TAXI Daily News

The Harsh Truth About Buying Adorable Puppies From Pet Shops

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:14:26 -0500

To raise awareness about puppy mill cruelty, Singapore-based animal welfare groups teamed up with integrated digital and social media agency, Yolk, to create an interactive website.

Targeted at those looking to buy a dog from a pet shop, Pawfect Pets features a cute little puppy that brings viewers back to where it really came from—large breeding facilities known as “puppy mills” or “pet farms”.

Puppy mills and pet farms aren’t as cute as they sound—according to the interactive website, these places keep dogs under inhumane conditions for the main purpose of breeding the ‘perfect pet’.

The dogs at these facilities are abused with lack of enough food, water and veterinary care, and they are just forced to reproduce over and over again—once they stop being able to reproduce, they’re thrown out.

Pawfect Pets encourages viewers to adopt their next pet—rather than buying one from a pet shop, which indirectly fuels this cruel industry.

[via Campaign Brief Asia]

Innovative Feelings

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:17:07 -0500

When it comes to feelings, business innovation gets it all wrong. It takes into account feelings when it should not, and then ignore feelings when it should take them into serious consideration.

When You Can Ignore Feelings

Typically, the only time business innovation takes feelings into account is during the ideation phase. Brainstorming, for instance, prohibits the criticism of ideas because to do so might hurt brainstormers’ feelings and inhibit them from sharing more ideas. Although this belief is widely held and applied in numerous ideation processes, it has been demonstrated not to be true1. Criticism of ideas, followed by debate and discussion results in a higher level of creativity. Moreover, in my own experience, allowing criticism does not lead to hurt feelings. Rather it leads to in depth discussion of promising ideas.

Likewise, most online suggestion schemes, crowd-sourcing tools and idea management tools, include a voting system whereby participants can vote up ideas they like. However, unless these online tools specify criteria for voting (and I have yet to see a product which does so), voting is based on feelings. If you like an idea, if you feel good about an idea, you vote for it. However, online voting has been demonstrated to be useless at identifying particularly creative or even good ideas2.

When You Should Not Ignore Feelings

As I’ve written here in the past, people do not like creative ideas3. That seems to be because creative ideas mean change, and that change is often outside the control of the people affected by the change. A classic example of this is Coca-Cola’s infamous launch of New Coke in 19854. The people at Coca-Cola researched people’s taste preferences thoroughly and used that information to change the recipe of their classic drinking product. In theory, this innovation should have worked fine. They had a product with massive global sales and they improved the flavor to make it even better. They even proved people preferred the new flavor in blind taste tests.

What the researchers neglected to do, however, was to take into account Coca-Cola’s customers’ feelings about the original soft drink. Sure, in blind taste tests, such people might have preferred the new drink. But when they saw that the company had changed their favorite drinking product, people felt upset. They felt hurt. Moreover, this change was outside of their control. Initially, Coca-Cola did not ask its customers if they wanted a new drink. It did not offer customers a choice. Customers had to drink the new Coke because the old one was not available.

As you probably know, this was a disaster. Customers were upset and they bought less Coke. Ironically, they bought cola drinks from other brands, even though that also would have tasted different from the original coke—further demonstration that this dislike of the changed product was about feelings and not taste.

Eventually, Coca-Cola realized its mistake. It renamed the new drink “Coke II” and the original drink was reintroduced as “Coca-Cola Classic”. People had a choice and they chose Classic. Indeed, Coke II eventually disappeared from the shop shelves. By finally offering customers a choice, Coca-Cola probably saved its company!

Customers’ Feelings

When you introduce a new product or change an existing product, your customers will have feelings about the new product. This will be based on the product itself as well as customers’ previous experience with your products and your reputation. Consider Facebook. Every time the company makes a change in how it works, users are in an uproar. They don’t like the change. They liked the older version better. They did not get a choice and that irritates them. Users feel that the new version of Facebook has been implemented on them against their will. As a result, they simply do not like it—at least until they get used to the new version. Then, they forget about the change until Facebook introduces another change. Suddenly, the same users are in an uproar all over again! Suddenly, they prefer the version of Facebook that they complained about a few months ago. I suspect that if Facebook were to revert users to an older version of Facebook, users would again be in an uproar. That’s because people are not complaining about the functionality or quality of the new version. It is the change, over which they have no control, that they do not like. People do not like change without control or choice over the change.

Employees’ Feelings

If customers dislike innovative new ideas that result in change, employees truly hate such ideas. If customers feel unhappy about your new product, they don’t buy it. When employees dislike the operational changes that result from an innovation, they cannot easily change job. They are stuck with the change.

This is why employees are often critical of new ideas that will change operations, particularly when those changes affect their own activities. Indeed, if you have ever sat in on a staff meeting when a manager announces a change, the initial reaction is almost always negative, even when the change theoretically makes employees’ work easier. The computerization of processes, for example, usually speeds up processes—however, there is typically a learning curve that temporarily disrupts operations. In spite of the improvement in efficiency, you can be sure that employees will complain about the change. They do not have positive feelings towards change when they have no control over that change.

What Can You Do?

If your customers and your employees will dislike the change that results from your innovation, you might wonder why bother? What’s the point of innovating if no one likes the innovation. Unfortunately, if you intend to remain competitive in today’s hyper-competitive market, you need to out-innovate your competitors.

On a positive note, after a change has been implemented and people grow used to it, they soon forget their dislike. Facebook users quickly grow comfortable with the updates they hated a couple of months previously, readying them to complain about the next update!

Employees too soon grow used to change. Moreover, in view of high levels of unemployment, many employees have no choice but to accept change. But that does not mean they have to like it. And one danger you need to watch out for, when innovation changes operations, is employees who subconsciously sabotage change. For instance, a company is launching a new accounting system that will streamline billing and make it easier for customers to pay. However, it will result in substantial changes in operations in the accounting department. In order to initiate the system, the head of the accounting department needs to provide a report together with key information. She may postpone the report, believing she has more important things to do. Or she may present the key information in such a way that will make it more difficult to implement the new system. She is not doing this intentionally. Rather, she does not like it that a new accounting system is being thrust upon her and subconsciously she does what she can to impede the change.

Clearly, your innovation efforts need to take into account the feelings of customers and employees. When evaluating new ideas, do not just look at the metrics and the business analysis. Think about how those affected by the innovation might feel about it. If your customers love your product, they may hate any change. And if your customers hate your product (for instance, people everywhere seem to hate their telephony companies!), they will be suspicious of any change and hate it by default!

If you are lucky to have loved products, consider whether or not the new product retains enough of what our customers love about your old product while at the same time being a sufficient improvement to bring in new customers? If your customers hate you, ask if the change will make you seem like an even more heartless, evil organization.

Importantly, bear in mind that the thing customers and employees feel worst about is having change thrust upon them in a way in which they feel they have no control. This is particularly true of employees. So, ask yourself, are there ways we can make employees feel they have control over this change? Can you involve them in the evaluation process, perhaps garnering feedback, so they feel they have some element of control in the implementation of a new idea? The danger here, of course, is that employees may provide only negative feedback, making it harder to implement your idea.

You can also communicate to employees, in a sympathetic way, the complete story of why you are making the change, the benefit to the company and, most importantly, the benefit to the employees. You can sympathize about the initial struggle to implement the change and show how once the change is fully implemented, it will be better for everyone. You can also use creativity. Run anticonventional thinking (ACT) or other creative ideation sessions to generate ideas about how employees can benefit from the change.

For instance, a consultant implementing change in a school system came to me recently. He explained that teachers were reluctant to change their ways, even though research had shown the new methods would be better for students. I asked him to think about how the change would benefit the teachers and suggested that he focuses some creative thinking on identifying teachers’ benefits.

Business Innovation Affects People

Business innovation affects people, lots of them: your employees, your customers, your suppliers and possibly even the general public. People have feelings. If you disregard those feelings, you put your innovative efforts into jeopardy. So, don't disregard feelings. Make them a key issue in innovation.

References
Matthew Feinberg, Charlan Nemeth (2008) “The ‘Rules’ of Brainstorming: An Impediment to Creativity?”, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment Working Paper Series (University of California, Berkeley) Paper iirwps-167-08; http://escholarship.org/uc/item/69j9g0cg
Jeffrey Baumgartner (2010) “Voting in On-Line Suggestion Schemes” Report 103 http://www.jpb.com/report103/archive_20100707.php
”Everyone Loves a Creative Idea—Unless It Applies to Them” (2103) Report 103 http://www.jpb.com/report103/archive_20130320.php
“New Coke” Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke

Top image from Imgembed.

This is a cross-post from Jeffrey Paul Baumgartner.

Jeffrey Baumgartner is the author of The Way of the Innovation Master and Report 103, creator of Jenni innovation process mgmt software, founder of jpb.com & father of two great sons. Follow him on Twitter at @creativeJeffrey.

Designer Sets Up Pop-Up Shop In A Tree

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:48:01 -0500

In an effort to bring his online shop offline and into the real world, Tokyo-based British designer Duncan Shotton set up his first pop-up shop recently.

But unlike other pop-ups that are already interesting with their ephemerality, Shotton literally took the concept to new heights—he set up shop in a tree.

What he calls ‘POP-UP A TREE SHOP’, his shop located at Harajuku was where he sold his design creations that were dangled from the tree.

From morning, he sat up there until it rained in his ‘tree-mendous’ one-off shop, and tended to customers or fans who came by to say ‘hello’.

[via Duncan Shotton and Twitter]

10 Illustrators To Follow This Week

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:21:57 -0500

Whether it's watercolor, pen, ink or on the computer—they employ art, design and creative skills to produce astounding visual images—expressing ideas, emotions, concepts and messages that are difficult to describe with words.

In this visual feast, we present the ‘Illustrators of the Week’, whom we recommend for you to follow on The Creative Finder.

If you’re not yet part of this great social network for creatives, why not sign up and immerse yourself in creative inspiration.

