifully decorated, slick, modern and definitely a social watering hole. Not the little 1,100 square foot stores we are accustomed to here in the U.S. If you are ever in Amsterdam, and want to checkout the new Starbucks concept store in Rembrandt Square here's the location on Google Maps.
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I love the location for Starbucks new concept store in The Bank located on Rembrandt Square. I can definitely see myself sitting under a tree doing my blogging while drinking a cup of my favorite brew.
Courtesy of an article dated March 6, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design and the press release dated March 6, 2012 issued by Starbucks
Nike's lead footwear designer tells Fast Company about creating the 2012 Air Jordan with jazz-age styling.
Nike’s 2012 version of their Air Jordan shoe will have wingtips--and what a brilliant pun that is--which we would have all labeled as anachronistic just a few days ago.
Nike Senior Footwear Designer Tom Luedecke tells Co.Design.
“The inspiration from the Zoot Era was important for us--as an anchor to focus on the Audacious, Confident and Daring Style that the Youth and entertainers brought forth during that time. We see a new wave of this mind-set today. It was a break with tradition, a bold departure from the status quo.”
It’s a hook for what’s maybe the most iconic shoe brand that uses little more than a Jordan icon to brand itself. Luedecke acknowledges that Air Jordans aren’t known for specific design cue carryovers from year to year or decade to decade, like your average Porsche, but are defined by “combining performance and soul” and “attention to the crafted details.”
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The new shoe is more modular than its predecessors, with the most premium version ($223) including two for inner sleeves and three new options for midsoles, meaning the shoe can be configured six different ways by play style. Thus, in the days of a hyper-competitive marketplace and increasingly fickle sneaker heads, the Jordan brand/Nike is opting for the strategy of mass customization--something akin to the Nike ID program, but this time, with the very fit of the shoe.
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The midsoles are branded to “fly through, fly over, or fly around opponents.” As a consumer, it’s a tough choice to make, inducing the Pokemon “gotta catch ‘em all” syndrome. I don’t even play ball at my local Y, but now I have an extreme compulsion to fly every which way my 12-inch vert will take me. In practical terms, Nike is offering various configurations and shock absorption, suggesting tacitly that every player probably shouldn’t be wearing the same shoe. Whereas a center may be more likely to land somewhat flat-footed (and thereby benefit from “Air Bag” heel to toe air pockets), a point guard flying for the hoop may be more likely to land hard on the heel (and thereby benefit from a “Nike Zoom” in the heel--tensile fibers within a pressurized bladder).
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Luedecke writes.
“A modular product allows our athletes to think creatively about their next game or practice, try out a different cushioning system or adjust the product to work for them in very specific situations. It is performance customization brought to life in footwear and puts the athlete in control of the fit and feel of the product.“
If nothing else, the customization looks fun, though let’s all acknowledge that it’s hard to imagine Dwyane Wade switching out a midsole before the last play of the game. He’s circled with his team around the coach during their final time out, studying a clipboard intently whilst hopping on one foot, sweaty particles of cotton sock dropping on the court while one of those dry mop assistants scurries around him to gather up the tidbits.
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But what a fantastic clause it would make in Wade’s next endorsement renewal.
COMMENTARY: Nike's Air Jordan 2012 modular and customizable basketball shoes have to be the best I have seen so far. I like the "zoot suit" inspired wing tip design, modular design and ability to customize the shoes for big and small basketball players and different playing situations. Nike has done a truly masterful job of combining great design, color, technical innovation and foot comfort into the design of these new shoes.
Here's Nike's official press release:
BEAVERTON, OR (February 7, 2012) – Today, Jordan Brand, a division of NIKE, Inc., unveiled the AIR JORDAN 2012, the 27th shoe in the AIR JORDAN franchise. The all-new AIR JORDAN 2012 is designed to encourage today’s athletes to rethink performance. This year’s model builds upon the AIR JORDAN 2011’s two midsole modular system by featuring two interchangeable inner sleeves and three interchangeable midsoles for performance customization. The AIR JORDAN 2012 DELUXE will be available in two colorways nationwide on Wednesday, February 8 for a suggested retail price of $223, with the AIR JORDAN 2012 Flight System launching on Saturday, February 25 for a suggested retail price of $180.
The AIR JORDAN 2012 draws inspirational cues from the legacy of Michael Jordan and continues to be one of the best performance shoes available by combining innovative technology and premium materials. The AIR JORDAN 2012’s modular system gives athletes the ability to customize for their unique playing styles and for fit preference by offering 6 different configurations.
"Through comprehensive research we saw an increasing need for footwear that could be customized to meet the needs of the world’s best athletes," said Tinker Hatfield, AIR JORDAN 2012 co-designer and Vice President, Special Projects and Creative Design for NIKE, Inc. "Last year’s AIR JORDAN 2011 began the modular story for the brand with two interchangeable midsoles, but we took it a step further this year by introducing two interchangeable inner sleeves and three interchangeable midsoles to help players 'fly through', 'fly over' or 'fly around' their opponents."
