• Why The Audrey Gadget Flopped : NPR
  “After tons of testing and research, The Audrey, a kitchen computer designed for women, promised to be the next big thing. It flopped. Alex Cohen talks with Don Fotsch, co-creator of The Audrey about why the device failed.”
  Utterly content-free; they talk about how great Audrey is and simply blame the bubble bursting for the failure. It was the economy, it wasn’t us. I’d like to see a better analysis. Anyone got one?

In our recent AIGA Gain article about noticing, we relate how the process of noticing once and then noticing again is a way to find patterns and uncover themes.

During my recent trip to the UK, I took this picture of a discarded banana peel.

I didn’t notice other bananas, but someone else did and they’ve started the London Bananas Project, a fantastic archive of banana peels in the London public space.

When I arrived I noticed something straight away: there’s a lot of banana skins around.

I see them everywhere. They’re languishing on doorsteps, hanging out in the middle of the road, dangling off street signs, peeking out of piles of garbage, reclining in the middle of the sidewalk, riding the bus for free. A great number of them are bright yellow as if they’re fresh and have just been dropped, although they appear in all states of decay. I don’t know how or why they caught my attention, but within a week of being in London I couldn’t get my mind off these banana skins. Where were they coming from? Who was eating all these bananas and leaving the skins around? Why was it always bananas I was seeing, and not, say, oranges? Was it a sign? Was there something sinister going on? Apparently these little hazards were a covert operation going completely unnoticed; everyone I asked about it said that they had never noticed anything of the sort and looked at me as if I was nuts.

That’s a great description of the power of noticing (even if it doesn’t go anywhere, it’s still a great set of muscles to keep flexing).

Here’s bananas in Bangalore:

See also: Street Mattress

Tags: banana, bangalore, fruit, london, noticing, patterns, peel, produce, street

• Transcript of Frontline: The Merchants of Cool
  Douglas Rushkoff’s 2001 PBS special that journeys into the world of the marketers of popular culture to teenagers
• Transcript of Frontline: The Persuaders
  Douglas Rushkoff’s 2004 PBS special about “What’s going on in the world of today’s marketers and advertisers? What are the new and surprising methods they’re using to decipher who we are and what we want? And where is this taking us?”
• Tricking People into Doing the Right Thing
  I don’t agree with the term “tricking” in the headline of the article, but some interesting examples of persuasion around social issues (teen pregnancy, smoking, messy urination, etc.)
• Bell Labs gets out of the fundamental physics research game
  Alcatel-Lucent, the parent company of Bell Labs, is pulling out of basic science, material physics and semiconductor research and will instead be focusing on more immediately marketable areas such as networking, high-speed electronics, wireless, nanotechnology and software. The idea is to align the research work in the Lab closer to areas that the parent company is focusing on, says Peter Benedict, spokesperson for Bell Labs and Alcatel-Lucent Ventures. “In the new innovation model, research needs to keep addressing the need of the mother company.”

• Some thoughts about the importance of and access to “think time”
  …The list that follows is reassuring for those who crave some repose without the need for an ashram. The “oases of thought” Buzan hears about are commonly: the shower; the bath; the loo; shaving; walking in nature; in bed (before sleep, in the middle of the night, or first thing); looking at water; listening to classical music and long-distance travel, such as running or driving. ..
• Confessions of a Superhero
  Documentary that follows the lives, history, home life, and motivations of four “characters” on Hollywood Boulevard, people who dress up like Batman, Superman et. al and are tipped for posing for pictures. More than a fascinating look at a subculture, it digs deep into the ordinary aspects of less-than-conventional individuals and raises questions around the Hollywood dream, identity, character and so on. Fantastic.
• Hands on a Hard Body available on Google Video
  This is an excellent documentary about an endurance competition that pits twenty-four contestants against each other to see who can keep their hand on a pickup truck for the longest amount of time. Whoever endures the longest without leaning on the truck or squatting wins the truck. If I’m not mistaken it’s been out of print for a while.

During a recent trip to Florida I took some time to check out the Disney-founded community of Celebration.

The experience was much more subtle that I had expected; perhaps the true nature emerges more through residency than driving through. Overall, it felt a lot like The Truman Show – a set that made everything a bit too perfect and while one can appreciate just how nice everything is, it lacks a certain organic naturalness.

The town theater is achingly new, yet completely retro. There’s no funk here.

The downtown area is beautiful, branding is kept to a minimum.