Butcher Billy

Simon Stratford

Tetsuhiro Wakabayashi

Daylight Road

Sum May

Christopher King

Daniel Purvis

Clare Rosean

Öncü Türkmen

Charles Glaubitz

‘Wheel House’ Lets You Travel By Literally Rolling

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:18:37 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

Acrobatic duo Acrojou made up of Jeni Barnard and Barney White, gives caravans a run for its money, with their live performance ‘The Wheel House’.

With a unique hand-built structure, The Wheel House is a mobile home that travels by literally rolling—to get the ‘house’ to move, its occupants need to repeatedly climb over each other.

It practically looks like a normal house from its interior space, with doors, windows, curtains, a bed, pots and pans.

But with this home, occupants should be careful when they have to go down hills.

Check out how the mobile home moves about in the video below:

[via My Modern Metropolis]

Creative Portraitures By A Brother And Sister Duo

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:03:52 -0500

Sydney-based brother and sister duo Christian and Alex Benetel have created some very creative and beautiful portraits.

Often using each other as models, they said that many of the shots were “spur of the moment shoots” and that the meanings and emotions within were influenced and built upon by the locations they were in.

Click the links to view more of Christian’s and Alex’s work on their Flickr pages.

[via imugr, Reddit]

Give Us Your Best Caption: Breaking News, Breaking Wind

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:46:51 -0500

Today’s ‘Image of the Day’ belongs to Mike Campau. Congratulations!

To help you get off on the right foot every morning, DesignTAXI will be featuring an image everyday from its social network for creatives, The Creative Finder, to keep you inspired.

In this segment ‘Image of the Day’, you—our very lovely readers—are invited to submit captions to describe the selected image above: just simply tweet it with the page's URL and hashtag #tellapictale, or leave a comment at the bottom.

Winning captions would be featured the following day.

Yesterday's winning caption goes to Erica Malanga: "Obarkacare"

Beautiful Mirrored Cityscapes From Around The World

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:48:35 -0500

These incredible photos of mirrored cityscapes were taken by globetrotting photographers and compiled in website Scene360.

Capturing the reflection of buildings in still water, each photo shows a different city with its own unique skyline—highlighting the beauty that can be found in urban jungles.

Check them out below:

Seoul, Korea by Saik Kim

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Bill Dickinson

Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Jacob Rostermundt

Dresden, Germany by Manuel Irritier

Dokkum, Netherlands by Bas Meelker

Engineers At Harvard Create ‘Nano-Gardens’ Of Miniscule Crystal Flowers

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:46:13 -0500

An engineering team at Harvard University has managed to create “nano-gardens” that are the size of pennies, where each flower is only as large as a strand of hair.

To “grow” these nanogardens, the engineers dipped a glass beaker in silicon and barium chloride—the miniscule flowers appeared soon after.

They used carbon dioxide to make the petals and leaves ripple, and lowered the temperature to make the blossoms thicker.

Wim Noorduin, the brain behind this project, tries to make these “flowers” appear as realistic as possible by adding colors to them with Photoshop as the electron microscopes do not photograph in color.

They may not be genuine flowers, but these microscopic blooms are still very pretty to look at—see more of them below:

[via NPR]

Artist Uses Her Fingers To Create Gorgeous, Abstract Patterns On Walls

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:54:34 -0500

While Iris Scott has created her finger paintings on canvas, New York-based artist Judith Braun uses this method to make art on the walls of art galleries.

Coating her fingers with charcoal and pastel, Braun uses her body as an anchor while her fingers create symmetrical and mesmerizing patterns.

Aptly titled ‘Fingerings’, Braun’s work gives blank walls a literal human touch, and shows how we can create art with our bare hands.

Scroll down to see more of the artist’s intricate finger art.

[via Zilla Mag]

Beautiful High-Speed Photographs of Colorful Liquid ‘Flowers’

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:51:00 -0500

After featuring Manon Wethly’s high-speed photographs of drinks flung into the air, we chanced upon the remarkable work of Milwaukee-based photographer Jack Long—his photographs of splashing liquids look just like colorful blossoms.

To create these shots, Long mixes water with dyes and thickeners to create various effects—each shot is meticulously planned and prepared for, with the artist taking the picture at just the right moment.

The result is a veritable garden of liquid flowers, each more lovely than the last.

Scroll down to view more of these unique, watery “flowers”.

[via This Is Colossal]

These Quirky Mustache Wall Murals Will Add A Fun Touch To Your Home

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:49:06 -0500

Whether as an ironic hipster symbol or as a sign of masculinity, the mustache is certainly having its day in the sun.

Joining in on this mustache revival trend is wall decoration company PIXERS, which has released a collection of mustache-themed wall murals and decals.

From cheerful wallpapers printed with colorful mustache patterns to typographic wall stickers that wish you a “fun{tache}tic” day, these fun wall décor will brighten up any space, both at home and in the office.

If you are looking to ‘man up’ or add a touch of whimsy to your apartment, these will come in really handy—there is even a mustachioed cat print for the feline-loving dandy.

[via Trend Hunter]

Geography Game Makes You Guess Where In The World You Are

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:47:43 -0500

Put your geography skills to the test with GeoGuessr, a super addictive web-based game.

GeoGuessr’s genius lies in its simplicity; they show you a location from Google Street View, and you place your guess marker by clicking on a map. That’s it.

The closer your guess is to the actual location, the higher your score.

Be prepared for the rest of your afternoon to disappear, and to squeal in delight when you actually recognize a place.

Click here to play GeoGuessr.

[GeoGuessr, via Brandflakes for Breakfast]

Beautiful Animated Video Game Backgrounds

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:55:32 -0500

We’ve all seen fighting games like ‘Street Fighter’ and ‘King of Fighters’, but have you ever noticed the beautiful backgrounds while throwing around punches and ‘hadokens’?

Redditor RudeBootie has collected huge number of backgrounds from various fighting games so you can take a look at them now.

From majestic courtyards to eerily quiet industrial settings, the animated backgrounds are wonderfully enchanting.

Who knew that backgrounds from ‘90s fighting games could be so beautiful?

Click this link to see his entire collection over at imgur.

[imgur, via Visual News]

Incredibly Life-Like Origami Paper Sculptures Of Animals & Mythical Creatures

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:46:16 -0500

Origami artist Matthieu Georger creates beautiful and realistic three-dimensional paper sculptures that show the incredible versatility of paper as an artistic medium.

While many people may view paper as lifeless and static, Georger’s life-like creations look like they are poised on the verge of running—or flying, in some cases—into the distance.

From exotic insects to well-known mythical creatures like Cerberus, these origami creations evoke a sense of wonder at how folded paper can transform into fantastic artworks.

Head over to the artist’s < a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemattchh/">website to view the rest of his Origami collection.

[via Flickr]

Photographer Imagines Herself 30 Years Older In Self-Portraits

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:38:46 -0500

New York-based photographer Kyoko Hamada has created a series of self-portraits, in which she portrays a 30-year-older version of herself named ‘Kikuchiyo-san’.

In the ongoing project ‘I Used To Be You’, she explores the subject of time and life—linking it to the losses in her life and reminding herself that time is always moving.

Hamada also steps outside her comfort zone frombehind the camera, and becomes the “subject facing the lens”.

“When I first tried on her gray wig, the latex make-up, and her clothes, I gazed at the mirror for a long time,” she wrote. “My initial reaction was to chuckle, but I started feeling a little uneasy soon after.”

“The wrinkled face staring back at me resembled my own with 30-plus years added to it. When I smiled, she smiled back at me. When I pouted, she pouted too. It was the first time I had met her, but she was simultaneously someone I already knew quite well and someone I knew nothing about.”

[via Kyoko Hamada]

A ‘Skyscraper Tree House’ With A Breath-Taking Mountain View

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:36:11 -0500

The architects at Gluck+ have constructed an unusual tree house—that is also a tower—which has a magnificent view of the awe-inspiring Catskill Mountains.

Simply named the ‘Tower House’, this miniature four-story “skyscraper” is designed to look like LEGO blocks with a horizontal tower balancing the structure.

A highlight of this fantastic-looking residence is its reflective surface, which mirrors the forest canopy and its vibrant green and yellow color scheme.

For the environmentally-conscious, this vacation home cuts down on heating and air-conditioning by using its glass stairwell as a “solar chimney”, which pushes cool air down to the living areas while releasing hot air through its rooftop vents.

Scroll down for more pictures of this wonderful tree house tower.

[via FastCo Design]

Smell Like Batman Or Superman With These ‘Superhero-Scented’ Colognes

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:47:02 -0500

If you had always wanted to be Batman or Superman, why not start with the way these superheroes smell?

To make your super-human dream come true, Marmol & Son has created colognes that are inspired by DC Comics’ most popular superheroes.

While the Superman cologne smells of Egyptian Musk, Ginger Zest and strangely, Lemon Sorbet; the Dark Knight’s scent has a top note of Bergamot, Lavender and Black Pepper.

Although we are not sure if Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent actually smell like these fragrances, they still make fun gifts for a comic book fan—you can get them here and here.

[via Fashionably Geek]

Amazon.com Unveils Plans For ‘Giant Spherical Greenhouse’ As New HQ

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:38:11 -0500

Online retail giant Amazon has unveiled plans to build a giant spherical greenhouse as its new headquarters—a plant-rich environment for its staff to work.

The gargantuan biosphere building will house mature trees, and is slated to be constructed near the company’s planned skyscraper office in downtown Seattle.

According to Scribd, the building will be a place employees can work and socialize in a “more natural, park like setting” to increase productivity.

There would be dining, meeting, lounge and botanical spaces, and shops that the public can also access.

What do you think of Amazon’s new HQ? Would you like to work in a place like that?

[via Geekwire and Scribd]

Skyscraper To Be Transformed Into ‘Hairy’ Wind Farm

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:53:01 -0500

The move to renewable energy has been gaining momentum recently, giving rise to many sustainable development designs.

One such sustainable design by Swedish architectural firm Belatchew Arkritekter involves transforming the Söder Torn tower in Stockholm into a gigantic wind farm.

This will be achieved by covering the skyscraper in a large number of hairy-looking straws.

The straws are made of a composite material that contains piezoelectric properties, which can convert motion from the wind into electric energy.

One advantage of using these straws over traditional wind farms is that they will be able to function even in a light breeze.