For the player that would like to 'fly around' their opponent, the green midsole features a Nike Zoom unit in the heel for lightweight and responsive cushioning. The blue 'fly over' midsole incorporates a Nike Zoom unit in the forefoot and an encapsulated Air Sole unit in the heel for the perfect blend of responsiveness and impact protection. For the player that would like to 'fly through' their opponent, the orange midsole houses a full-length encapsulated Air Sole unit that provides lightweight cushioning and impact protection for hard landings in the paint.
The AIR JORDAN 2012 also features two interchangeable inner sleeves, one for the player that needs to be quicker on the court and needs more freedom of motion in the ankle, while the high inner sleeve provides more protection around the foot and advanced ankle support.
With legendary shoe designer Tinker Hatfield and Tom Luedecke, Senior Footwear Designer for Jordan Brand at the helm, the shoe's design continues the tradition of using premium materials on the upper by combining Flywire technology with rich, full-grain leather overlays for lightweight support and a premium crafted look. In addition, the AIR JORDAN 2012 features an innovative "Flight Carbon" plate in the midfoot that is made with a combination of glass and carbon fiber and is contoured to the natural shape of the foot for optimal support.
"As a basketball player, I always wanted a shoe that adapted with my game," said Michael Jordan. "On any given night I had to adjust my style of play for countless reasons and the AIR JORDAN 2012 meets those needs with six different configurations. I’m proud to say there is not another shoe like it in the market."
The AIR JORDAN 2012 FLIGHT SYSTEM will be customizable at retail based on the consumers style of play and will feature one inner sleeve and one midsole for a suggested retail price of $180 and will be available on Saturday, February 25. In addition, the AIR JORDAN 2012 will be available on Nike iD on Tuesday, February 14 for a suggested retail price of $205.
AIR JORDAN 2012 DELUXE information
The AIR JORDAN 2012 DELUXE will feature the two inner sleeves and three midsole options allowing for six different shoe configurations for a suggested retail price of $223. The AIR JORDAN 2012 DELUXE will be encased in a premium three-tier package:
• The top drawer will feature the AIR JORDAN 2012 DELUXE outershell with one high and one low inner sleeve option.
• Once you dertermine your fit, the second drawer will house the additional high and low inner sleeves.
• The third and final drawer highlights the three midsole options to allow you to customize your flight.
• Options include: Fly Around (Quick), Fly Over (Air) and Fly Through (Explosive)
About Jordan Brand
A division of NIKE, Inc., Jordan Brand is a premium brand of footwear, apparel and accessories inspired by the dynamic legacy, vision and direct involvement of Michael Jordan. The Jordan Brand made its debut in 1997 and has grown into a complete collection of performance and lifestyle products. The Jordan Brand remains active in the community through its corporate responsibility program, WINGS for the Future, which inspires and enables youth to play sports.
You can view Nike's entire Air Jordan 2012 image gallery by clicking HERE.
Courtesy of an article dated January 10, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design
The aggressive playfulness that characterizes a lot of office spaces nowadays, from Facebook to Google, has always struck us as vaguely infantilizing and, above all, misguided: Your IT guys don’t need a beach-themed break room, they need a quiet place to work so they can fix your damned computer. But here’s one company where a fun environment makes complete sense and, in fact, it’d be counterproductive any other way: Lego.
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These are folks who play for a living, after all. (Lucky jerks.) So for Lego PMD in Billund, Denmark--where the toy giant develops new products--Danish designers Rosan Bosch and Rune Fjord created a 21,500-square-foot big-kid funhouse. There’s an aerial walkway covered in blue padding to resemble a puffy cloud. There are cartoonishly oversized wall graphics, including one of the Lego man, and lush bonsai gardens built into the tables. There’s even a slide. (For getting to meetings faster?)
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The idea is to evoke in employees the same sense of wonder that illuminates childhood, the better for understanding their pint-sized customers (and, in turn, designing for them). The designers say.
“Where does work stop and imagination start? Through the physical design, the children’s fantasy worlds become part of the everyday, creating the setting for the creation of new design for new games and play.”
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And it’s not like Lego PMD is all play and no work. The office has a mix of collaborative spaces (open meeting rooms, show-and-tell podiums) and private rooms (individual offices, enclosed meeting rooms, a “Fun Zone” where Lego’s tiniest employees test new models) to support the different stages of product development. Because in the end, creating fun is serious business.
COMMENTARY: That's what I call a really cool place to work. I bet the software engineers and hackers at Google and Facebook would get a bit jealous knowing that Lego PMD did one up on them. I love that slide tube from the mezzanine to the lower fantasy room office area.
Courtesy of an article dated February 10, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design
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