Starbucks, the Americanized faux-Italian experience (so faux and so Americanized that you can enjoy it without knowing where it comes from) seems to fit right in (but then Starbucks is the ultimate brand for fitting in everywhere and anywhere).

These electric vehicles were ubiquitous, some turned into rolling advertising vehicles (as has happened with the PT Cruiser, the New Beetle, the Mini, and the Smart Car). I imagine the retirement communities in Florida have a wider general adoption of those vehicles and that’s part of the reason they are seen in Celebration.

Chick-Fil-A branding at a church event.

And about 2 miles down the road, familiar sprawl returns, highlighting the contrast. I think that’s the tallest Starbucks sign I’ve ever seen.

Previously: Florida Faux, part 1

Also: Orlando pictures; Miami pictures.

Tags: architecture, branding, celebration, community, design, disney, electric car, electric vehicle, florida, logo, planning, segway, starbucks, vehicle

I got this thing in the mail from a company called Veer. The cover slip said: “A giant hand. Angsty Cats. Rioting Models.”

How could I not open it?

It turned out to be a huge advertisement poster. It was so big that once I’d unfolded it, I had to lay it on a chair.

It looked like such a pain in the ass to fold it up again that I left it lying there and went and made coffee.

I was standing in the living room again a few minutes later deciding what to do with my Saturday morning, and I started absentmindedly reading some of the copy on the poster.

It was like I’d created a Veer billboard in my living room.

There was a picture of a sweatshirt I thought was kind of cool. Turns out it’s for sale at Veer’s website. (Veer’s primary business is selling stock photography, fonts, and other graphic design resources.) Then, a description of an animated short that sounded interesting, free to view on the site.

Next thing I know, I’m on my way to Veer’s website, looking for the sweatshirt and the film. Wow. They really got me, didn’t they!

In consideration of the web’s enormous power and ubiquitous presence as a commercial tool, I think this is a testimony to the continuing importance of things you can touch, that interpose themselves in our three-dimensional spaces.

But the story’s not over…

Veer’s website is down.

At this point, I’ve been so adroitly manipulated from being a complete bystander to actively seeking out this company that I’m sure this shutdown itself is also part of the strategy: a way to get me to come back on Monday and talk to someone at Veer, hooked in just a little deeper by thinking I’ve serendipitously ended up with this 10% discount opportunity.

Now I’m caught up in this interesting meta-story–curious about Veer’s tactical moves, wondering if they are being as deeply strategic as I’m imagining?

This whole interaction is an object lesson in the complexity of moving a potential customer back and forth between realspace and webspace, and how many interesting ways there are to go about pursuing this objective.

We’ll see if I use the 10% discount to buy a sweatshirt.

Tags: advertisement, advertising, advertising methods, billboard, collateral, graphic design, interaction, internet, internet commerce, internet marketing, mail, manipulation, marketing, marketing collateral, marketing strategy, object lesson, poster, strategy, Veer, Veer.com, web

• Rotman magazine (PDF) with interview with Harry West from Continuum
  “Creating a product for people without studying them first simply doesn’t make any sense. The products we create are meant to help and serve people, and in order to do that we need to understand what people need, what they value and what their aspirations are, and use that understanding to drive the creative process.”

• Ignore That Logo Under the Tape! – Olympic brand “protection” taken to a silly extreme
  To ensure that only the companies that pay millions of dollars to be official Olympic sponsors enjoy the benefits of exposure in Olympic venues, organizers have covered the trademarks of nonsponsors with thousands of little swatches of tape.

  In media centers, dormitories and arena bathrooms, pieces of tape cover logos of fire extinguishers, light switches, thermostats, bedroom night tables, soap dispensers and urinals. The Taiden Industrial translation headsets in a large conference room have had their logos covered, as have the American Standard faucets in the bathrooms nearby, and the ThyssenKrupp escalators down the hall.

• Design Feaster: Noticing Power
  Nate Burgos on our AIGA GAIN piece on noticing: “Proactive noticing may reveal a vision.”

• Female police officers ’should get bulletproof bras’
  They are all emblazoned with the word “police” and made from cotton, polyester, elastic and some other synthetic materials, thickly padded and with no metal or plastic studs or fasteners.
• Padded underwear – front and back – for men
  Kerri Christman, owner of Butt For You, says the major client base for butt pads are seniors, models and HIV-positive men who’ve lost the fat in their butts from years of taking antiretroviral drugs. “We also get stunt men. And some celebrities, which I can’t name.” Silicone Body founder Pauline Rous, whose Package Booster will be included in gift bags at this year’s Latin Grammys, says she caters to another demographic. “We’re in San Diego, so we have the entire entertainment industry – models and actors. You know, if you see a perfectly shaped guy, I can tell you he’s wearing something.”