There is also the added benefit of the straws being much more quiet—an important fact considering this new wind farm will be in the middle of a city.

[via Dezeen]

Striking City Posters Inspired By The Golden Age of Poster Art Design

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:41:21 -0500

The folks at Anderson Design Group have created a series of city posters featuring the iconic landmarks of these places.

Each poster is also a homage to the golden age of poster art—with bold colours and dramatic compositions, these creations are just the thing to spruce up a dull room.

Scroll down to see if your city has been featured in these beautiful collection of poster art.

[via Holiday Matinee]

Movie Covers Hilariously Recreated With Clip Art And Comic Sans

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:42:51 -0500

In a post that will probably piss designers off, Buzzfeed invited its readers to recreate popular movie covers—using nothing but clip art and Comic Sans.

The outcome is a series of badly designed, yet humorous movie covers, that will either make you laugh out loud or shake your head in disgust.

Check them out below:

[via Buzzfeed]

Intriguing Photos Show Man Casting Illuminated Instead Of Dark Shadows

Thu, 23 May 2013 07:58:06 -0500

Polish photographer Jan Kriwol has created a series of images that depicts an exceptional man who casts glowing illuminated silhouettes instead of regular shadows.

Perhaps, in a parallel universe, people have light instead of dark shadows—however, in this case, the mysterious man seems to be the only one who displays this strange condition, as everyone and everything around him have normal dark shadows.

This surreal photo series presents the viewer with an unusual alternative reality that questions the most basic constants of the world around us.

Though-provoking existential musings aside, wouldn’t it be cool to have a bright shadow follow you around?

[via Jan Kriwol]

‘The Avengers’ Reimagined As ‘Star Wars’ Stormtroopers

Thu, 23 May 2013 07:59:14 -0500

US-based artists Jon Bolerjack and JJ Kirby have collaborated to reimagine Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’ as ‘Star Wars’ Stormtroopers.

We wonder how the Rebels would have fared if the Empire had these ‘Avenger’ Troopers fighting for them.

[via Jon Bolerjack]

Surreal Illustrations Of Thought-Provoking Optical Illusions

Thu, 23 May 2013 07:56:18 -0500

Based in Kuala Lumpur, self-taught illustrator Tan Yau Hoong has come up with surreal illustrations that will give you a different perspective of the world around you.

Each piece warrants more than a glance—notable mentions include “Sky Guitar”, in which the trails of airplanes also are imagined as guitar strings.

These illustrations serve as a playground for Tan’s imagination, and encourage the viewer to give more thought to everyday objects and scenes.

Scroll down for more intriguing illustrations.

[via Tan Yau Hoong]

‘Tiny Pencil’, An Art Magazine That Celebrates Graphite

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:40:44 -0500

For all you graphite lovers out there, here is an art magazine that celebrates the humble pencil.

Called ‘Tiny Pencil’, the new biannual magazine was started by UK-based artists Amber Hsu and Katriona Chapman.

Devoted entirely to ‘lead arts’, each issue will focus on a particular theme—showcasing “exciting and extraordinary” works and illustrations by various artists in graphite.

According to Hsu, she said, “The artists have found it really refreshing—pencil is quite a personal medium and I think that’s another reason artists enjoy using it. There’s a strong personal element in all of the works in the current issue.”

The first issue of the magazine can be purchased online for £9.

[via Tiny Pencil and Creative Review]

Adorable Rings That Look Like Tiny Sleeping Sloths Wrapped Around Your Fingers

Thu, 23 May 2013 06:38:04 -0500

There is something about the slow-moving, very relaxed sloth that makes it utterly lovable—to channel their laid-back vibe, put on one of these adorable sloth rings by Washington-based sculptor Teresa Macdonald.

These awesome rings are made-to-order and feature miniature snoozing sloths made from polymer clay that are mounted onto adjustable silver or antique bronze rings.

Available in brown, mushroom and black, these rings are designed to brighten your day—just be warned that wearing them may get you feeling all slack and sleepy as well.

The best thing about these hand-made pieces is that each one is unique, which means that your little sloth is absolutely one-of-a-kind.

[via Incredible Things]

The Future Has Arrived With Spray-On Clothes

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:45:18 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

Spraying clothes directly onto your body from a can sounds like an incredibly farfetched idea. However, this technology has been around for the last 13 years.

The brainchild of Spanish fashion designer and chemist Manel Torres, Fabrican is a sprayable liquid that instantly turns into fabric.

Torres’ invention involves a liquid suspension filled with short fibers that can be sprayed out of a can.

The fibers adhere to each other, and once set, it can even be washed and re-worn.

The texture of the fabric can also be changed by simply changing the type of fibers in the liquid.

Although the primary application of Fabrican lies in the fashion industry, it is interesting to explore the other areas in which it can be used.

Torres said that because Fabrican comes directly out of a can, it is sterilized, and therefore could see some medical usage as bandages and casts.

Fabrican can also be combined with nano-technology or drugs, thus creating instant medicinal patches like a nicotine patch.

There are even some plans to explore spraying it on a large scale to clean up and control oil spills.

Torres recently formed a company to make the technology both cheaper and more feasible.

Click here to find out how ‘Fabrican’ works:

[Fabrican via Huffington Post]

Brand Bottles Smells To Help Alzheimer’s & Dementia Patients Remember

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:55:18 -0500

They say that the sense of smell can help evoke powerful and vivid memories.

To help Alzheimer’s and dementia patients, global fragrance house Givaudan has teamed up with agency JWT Singapore to create bespoke kits.

The ‘Smell a Memory’ kit is customized to each Alzheimer’s and dementia patient, based on their family history, ethnicity, age and personal stories.

It harnesses the power of scent with bottled smells—that contain the smells of “Freshly cut grass”, “Seaside”, “Hainanese Coffee” and “School days”, to name a few—to spark memories and emotions within the patient.

Made with specific herbs, spices or objects, that are noted to make up the smells of places and dishes—the bottled scents reminded the patients of school, holidays, work, and other aspects of their lives.

The kits were tested at therapy sessions at a nursing home and a care facility, and it proved to be tools of sparking memories in some, and stimulating emotions in others.

[via Campaign Brief Asia]

‘Emotionary’, A Website That Creates New Words For Complicated Emotions

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:26:29 -0500

We previously learnt that there were some emotions that couldn’t be translated into the English language.

However, thanks to actress Eden Sher, she has designed a website that invents new words for these untranslatable feelings.

Called ‘The Emotionary’, it is a treasure trove of new words like ‘emotionalize’, ‘inattextive’ and ‘rescern’ to describe complicated emotions.

“I used to hate words,” wrote Sher. “I thought words were fickle and futile. They insulted me by reducing my unique feelings and experiences-OBVIOUSLY only felt by me and me alone-to arbitrary sounds.”

“But then I realized that it was only hard for me to verbally communicate because I was afraid. I didn’t hate words at all! I was just terrified that I’d never be able to find the right ones with which to truly express myself.”

Sher also invites readers to submit their own ideas for new words to describe their own complicated emotions.

Will you be using these new words?

[via The Emotionary and Fast Co.Create]

LOL: Microsoft Uses ‘Siri’ To Poke Fun At The iPad

Thu, 23 May 2013 04:54:41 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

Microsoft has released some pretty funny and entertaining commercials lately.

In its newest advertisement for the Windows 8 tablet line of products, it put the ASUS ‘VivoTab Smart’ up against the Apple iPad.

What’s different this time is that it uses Apple’s very own ‘Siri’ to point out the iPad’s inadequacies compared to the Windows 8 tablet.

Click here to to watch the video:

[via YouTube]

Businessweek’s New Ad Aims To Get ‘Gen Y’ Out Of Their Parents’ Homes

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:16:04 -0500

In these tough economic times, a significant proportion of Generation Y are still living with their parents.

Bloomberg Businessweek aims to get them out of the house with a subscription to its magazine and some hilariously unsubtle e-cards.

The cards poke some serious fun at the expense of the millennial generation, although Businessweek does apologize to them, with tongue-firmly-in-cheek.

“While giving millennials grief is highly entertaining, we want to acknowledge that the woeful state of the economy is not their fault. These free issues and e-cards are intended to help a generation that could sure use a hand, not to blame them. Millennials are, however, entirely to blame for saran-wrap-tight jeans.”

[via Bloomberg Businessweek]

‘Cat Beard’ Meme Takes The Internet By Storm

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:13:54 -0500

A hilarious meme that combines two of the internet’s favorite things—cats and beards—has became red-hot popular with the social media generation recently.

“Cat Beard” is a photo meme that involves holding up a cat in front of you and letting its chin cover half your face, which creates the illusion of a long, furry beard.

Although the first Cat Beard picture was spotted back in 2011, the ridiculous but very funny fad only really took off a short while ago—the trend has since snowballed into thousands of photographs that flood social media sites like Tumblr and Instagram.

You can view more Cat Beard photographs—or share your own—on Instagram under “#catbeard”.

Dog owners, you may like to try this with your canine friend.

[via Bored Panda]

Photographer Captures Gorgeous Long Exposure Shots of Cities

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:56:22 -0500

Following our previous feature on these symmetrical, long exposure shots of Japan at night, we have came across German photographer Jakob Wagner’s mesmerizing long exposure photographs of cities around the world.

Titled “Urban Zoom”, these visually arresting shots capture the spirit of each, all of which are presented as organic structures that are pulsating with life.

Scroll down for more of these vibrant night scenes in dynamic cities.

[via Fubiz]

Make-Up Artist Creates Detailed Movie Scenes On Eyelids

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:21:55 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

We have seen stunning lip artwork by Eva Senín Pernas, but Canadian-based artist Katie Alves prefers to use eyelids as her canvas.

Each pair of eyelids depicts scenes from various movies, such as The Hobbit and The Grinch—Alves is also known for her Disney series, in which she paints key scenes from each movie her eyelids.

Her latest masterpiece, ‘Black Light Galaxy’, involves her creating a space-scape on her face and is a testament to her awe-inspiring skills.

Scroll down to view one of her YouTube tutorial videos and more images of her fantastic make-up pieces.

[via Deviant Art]

Street Artists Given Free Rein To Take Over A Room In London

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:20:32 -0500

As part of the recent Dulwich Festival in London, a group of world famous street artists were invited to paint the inside of ‘The Arts House’ on Lordship Lane.

The festival celebrates some of the classic works in Dulwich Picture Gallery, England’s oldest gallery which were “remixed” with contemporary art by the group of street artists.

Below are some pictures of the room taken over by The Rolling People, a graffiti art crew comprising of the artists Snoe, BRK and Cept.

[via My Modern Met]

Give Us Your Best Caption: What's The Hold Up?

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:07:27 -0500

Today’s ‘Image of the Day’ belongs to Tony Morabito. Congratulations!

To help you get off on the right foot every morning, DesignTAXI will be featuring an image everyday from its social network for creatives, The Creative Finder, to keep you inspired.

In this segment ‘Image of the Day’, you—our very lovely readers—are invited to submit captions to describe the selected image above: just simply tweet it with the page's URL and hashtag #tellapictale, or leave a comment at the bottom.

Winning captions would be featured the following day.

Yesterday's winning caption goes to Charles Corley: "First he took my girl. Then he took my umbrella."

Use This App To Pick Out A Beer That You’ll Love

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:08:26 -0500

Ever had the experience of drinking a really good beer but forgetting its name? Graduate student Kevin Jamieson experienced the same problem, and his solution is to create an app for it.

Collating descriptions of beer online, Jamieson came up with an algorithm which projects a visual infographic of 200,000 types of beer available around the world.

While people are unable to perceive this six-dimensional map, users are able to toggle between two-dimensions at a time to determine the type of beers they’d like.

The app aims to be as comprehensive as possible, and also shows how closely each type of beer is related to another.

This ambitious project guarantees that there’s a beer for every person, and is slated for release in June.

Scroll down for a sneak preview of the app.

[via Fast Co Create]

You Lookin’ at Me? Reflections on Google Glass.

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:09:42 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

There is but one remedy for the Glass wearer—a bucket of iced water in the face whenever you suspect he has taken you unawares

With the public beta launch of Google Glass there has been a lot of discussion on why it will or won’t fail. The ultimate benchmark for success is high: After someone has tried Glass can they imagine life without it?

It’s the wrong question.

Glass is Google’s unintentional public service announcement on the future of privacy. Our traditional bogeyman for privacy was Big Brother and its physical manifestation (closed-circuit TV) but the reality today is closer to what I call Little Sister, and she is socially active, curious, sufficiently tech-savvy, growing up in the land of “free”, getting on with life and creating a digital exhaust that is there for the taking. The sustained conversation around Glass will be sufficient to lead to a societal shift in how we think about the ownership of data, and to extrapolate a bit, the kind of cities we want to live in. For me, the argument that Glass is somehow inherently nefarious misses a more interesting point: It is a physical and obvious manifestation of things that already exist and are widely deployed today, whose lack of physical, obvious presence has limited a mainstream critical discourse.

As a product that is both on-your-face and in-your-face, Glass is set to become lightning rod for a wider discussion around what constitutes acceptable behavior in public and private spaces. The Glass debate has already started but these are early days; each new iteration of hardware and functionality will trigger fresh convulsions. In the short term Glass will trigger anger, name-calling, ridicule and the occasional bucket of thrown water (whether it’s iced water I don’t know). In the medium term as societal interaction with the product broadens, signs will appear in public spaces guiding mis/use1 and lawsuits will fly, while over the longer term, legislation will create boundaries that reflect some form of im/balance between individual, corporate and societal wants, needs and concerns.

So Shoot Me

Of all of the companies and organizations that could bring Glass to market, I’m pleased Google is the one making a significant investment: A company with a recent record of genuine innovation that stretches/defines social and behavioral norms2; with a strong revenue stream and deep enough pockets to have a fighting chance of medium to long-term success. It also helps that the project is considered of strategic importance, and has key executive sponsorship. Less obvious but no less relevant in this equation is that the company has a lot to lose; is no-longer the media darling; has fucked-up enough times in public to know it can do so again (and again); has been humbled by more nimble competitors; has experienced talent drain and understands the impact of this on its culture and its bottom line. Of course Google can financially afford to fail again: Experimentation and failure is a critical part of its DNA, but while privacy-snafu fines are low, the internal and external cultural costs of Glass failing are high.

All technology challenges the status quo, and if a technology is noticed by consumers/users/constituents at all, it presents for some an opportunity and for others a threat. The perceived and actual threat from Glass comes not from crimes against taste. (Many have commented on the perceived inelegance of the design.) Their design team appears to have done a sterling job if you assume that particular design direction and constraints. Our sense of what is tasteful succeeds or fails as part of a far broader narrative, which they, too, are exploring. Yes, you can find a hundred and one designs of “wearable computing” from the past decade that look similar, but very few are packing the same experience into the same form factor. However, as a connected, sensing object it is capable of recording and transmitting photos, video, and sound directly, through content analysis or indirectly through proximate connected devices, other data such as location, temperature, trajectory, and so on. In other words in a worst/best case scenario it could record and measure “everything” and associate that data to a person. How will this play out?

I want you to try a little experiment. Find somewhere where you can sit and observe people interact with one another. Pick somewhere just out of the throng—the edge of a cafe looking in, a park bench, a doorway close to a market. It’s easier if you choose somewhere you don’t know so well, you’ll have less to unlearn.

Give yourself 30 minutes to view and reflect upon the scene in front of you: Who visits that space and why; the differences in ritual greetings, and indeed whether or not a person is greeted; how people project out who they are; things that signify status and social hierarchy; where objects are placed; the level of interaction with those objects when not in use. What can you see being documented online or off? What can you imagine being documented? Pay particular attention to things that fit your definition of “technology” and reflect upon on the things in front of you that once fit this definition but no longer do (my list of were-once-technologies includes the pencil, the wrist watch, and the smartphone).

If you’re close to enough to other people, you’ll overhear conversations plus bits of conversations that the speakers will allow you to hear, raised, projected, sotto voce, and in whispers, combined with body language all serving to emphasize what is said, and the intent of what is communicated. The challenge for Glass is that the costs of ownership falls on people in proximity of the wearer, and that its benefits have yet to be proven out. How much of that conversation is directed at the “listener”, and how much of it is directed at others in proximity, including you? This rich social choreography is playing out hundreds of billions of times a day across our planet, and is as subtle and delicate as anything appearing in a BBC2 nature documentary.

Of course, people and systems are already capturing (and channeling) content and data in this space in the form of photos, video, background noise on phone or video calls, who is connected to what, and what they are doing. It is likely that Google, Microsoft and Nokia’s Navteq (to name but three) have already systematically mapped this space and are serving up street views online. The difference with Glass is that it threatens surreptitious, unexpected, or continuous recording from the perspective of the human-eye/ear view. At this point, it doesn’t matter whether it can support sustained recording for long periods or not; what matters is that the form factor supports this, that it could at some point, and that we all know Google is in the business of selling ads against insight drawn from large volume of data. Continuous, indiscriminate recording in this space is drag-net fishing of data collection - its a destructive technology, a conversation and privacy killer3.

Back to our experiment. Take in the scene in front of you. Who owns this space both legally and figuratively? Who has the rights to do what? By What authority? Who enforces that authority? How do these rights differ for regulars or a first time visitor? What are the ways that people signal the beginning or the end of an activity? And how does that signaling make something more or less acceptable? The obvious clue to activities people have deemed socially unacceptable are often found on hand-scribbled “do not” signs as in “staff will refuse to serve customers who are on their mobile phone” “do not ask for credit”. The more sustained the infringement, the more official looking the sign.

Today we falsely assume that our conversations and our image is not by default recorded by other people in proximity4. Not having a persistent record allows us to present a nuanced identity to different people, or groups of people, provides with the space to experiment with what we could be. The risk that what we say will be broadcast, or narrowcasted, to people we don’t know, or may underpin someone's future business fundamentally changes what we want to talk about. The challenge for Glass is that the costs of ownership falls on people in proximity of the wearer, and that its benefits have yet to be proven out.

Anti/Social Interaction

A number of years ago, while working at Nokia, I was asked to explore use cases using an appearance model (a non-working prototype) of a form factor similar to Glass but clunkier and definitely less refined5. In the first phase of this make-it-up-as-you-go-along-and-see-what-works study, we hired students in Tokyo to act out various scenarios including content browsing, viewing and game-play using gestures and voice commands in a range of contexts: At home; on a commuter train; on a long distance train; in a hotel lobby; in a park; cafe; and while walking along. The research team then noted interaction issues with the glasses, carefully observing social reactions from people in proximity, before finally interviewing the actor/actresses for their own experience6.

Fans of Milgram’s New York subway experiment will be happy to note that our actors and actresses felt extremely self-conscious about wearing non-standard glasses, and awkward about acting out the scenarios particularly in contexts where there were others in close proximity. A number of the things we learned from this study surprised us:

Most of what we “see” is at any time is out of focus in the periphery where as long as the things going on in peripheral vision don’t trigger a threat response will probably pass the glance test. Glass is, in effect a blanket tax on the collective attention of society It will be interesting to see whether Glass is perceived as a threatening object and thus may force others in proximity of a wearer to maintain a hyper-awareness of the wearer and their own actions in places—whereas today, they are currently able to relax. This would be, in effect, like a blanket tax on the collective attention of society.
Spoken interaction is awkward for almost everyone in confined spaces on systems with less than 100% accuracy. An interface built around short responses to contextually understood events will be the dominant form of interaction.
Gesture interaction is just as awkward in close spaces and in many instances will restrict regular use and/or in a vocabulary of “quiet-gestures”. To get a sense of how this plays out the next time you are on the subway and have people sitting on either side, raise your hands in front of your face or look down and move your hands in your field of vision. Even simple gestures require upper-arm/shoulder movements, which when you are sitting shoulder-to-shoulder impacts fellow passengers. A Glass wearer that wants to maintain the social cohesion in that context (and not all will be that self aware or considered) can mitigate this by pausing interactions for the moment when they are appropriate, or more likely by avoiding interactions in that context.
In contexts where social interaction is required e.g. sitting with friends around a table in a cafe, it will create a situation where people are not sure whether they, or the contents of the display are engaging the wearer.
In-ear or close-to-ear (inductive) audio changes the wearers enjoyment of food and drink—a problem for an otherwise prime this will introduce “you lookin’ at me” moments use-case: watching movies at home where snacks and beverages might naturally be consumed.
Humans tend to fall asleep in contexts where they are seated, safe, and there is minimal physical movement - providing opportunities to design for disengagement.
Humans have a vested interest in tracking changing emotional states of the people around them. This will introduce are “you looking at me” moments where others in proximity assume that a smile, tear or frown is triggered by their own presence and will spur people to send inappropriate content to their Glass wearing peers, with a weary inevitability will include this but is far less likely to include this (or was it the other way around?). In some contexts these moments will lead to confrontation. Read the footnote in this article in the Atlantic by Ta-Nehisi Coates, and imagine introducing erratic behavior into the equation. Amplify to billions of social interactions a day.