• Tattoo The Midget Has A Bigger Posse
  Tokyo, December 2007
• Meme Diffusion
  Awesome gallery – from the official site, no less – of bootleg stickers based on Andre The Giant Has A Posse. I’ve got photos, but no stickers.

I’ve developed a taste for expensive yogurt.

It started as a lark a few days ago, in a natural foods store near my home, when I saw Saint Benoit Yogurt for the first time. This single-serving yogurt comes in a miniaturized stoneware crock, colored and shaped like (what I imagine to be) a traditional European crock.

I figured I’d throw down the $3.99 for a Saint Benoit once—it seemed luxurious, and worth doing for the experience.

But lo, the Palmetto Organic Grocery has just opened directly across the street from our office, and guess what they carry?

As it turns out, Saint Benoit only costs $2.49 if you return one of the used crocks. Compared to the usual $0.99 for many other organic yogurts, this price is still awfully high, but if the reusable crock and local, sustainable production are an ecological improvement over the usual disposable plastic container and cross-country transport, that’s one inducement to pony up.

The bottom line for me is sensory, though. There’s something about the “old world-like experience” of holding that little crock and hearing the spoon clink on its side that is proving to be quite seductive.

It’s a triumph of interface design.

Tags: container, crock, disposable, disposable container, European, experience, interface design, local food, luxury, natural foods, Palmetto Organic Grocery, recycling, Saint Benoit, sustainable, yogurt

• The Secrets of Storytelling: Why We Love a Good Yarn (Scientific American)
  Article itself has no real point of view, but surveys some interesting research.
  To this day people spend most of their conversations telling personal stories and gossiping. A 1997 study by anthropologist/evolutionary biologist Robin Dunbar, at the University of Liverpool found that social topics accounted for 65 percent of speaking time among people in public places. Anthropologists note that storytelling could have also persisted in human culture because it promotes social cohesion among groups and serves as a valuable method to pass on knowledge to future generations. But some psychologists are starting to believe that stories have an important effect on individuals as well—the imaginary world may serve as a proving ground for vital social skills.
  …
  Preliminary research by Oatley and Mar suggests that stories may act as “flight simulators” for social life. A 2006 study hinted at a connection between the enjoyment of stories and better social abilities.
• History of the #1 foam hand
  Someday someone will produce my concept from 1998 – a foam #1 hand that you use for fun! cleaning around the house

Construction site, London, July 2008

The hook – a huge metal piece that moves through the site at all heights – is painted Day-Glo orange to increase the likelihood that people will see it, and avoid it.

Tags: color coding, construction, crane, day-glo, hook, london, orange, picker, safety, site, UK

Rack o’ seats, Tate Modern, London, July 2008

This is a nice touch: self-serve portable seating for your journey through an art museum.

Tags: art, london, museum, seating, tate modern, UK

I’m an occasional user of MyUPS (although their failure to offer a daily email or RSS update to track a package is ludicrous) and when visiting the site this week I had to agree to their news Terms of Service and update my contact information. This sort of web form typically covers basic logistical information that someone who does business with you will need: address, billing information, etc.

But this time I was required to answer a question that was obviously tied to some market segmentation work they’ve done: which of these statements best describes you? with the following choices:

• I don’t ship daily, but when I do, I want it to be quick and informative.
• I use ups.com daily and know several shortcuts to save time.
• I use ups.com to troubleshoot and to report on shipping activity.
• I focus on the big picture and monitor shipping operations performance.
• I prefer to use the web only when necessary. My job is easier without it.

First of all, it’s utterly inappropriate to require me to answer this question when I’m dealing with straightforward contact information that is necessary for UPS to have in order to provide the services I pay them for. Making them optional would be nice, but really this doesn’t go here at all. It’s hamfisted.

Second of all, it’s ludicrous to ask someone to find themselves in a badly written list such as this. What if I use ups.com daily but don’t know any shortcuts? Compound conditions are very hard for people to answer cleanly.

One has to wonder about the meeting where they decided this would be a good idea.

Tags: compound questions, design, market segmentation, segmentation, UPS, ups.com, web form, website