What starts out as a fairly broad set of use cases rapidly starts to narrow.

Tooling Up

I’ve got a confession to make. frog has recorded thousands of conversations around the world, videotaped many more, tailed people around town, nosed around people’s homes—opening cupboards and drawers, asking personal questions where there were none. All with their permission and all in the name of research. There are a few things we’ve learned that relate to the broader discussion of what is collected by whom, how and why, and how it is used, you’ll see why these are relevant in a moment.

Anyone can collect data. The real issue is how to collect data in such a way that that meets both moral and legal obligations and still manages to deliver some form of value.

Ownership. People are naturally suspicious of what they don’t know. The simple act of giving them control over the process or the objects/technologies we carry defuses initial suspicion. A few simple field research techniques can rapidly build trust. These include handing someone you’ve just met on the street a five-thousand-dollar camera and then ignoring them to concentrate on a conversation with their friends. This shows we trust them. And then they trust us.

Clear On/Off States. Most people have, at least initial concerns about being recorded. There are numerous ways that we emphasize the transition between on and off: from how a camera or other recording device is held when not in use. It is useful to think of a camera as a gun: understand the impact that bringing it out can have on any given context; only take it out if you’re prepared to use it; be careful where you point it.

Reciprocity. Today it is easy to maintain a persistent connection between the researcher and the participant—often in the form of a social media or email address. You’ve asked something from them, they have the right and now have a channel through which to ask something of you.

Full circle: We give participants the opportunity to review, delete or own any of the data collected on them by the research team. This is normally carried out at the end of the session, after any reward is handed over (so they are not pressured into letting us keep data) and before any data consent form is signed (so they better understand the implications of what they are signing). A team that knows the data will be reviewed by the participant changes what they collect in the first place, it becomes self policing. More than any training, this simple principle helps keep teams honest and operating within social norms.

A few simple steps lower the more obviously anti-social aspects of Glass. The evolution of body language that helps communicate Glass’s current state e.g. pushed above the head to show that not in use; a literacy around the spoken commands that communicate the current task that the user is engaged in “take panorama” or “grindr lookup” and showing whether the camera and other recording mechanisms are in use, or disabled.

Glass has four design principles for developers that focus on the Glass-wearers user experience: “design for Glass,” “don’t get in the way,” “keep it timely,” and “avoid the unexpected”7. As challenging as it is to find a compelling use-case (beyond porn) these principles are aimed at the wrong people - Glass wearers, rather than those in proximity. Two complementary principles will go some way to accommodate the concerns of people in proximity and lower social barriers to adoption.

Proximate Transparency: allow anyone in proximity to access the same feed that the wearer is recording or seeing and e.g. view it through a device of their choosing. Make it easy to identify the Glasses themselves and to trace back to the wearer. This simple act help demystify the technology, create a broader sense ownership of its inclusion in any given space. The reality is very few people would be interested in jacking in and the act of having an open stream will change the behavior of what is watched. For many this won’t be enough of a step, it is after all an opt-out measure for people who have the technological nous and literacy—forcing people in proximity to do something for dubious gain.

Remote Control: allow identifiable people in proximity to control Glass’s recording functionality and have access to the output of what was recorded. Allowing others to demonstrably benefit from the utility of glass will make it part of the social landscape.

Pedestal or A Pauper’s Grave?

One could argue that the form taken by Glass offers up a lazy-futurists vision of what might be—take the trajectory of one product (displays becoming smaller/cheaper/more efficient over time) and integrate it with another (eye-glasses) sprinkle in connectivity and real-time access to content and big-data-analytics. Our expectations of what it could be are raised in part because this Glass offers up a lazy-futurists vision of what might be join-the-dots vision of the future fits neatly into western un/popular young-male culture from The Terminator through to Halo, Glass has a certain inevitability about it like the weight of expectation of child born to a great composer or if you prefer, to a middle-aged suicide. As any visitor to Yodobashi camera over the past decade will tell you the hardware technologies that make Glass hardly feel novel (and for recent competitors see Sony, Golden-i or the Telepathy Device Prototype) but neither do they need to be, because this is all about how they are brought together into a holistic experience.

There are of course alternative, complimentary visions of this connected future that are far more discrete, taking connected, sensing things and embedding them in the world around us to inform, guide, direct, cajole, tax, enrich... us and the things around us. It’s an area worthy of an essay in its own right but for now a few pointers to people, places and things that have helped inform my sense of this space: Dan Hill writing on the City of Sound; the MIT Senseable Cities Lab; Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art, Tisch ITP, BERG, Nicholas Nova and Julian Bleecker at The Near Future Laboratory help stretch our understanding of what could be, Curious Rituals in conjuction with students at the Arts Center College of Design is a particularly lovely piece of work; living for more than a decade in Tokyo, Shanghai and frequent trips to the cities that define this century’s urban experience: the Seoul/Nairobi/Mumbais/Rio/Chongqing’s of this world; products like Nike+, FitBit, Moves (to take one narrow category) through to less well known but arguably more impactful services that for me are at the very center of the internet of things—services like Kilimo Salama and Sarvajal; through to business units/activities in large corporations such as Cisco, IBM, Disney, and Ericsson with more of a how to make money/make a difference at scale.8

Where Next?

This essay starts with a paraphrasing a quote—here is the original in full: “There is but one remedy for the amateur photographer. Put a brick through his camera whenever you suspect he has taken you unawares.” It could be written about Glass today but is in fact taken from 18 September 1885 edition of Amateur Photographer magazine9, seven years after the introduction of dry plates a technology that supported far more surreptitious photography. The full article by Bill Jay is worth reading in full. The same article contains another quote from Amateur Photographer, twenty five years later, when cameras were becoming less noticeable: “Our moral character dwindles as our instruments get smaller.” In due course the technologies to deliver Glass’s emerging functionality will truly disappear from view—this is window of opportunity for reflection, discussion, debate and action. I’m thankful to Google for putting so much effort into Glass at this moment in time. That passion? Channel it. That anger? Channel it

I’ve not tried Glass and have no idea whether I’ve been recorded through one. My first book, Hidden in Plain Sight explores explores the intersection of people, technology, design and strategy, is out on HarperCollins.

References
Read this 1903 edition of Amateur Photographer (via Google Books) This essay draws from numerous pieces on Future Perfect, not limited to: Let’s Agree I Don’t Know You about signally discretion when far more is known than we want to let on; Great to See You, Just Not Around Here about the (then) rise of location based services (and incidentally inspired by a couple that used location-awareness to not to bump into each other when out looking for sexual partners); Don’t Get Mad, Change the Rules on the opportunities from new business models; how some airlines have solved the social issues around the seat recline; a photo of tethered dynamics that I could look at for hours; new forms of social contracts; the simple how to sit poster in Tokyo; It’s Not Your Face, It’s Ours about the companies that will make money from effectively owning the rights to connect your face to, well, whatever they want; how South Korean residents minimize social friction by posting their phone numbers on their car windshields; cultural differences in our desire/ability to experiment with our physical identity using colored contact lenses in China as an example; thoughts on knowing what else has gone on in that used car you just bought; thinking about personal identity; thoughts on how we signal the boundaries of anti-social behavior and not least, the social/anti-social thread from around the world.

Footnotes
[1] This sign did the rounds but is closer to advertising for a seedy bar than a warning sign. The suspicion can be real, but the real test comes from reactions to a wider deployment.
[2] Eric Schmidt’s quote “Google policy is to get right up to the creepy line and not cross it” is an interesting reflection of company culture both that it’s refreshing to have a CEO that is this frank about the business they are in and the way they operate, and the assumption that the best way to institutionalise an understanding of creepy is to measure it and place it on a line. See also 50 questions you should consider.
[3] If you want to extrapolate the argument around wholesale recording through Glass, its actually highly inefficient, particularly once much of that space and context is known. There are other, emerging technologies with far more processing power and unlimited power supply that are in a better position to continuously record.
[4] The default assumption of privacy is not universal: from conversations in an interrogation room, online, or whether state agencies are. When conducting research in Iran and making a call to the US I assume it is being recorded by both Iranian and the US agencies. The only question is who else is listening and what is their motivation, today and at some point in the future.
[5] I’ve not done a full write up of the research, but it was shared publicly a few years back.
[6] After the Tokyo study my then colleague Raphael Grignani ran a comparable study in New York City, with broadly analogous findings.
[7] The physical toll of having to maintain a state of hyper-awareness is touched on here and here, and while these are extreme examples it is an interesting topic to further explore).
[8] As Bruce Sterling pointed out, take each of those design principles and flip them to understand the actual experience.
[9] Full disclosure: this list includes both personal and frog clients.
[10] The Amateur Photographer, 18 September 1885, p. 871.

Top image from Imgembed.

This is a cross-post from frog.

Executive Creative Director of Global Insights Jan Chipchase oversees frog’s global user research practice, working with clients to turn insights into innovative solutions for business challenges. Jan joined frog from Nokia, where as a principal researcher he studied behavioral patterns that informed the development of new products based on emerging consumer trends. You can follow Jan on @janchip.

Beautiful, Alien-Looking ‘Fabregé Fractals’

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:06:57 -0500

Web developer Tom Beddard has created a gorgeous series of fractals using his WebGL-based fractal engine, Fractal Lab.

Titled ‘Fabrege Fractals’, Beddard’s work looks like a beautiful, mesmerizing cross between Fabrege Eggs and alien technology.

[Justin Ruckman, via Boing Boing]

Japanese Artist Recreates Iconic Artwork On An iPad Mini

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:05:48 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

Japanese artist Seikou Yamaoka has recreated the iconic artwork ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ by finger painting on an iPad Mini.

Using an app called ArtStudio, Yamaoka creates an almost identical digital artwork of the original painting.

The video below is about five-minutes long, but it actually took Yamaoka five hours to recreate the painting.

Besides the iPad Mini, Yamaoka also creates other stunning digital artworks on iPhones and iPads.

Click to watch the video below:

[via Seikou Yamaoka]

100 Awesome Behind-The-Scenes Photographs From 100 Iconic Films

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:04:19 -0500

Ghostbusters (1984)

Imgur user and film-lover joinyouinthesun has uploaded an awesome collection of 100 fascinating behind-the-scenes pictures from 100 iconic movies.

Made from 1931 to 2012, you would probably have watched—or at least know about—many of these films, even if they were released way before you were born.

From mid-century teen flick Rebel Without A Cause to legendary sci-fi blockbuster Back to the Future, these rarely seen images capture what goes on onset when the camera is not rolling.

Head over here to view the entire collection of behind-the-scenes photographs.

Rebel Without A Cause (1955)

Psycho (1960)

Goldfinger (1964)

The Godfather (1972)

Jaws (1975)

Taxi Driver (1976)

Star Wars (1977)

Alien (1979)

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Tron (1982)

Back to the Future (1985)

[via Imgur]

Artist Weaves Photorealistic Mugshots Of Criminals On A Loom

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:03:28 -0500

With a background in photography and textiles, Joanne Arnett has combined the two disciplines by weaving photorealistic mugshots on a loom.

She first experimented with this medium at Kent State University, taking to the technique after completing her first piece of photographic textile art.

While the Ohio-based artist is interested in the moments where “life has slipped out of control”, she does not use real mugshots for reference, preferring to sketch till a face feels “genuine”.

Arnett also does research, planning out the colors of each work of art before execution—each woven portrait takes 4 weeks to make and every piece is titled after the subject’s sentence—for instance, Six Months Probation.

Scroll down to view more of these meticulously woven portraits.

[via FastCo Design]

Hilariously Bad Ads That Were Rejected

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:15:02 -0500

Originating in the UK, the annual Chip Shop Awards is an international creative award for un-used advertising ideas that celebrates creativity with “no limits”.

“The Chips is all about ideas. Your work does not have to have been broadcast, printed or mailed. The Clients doesn't have to be yours. You just need a brilliant idea”

This results in some hilariously bad ideas that don’t meet with the client’s approval—mainly because they are politically incorrect, insensitive, offensive or just in bad taste.

[via Chip Shop Awards, via Business Insider]

iPad Magician Creates A Magical ‘Angry Birds’ Ad

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:15:45 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

Popular mobile game Angry Birds has received a “magical” update that includes some new gameplay mechanics involving magic portals.

As part of this new release, Angry Birds makers Rovio have teamed up with Simon Pierro, better known as the ‘iPad Magician’, to create a ‘magic’ video.

The video features some ingenuity from Pierro, who performs magic tricks with the iPad.

More incredibly, the tricks were all filmed in one shot, without the help of editing.

Click here to to watch the video:

[Rovio, via Mashable]

A Cloud-Shaped Lamp That Shines Like The ‘Sun After Rain’

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:52:18 -0500

French designer Mathieu Lehanneur has designed a beautiful lamp named ‘Cloudy’ that “evokes sunlight after the rain”.

Made of clear white glass, this whimsical lamp is supposed to embody “an almost magical lightness”.

Highly luminous LEDs create the illusion that the cloud-shaped lamp is emitting rays of sunlight—available as a suspension lamp or light fitting, Cloudy is designed to be a positive sign of hope and optimism.

Scroll down to view more images of the Cloudy lamp.

[via Contemporist]

Comic: An Inspirational Message To Graduates

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:46:56 -0500

Grant Snider of Incidental Comics has created a new comic that should serve as inspiration for graduates everywhere.

Titled ‘Message for Graduates’, it highlights the many “hoops” in life that we have to jump through in order to find success.

[via Incidental Comics]

A Beach That’s Not Relaxing, Lets You Do Extreme Plane Spotting

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:45:24 -0500

(via Benny Zheng)

Maho Beach, located on the Dutch side of the Caribbean islands, sounds like an ideal getaway spot for relaxation with its clear blue waters and white sand.

Unlike typical beaches, however, Maho Beach is better off for adrenaline junkies and airplane lovers—it’s located close to the Princess Juliana International Airport that has a short runway of 7,150-feet.

When aircrafts are due to touchdown, they have to get close to the beginning of the runway with minimal altitude—which results in planes flying over the beach, over the heads of beachgoers.

If you love plane-spotting, this beach would be a good holiday destination—its bars and restaurants are even equipped with daily arrival and departure times of various airlines.

According to TwistedSifter, one of the bars even broadcasts real-time radio transmissions between the pilots and the airport’s control tower.

(via Takashi Ota)

(via Wikipedia)

(via Jetphotos.net)

(via Lisa O)

(via Eric Dunetz)

(via Roman Dolinsky)

[via TwistedSifter]

Funny But ‘Shitty’ Fictional Drafts of Famous Literature

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:52:31 -0500

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Creative writing student Paul Laudiero has created a Tumblr blog called, ‘Shit Rough Drafts’, where he pokes fun at famous books by imaging how “shitty” their first drafts were.

According to Laudiero’s imagination, the rough drafts of great books—from The Brothers Karamazov to the The Hunger Games—were not that great.

To celebrate the premiere of The Great Gatsby, Laudiero’s latest posts are replete with “first drafts” of the American classic.

The creator of these “shitty” rough drafts is also working on a book, but publishing details have yet to be released.

Scroll down to find out if he has re-written your favorite classic with an irreverent twist.

Iron Man directed by Jon Favreau

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

1984 by George Orwell

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope by George Lucas

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling

The Ten Commandments of The Bible

Braveheart directed by Mel Gibson

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Lincoln, by Tony Kushner

Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James

[via Tumblr]

Cheeky Budget Airline Ad Tells Unhappy Customers To ‘Shut The F**k Up’

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:41:03 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

Stockholm-based Austrian advertising student Hugo Gstrein has created a tongue-in-cheek ad campaign for European budget airline Ryanair that basically tells disgruntled passengers to “shut the f**k up” because “beggers can’t be choosers”.

Instead of trying to attract customers with quality service and in-flight facilities, this brutally honest ad campaign simply reminds people that with “prices this cheap”, one really shouldn’t be complaining.

In addition to its controversial slogan, the ad campaign also consists of a website overhaul that would segregate the “complainers” from regular customers—to make it difficult for anyone to lodge a complaint, the “complain page” would lock down after just 10 seconds.

There are also print ads and billboards that display common complains from passengers—such as “8 Euros for a sandwich? I want a snack, not a gold brick.”—all of which are answered with the campaign’s provocative tagline of “Shut the f**k up”.

Watch the video below to learn more about this tongue-in-cheek, award-winning ad campaign and scroll down for images of its publicity materials.

[via Vimeo]

Haunting Photos Of The Antarctic Resonate Its Peaceful Barrenness

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:53:14 -0500

The Antarctic is a place devoid of much color or activity, much of it covered with snow.

Occasionally though, in the freezing and peaceful place, you’d find human life—such as, in these photos of German Antarctic research base, Neumayer Station II, captured by German designer and photography enthusiast Lars Focke.

The pictures that seem to be overexposed and contain lots of negative space truthfully highlight The Antarctic’s barren landscape of white snow.

[via Lars Focke]

Design Studio Reveals The Branding Process Of ‘The Great Gatsby’

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:54:20 -0500

Sydney-based design studio Like Minded Studio was given the opportunity to collaborate with Australian film director Baz Luhrmann for the recently released film ‘The Great Gatsby’.

With the help of production company Bazmark, the studio created the branding for the film—including the design of ‘The Great Gatsby’ logo and the typeface for the movie.

To show the branding process, the studio recently published images that showcase the work that went into the production of ‘The Great Gatsby’.

Check them out below:

[via Print Bench and Like Minded Studio]

Infographic: The Cost Of Adobe Creative Cloud VS Box Set

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:05:11 -0500

Adobe caused quite a stir a couple of weeks ago when it announced its subscription-based ‘Creative Cloud’ service.

To help you understand Adobe’s confusing pricing systems, Digital Camera Info has put together an infographic that compares the cost of the boxed set and the cost of subscribing to Creative Cloud.

Click to view full image

Click to view full image

[via Digital Camera Info]

Japanese Coffee Artist Creates Adorable 3D Latte Art, ‘Pops Out Of The Cup’

Wed, 22 May 2013 07:38:37 -0500

If you don’t like your coffee shaken nor stirred, but don’t mind it with art—you’ll like Osaka, Japan-based coffee artist Kazuki Yamamoto’s 3D renditions that look too cute to be drunk.

Already known for his wonderful 2D coffee art, Yamamoto took his creations to the next level—to literally ‘top’ them off, with foam.

Made mostly of milk foam found in cappuccinos and lattes, his adorable 3D sculptures feature animals and sometimes cartoon characters.

[via Bored Panda]

‘Landscape With A Corpse’, Hauntingly Beautiful Photos Of Death

Wed, 22 May 2013 07:51:29 -0500

In his photo series called ‘Landscape with a Corpse’, Japanese photographer Izima Kaoru combines the subject of death and fashion in a hauntingly beautiful manner.

Kaoru first invited female models to fantasize about their perfect way to die.

He then asked them which designer clothing they would like to wear when their ‘dead’ body gets discovered.

With the information, the photographer recreates the models’ fantasies—capturing them in death as they lay motionless, dressed in their very best.

Kaoru has been working on this series since 1995.

[via Izima Kaoru and My Modern Met]

Adorable Novelty Rings Let You Wear Your Favorite Food On Your Fingers

Wed, 22 May 2013 07:44:03 -0500

Inspired by the “kawaii”—which means cute or kitsch in Japanese—movement in Japan, Fukuoka-based Canadian artist Sofia Molnar has created adorable novelty rings that feature quintessential Japanese meals in miniature.

Paying attention to the color and composition of these dishes, Molnar adds another dimension to her work by depicting the food in mid-motion—for instance, one of her rings shows a can of beer being poured into a glass.

While these rings may look good enough to eat, they are actually made of plastic, wood, clay, pottery shards and Japanese Chiyogami paper.

Scroll down to view the rest of her collection.

[via Daily Art Cocktail]

Rejected Early Drafts & Alternate Versions Of Famous Movie Posters

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:02:27 -0500

Batman

In some cases, a popular film’s poster can be every bit as iconic as the movie itself—which makes poster design a very important part of a movie’s branding.

Events website Daybees has put up an online gallery to showcase the rejected early drafts and alternate versions of famous movie posters.

Featuring both the rejected posters and the final official poster for each movie, the virtual exhibition includes the posters of well-known films like Pulp Fiction, Batman amd The Exorcist.

Many of these posters are designed by veteran graphic designer Bill Gold, who previously worked for Warner Brothers and has made over 2,000 posters for movies of every genre in a prolific career that spans eight decades.

The rejected drafts give us a rare glimpse into the process of designing movie posters—some posters go through 20 to 30 versions before a final design is chosen for the official poster.

View more rejected movie posters that “always were” overe here.

Official poster

A Clockwork Orange

Official poster

The Exorcist

Official poster

Pulp Fiction

Official poster

[via The Guardian]

Filmmaker ‘Clones’ Himself, Makes Surreal Hypnotizing GIFs

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:55:01 -0500

Filmmaker Erdal Inci takes the idea of the GIF to its fullest potential by “cloning” himself digitally and then creating GIFs with this “clone army”.

The resulting moving images are eerie yet hypnotizing—they depict the Turkish artist performing mundane tasks—such as walking through the streets or sliding down stair banisters—in endless loops.

He has also made other GIFs that feature beautiful and complicated patterns of light, created with the aid of flashlights.

His work will be exhibited at the Action Gallery in Milan and Naples on 25 and 30 May 2013 respectively.

Scroll down to see more of these mesmerizing and disorienting GIFs.

[via This Is Colossal]

A Bookcase That Suspends Books On Threads

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:49:14 -0500

Designers Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay of Raw Edges have designed a bookcase shaped like a weaving loom that suspends books on threads.

Called ‘Bloom’, the bookcase was commissioned by the British Council to display fictional titles by young British novelists, picked by literary magazine Granta.

Each thread on the bookcase is able to hold a single book, which is held in place by a sliding black stopper.

[via Dezeen]

Gorilla Wants To Be A Panda, So That It’s Cute Enough To Be Saved

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:28:49 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

According to ad agency Ogilvy & Mather Chicago, wildlife organizations have jumped on the bandwagon in recent years to ‘save the pandas’—forgetting that there are other endangered animals in the world.

As such, Ogilvy Chicago created an ad for APES (A Project of the Conservation Trust) to highlight the ‘favoritism’ some animals receive, and the importance of conserving all wildlife—not just ‘cute’ animals that everyone adores.

In the cute but sad 60-second spot, a gorilla paints himself white, only to look more like the much-loved panda—striking a chord in its viewer.

“A panda is the ‘poster child’ for wildlife conservation—and when it comes to preservation and protection, it really is ‘survival of the cutest’, not the fittest,” APES founder, Lee Theisen-Watt said in a statement.

“We wanted to shine light on the ‘forgotten’ primates, centering our story around a gorilla who sadly knows his chances of protection are greater if he appears more like a panda.”

Are we all guilty of only liking the cute ones?

Watch the ad below:

[via Reuters]

Fiat Teams Up With DC Comics To Keep Kids Safe

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:30:07 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

Car crashes are one of the leading causes of child mortality in Brazil.

To combat this, leading car manufacturer Fiat has joined forces with the DC Comic’s Justice League to ensure children wear their seatbelts.

In the comic-styled advertisement made by Leo Burnett Brazil, Batman, Wonder Woman and The Flash come together to keep children safe with the ‘Hero Hug’—a special seatbelt cover modeled after the hands of a superhero.

The use of superheroes will “encourage children to protect themselves in traffic in a fun and entertaining way” and educate them on the importance of road safety.

Click here to watch the video:

[via YouTube]

Old Postcards Layered Over New Photos To Create Surprisingly Coherent Images

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:27:21 -0500

Photographers Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe have collaborated on a reconstructive photography project named ‘Reconstructing the View: The Grand Canyon Photographs’, where old postcards and pictures are layered over modern day pictures to create intriguing new images.

Using vintage postcards and photographs of the Grand Canyon shot by the likes of Ansel Adams and Edward Weston—the duo arrange the older image precisely against the more recent photograph, so as to create the illusion that the two blend into one cohesive picture.

These “reconstructed views” bring together the old and the new in a creative manner that shows how natural wonders like the Grand Canyon has remained more or less the same over the decades—on the other hand, the appearances of people in these pictures have changed a lot.

Head over to the photographers’ blog to view more of their hybrid, “time-traveling” photography.

[via Faith Is Torment]

New York City To Update ‘Handicapped’ Icon

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:42:30 -0500

The City of New York has decided to update the familiar blue-and-white ‘handicapped’ signage with a newer design created by a team from Gordon College, Massachusetts.

The old sign, which features a stick figure in a wheelchair, has been criticized as portraying the handicapped as “passive” and even “helpless”.

The Gordon-created signage hopes to change all that: It is dynamic, with a stick figure leaning forward and active.

Victor Calise, commissioner of the Office for People With Disabilities in New York, calls the new design “a forward-moving thing” and in contrast, the logo now in use is “stagnant”.

Elaborating, he said, “There’s no movement, and it makes people seem like they don’t do much with their lives”.

Proponents of the new sign hope that its success will be able to kickstart a discussion and re-evaluation of disability issues.

The old signage

[via The Chronicle Of Higher Education, image via Shutterstock]

Photographer Captures Interesting Point-Of-View Pictures Of Himself

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:06:34 -0500

Kazakhstan-based photographer Timur Zhansultanov has created a photo project that features interesting point-of view-pictures of himself performing various activities.

Titled ‘In My Own Eyes’, it shows images of him working, driving a car, eating, playing basketball, and much more.

According to Zhansultanov, the aim of the project was to capture pictures of everyday human actions from an unusual perspective—his eyes.

[via Timur Zhansultanov]

Surreal Photos Created By Projecting Stunning Outdoor Views Onto Rooms’ Walls

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:22:21 -0500

Based in the US, Abelardo Morell started his photo project ‘Camera Obscura’ in 1991 by projecting the view outside onto the walls of his living room.

22 years later, he has gone on to photograph rooms all around the world, using this unusual camera obscura method.

He achieves such fascinating images by covering all the windows of the room with black plastic—a tear is then made in one of the plastic sheets to let in an inverted image that would be displayed on the wall.

These days, the photographer uses color film to push his project further—other enhancements include using a prism to project an upright image, and placing his lens above the hole in the plastic to get a crisper image.

Scroll down to see more of these wonderful images where the outdoors comes indoors.

[via Fubiz]

Nike Logo Gets 3D, Sneaker-Inspired Makeover

Wed, 22 May 2013 03:48:25 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

There are few logos that are as iconic or readily recognizable as the Nike Swoosh—however, the sporting goods company is not at all precious with it and has commissioned Brazilian typographer Marcelo Schultz to give it a makeover.

The result is a vibrant new design that has been created entirely on Photoshop—obviously inspired by the brand’s famous footwear, these exciting fresh versions of the Swoosh feature sneaker-inspired elements like shoelaces and rubber soles.

Schultz has also created a clever typeface that spells out the word “Nike” with what seems to be leather or plastic letters that have been stitched onto canvas.

Watch Schultz work on another design below to get interesting insights into his creative process:

[via Creative Bloq]

An App That Wakes Sleepy Drivers Up, Directs Them To Nearest Coffee Place

Wed, 22 May 2013 03:44:59 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

Drowsy driving causes more than 100,000 car crashes each year.

To help curb the numbers and help travellers get to their destination safely, Thai coffee shop chain Café Amazon—with the help of creative agency BBDO Proximity Thailand—has created an app that helps wake up sleepy drivers.

With the use of eye- and face-tracking technology, the app called ‘Drive Awake’ is able to detect when a driver is dozing off while behind the wheel.

When a driver starts to doze off, the app will wake the drowsy driver with a loud alarm, and navigate him/her to the nearest Café Amazon for a coffee break.

‘Drive Awake’ is available on iTunes.

Check out how it works in the video below:

[via Creativity Online]

Surreal Architectural Collages Mesh Different Worlds Together

Wed, 22 May 2013 03:46:04 -0500

Based in Lisbon, collage artist Hugo Barros challenges the limits of reality with his artworks that show the surreal “clashing” of vastly different worlds.

Inspired by modern art movements like Constructivism, Futurism, as well as post-1968 architecture, Barros creates his otherworldly and apocalyptic scenes using only two or three images.

View more of the artist’s mind-bending collages below:

[via Architizer]

10 Photographers To Follow This Week

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:54:19 -0500

From all around the globe to travelling all over the globe—covering all sorts of angles in various lightings, sometimes with bokeh, sometimes with film, and some other times in black and white—there are those who capture what we see everyday from their own unique perspective, and add flavor to the ordinary.

In this visual feast, we present the ‘Photographers of the Week’, whom we recommend for you to follow on The Creative Finder.

If you’re not yet part of this great social network for creatives, why not sign up and immerse yourself in creative inspiration.

Kevin VanEmburgh

Jordan Hollender

Stefen Turner

Johnny Burnett

Alfonso Azaola

Mishu Vass

Someone

Leonardo Spinetti

Paolo Lafratta

Rune Wold

Aston Martin Celebrates 100 Years With Sleek Roofless Speedster

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:35:02 -0500

While the folks at Lamborghini have rolled out a limited edition road bike for their 50th anniversary, Aston Martin is celebrating its centenary with the sleek and stylish CC100 Speedster.

Unveiled at the Nürburgring race in Germany, this beauty was inspired by an old model—the Aston Martin DBR1.

Equipped with a 6.0-liter V12 engine, this car goes from 0-60mph in four seconds, reaching top speed at 180mph.

Aston Martin’s CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez states that parts of this design will be incorporated into future models, although the company has not disclosed whether this commemorative model is available for sale.

Scroll down for more images and a video of this drool-worthy speedster.

[via Wired]

Funny, Politically Incorrect Illustrations That Say It Like It Is

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:19:23 -0500

While so many illustrators have chosen to say something nice with their drawings, London-based illustration student Lyvia Aylward-Davies decided to be brutally honest—to the point of being politically incorrect—with hers.

Her quirky hand-drawn illustrations often feature short phrases that express not-so-nice emotions that most people would admit to feeling at times, even if they are not bold enough to verbalize them.

From an indecent proposal that cuts to the chase—“You are pretty, so sex”—to the anti-social and selfish tendencies that may strike even the best of us once in a while, these funny illustrated prints remind us that we are all just human.

Check out more of the talented illustrator’s work on her blog and Tumblr page.

[via Lyvia Aylward-Davies]

Vintage-Inspired, Typographic Advertisements From The ‘Legend Of Zelda’

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:11:28 -0500

“Geek artist” Barrett Biggers imagines what advertisements would look like in the universe of the classic video game, “The Legend of Zelda”.

Drawing inspiration from vintage typography, particularly “Snake Oil” posters, each of the advertisements looks like it hails from a half-forgotten era.

The posters are infused with a sense of humor and poke fun at various aspects of the “Legend of Zelda” universe—they also feature interesting typography that will delight the font nerd in you.

Scroll down for a closer look at these posters.

[via Creativitea]

Infographic: The Impact Of Color In Logo Design

Wed, 22 May 2013 03:39:27 -0500

Marek Mis of British Design Experts has created a highly accessible and informative infographic called, 'The Impact Of Color In Your Logo Design'.

It helps one understand how influential color might be when it comes to expressing a brand's characteristics. It may seem quite obvious, but not everyone remembers that every decision made about a brand or branding in general, is an important one.

Specifically, logo or brand color awareness goes a long way. It will affect the initial customer response to your brand's identity, when it joins the millions of other brands and logos out there in the market—It's the logo equivalent of the first impression.

You may have the best brand identity concept, but without something relevant in terms of color, the future impact of your brand might be affected—especially in today's highly competitive and bustling online business environment.

Learn more or have a refresher about the importance of color in branding, with the infographic below:

Click to enlarge image

Click to enlarge image

[via Amy Harding / British Design Experts, images via Marek Mis]

Give Us Your Best Caption: Don't Mind Me, I'll Just Lie Here...Alone

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:18:42 -0500

Today’s ‘Image of the Day’ belongs to Jeffrey Lamont Brown. Congratulations!

To help you get off on the right foot every morning, DesignTAXI will be featuring an image everyday from its social network for creatives, The Creative Finder, to keep you inspired.

In this segment ‘Image of the Day’, you—our very lovely readers—are invited to submit captions to describe the selected image above: just simply tweet it with the page's URL and hashtag #tellapictale, or leave a comment at the bottom.

Winning captions would be featured the following day.

Yesterday's winning caption goes to Shane Placentino: "I ❤ wall hanging."

Minimalist Graphic Posters Of Classic Video Games

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:18:27 -0500

Ari Martinez, a graphic designer based in Spain, has given classic video games fresh new looks with his latest poster series.

Created in a minimalist style, each colorful poster reflects the most iconic elements of the game it represents.

Featuring a mix of familiar classics like “Sonic the Hedgehog” and newer games, such as “Minecraft”, they update the visual identities of these popular games with interesting twists.

Scroll down to view the rest of the posters in the collection.

[via Tumblr]

The Most Disgusting Teen Drinking Ads Ever?

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:48:06 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

To show the negative impact of alcohol abuse on teens, Spanish non-profit organization for drug prevention FAD created these two commercials that might make you sick in the stomach.

In the ads, it shows two young teens throwing up after a night of binge drinking.

However, things take a turn for the worse when they start to puke out a person—something you would only see in a horror film or game.

According to Buzzfeed, the voiceover in the videos say, “Every time you get drunk, you separate yourself from the things that matter. Like your family.”

What do you think? Worst drinking ads ever?

Click to watch the videos below:

[via Buzzfeed]

Pokémon Characters Re-Drawn In Tim Burton’s Signature Style

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:46:48 -0500

Aspiring illustrator and design student Vaughn Pinpin has embarked on a side project in which he re-imagines Pokémon characters in the artistic style of famous film director Tim Burton.

Fans of either Burton’s work or the Pokémon franchise are in for a treat—for instance, crowd favorite Pikachu has the trademark wide-eyed look of Burton illustrations, while Charizard looks both menacing and disdainful.

The project is still on-going—Pinpin intends to re-create all 151 of the original Pokémon characters.

Browse through the rest of his Pokémon re-creations over here.

[via Ned Hardy]

Photographer Brings Wooden Mannequin To Life In Imaginative Photo Series

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:46:02 -0500

Minneapolis-based photographer and design manager Nicolas Vallejos has been capturing imaginative photos of a wooden mannequin called ‘Woody’, which represents his alter-ego.

In his life, Vallejos had always dreamed of becoming an astronaut, a sushi chef and getting a tattoo—but he never had the chance.

However, with Woody, he has the opportunity to live out those fantasies vicariously.

He said, “[Woody] basically can be anything that I wanted to be and didn’t have either the time, patience or skills. And taking those pictures are the most fun.”

Since discovering Woody in 2003, Vallejos has created over 300 shots.

He brings Woody to life by placing it in various scenarios and even portraying the mannequin as famous celebrities.

Check out his album of Woody pictures here.

[via Nicolas Vallejos]

NSFW: Artist Creates Beautiful Calligraphy On The Bare Bodies Of Girls

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:44:23 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

Moscow-based “calligraffiti artist” Senia—also known as Pokras Lampas—has started a lettering project, ‘Calligraphy on Girls’, where he paints gorgeous calligraphy onto the bare bodies of girls.

Using the skin of his models as his canvas, the artist creates sensual living artworks that bring the beautiful female form together with beautiful letters.

Covering the skin of the models like intricate tattoos, each piece of calligraphy body art is unique—working with photographers and make-up artists, Senia shoots these temporary artworks after they are completed to record them for posterity.

Watch the videos below to see the artist at work on the ‘Calligraphy on Girls’ project—or head over to the project’s Facebook page to keep up with new creations.

[via Calliagraphy On Girls]

3D-Printed Sugar Sculptures Look Too Good To Eat

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:24:59 -0500

3D printing is the next big thing, and we’ve heard of all manner of things being printed, from shoes to skulls. But what about sweets?

The husband and wife team over at The Sugar Lab, Kyle and Liz, have managed to do just that.

It all started when they tried to make a birthday cake for a friend, but they didn’t have an oven—so, they decided to 3D-print it instead.

Much trial and error later, they succeeded in printing a tiny cupcake topper made of sugar.

Figuring that others might appreciate 3D-printed sugar too, they have since perfected their technique and set up ‘The Sugar Lab’.

[via The Sugar Lab]

Tokyo’s Landscape Combined With Its Soundscape Makes One Amazing Video

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:41:56 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

For the 10th year anniversary of Roppongi Hills, an urban complex in Tokyo, an amazing project titled ‘Tokyo City Symphony’ has been created.

One part of the project is the stunning video in which a psychedelic 3D projection is mapped onto a miniature model of Tokyo city at a 1:1000 scale.

This is set to a soundtrack made from everyday sounds heard in Tokyo.

The second part of the project allows you to create your own symphony, using your keyboard as a piano to control the music and 3D projections. You can then share your creation with the rest of the world.

Hop over to ‘Tokyo City Symphony’ and give the online synthesizer a spin.

Click here to watch the video:

[via Tokyo City Symphony]

Grieving Through Art

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:10:44 -0500

There might come a time when the safe cushion of our routine lives is suddenly jolted by a loss. It could be an unexpected loss of a job, an ending to a relationship, a death of a loved one or a dream we watched slip out of our reach. In either situation, grief can result and often consume our lives during such times. This can disrupt the flow of our routine especially in our artistic life. Startled and paralyzed, we are unable to tap into what was once a river of creativity. Although, grief is a natural remedy to move us towards healing and recovery, it can often put a suddenly halt to our creative process.

Grief may require us to shut down both physically and mentally in order to cope. The very same energy that once cultivated inspiration is now forced to focus on recuperating. This can often leave us feeling creatively dried up and dull. Yet, in the midst of suffering also lies an opportunity to heal from it and what better avenue then to try to express it through our art.

During grief, our creativity pulls from a different source, our own emotional suffering. Sometimes emotional pain and trials can force us to become more introspective, present and sensitive to our internal world, allowing feelings to be closer to the surface making it much easier to tap into. We can clearly see this occurring in the pieces of some of our old masters.

For example, Picasso’s well-known “Blue Period”, was prompted by the sudden suicide death of his friend Carlos Casadgemas. His grief can be felt through the blues and greens that dominated his paintings during this period. Picasso also painted multiple portraits of Casadgemas as an avenue to express the deep loss and yearning for his friend. Another example is a writer telling the story of his own trauma over and over again as a reoccurring theme in his writings. For instance, Shakespeare’s repeated theme of death that shows up in his plays can be attributed to witnessing multiple fatalities in his family. Because of the high mortality rate during his time, many of his brothers and sisters died at an early age.

The intense feelings of loss and grief can be overwhelming. Being able to process some of these feelings through our art can help lesson the intensity as well as bring some relief. Creatively expressing our grief can help us work through the pain and bring more meaning and depth to our experience.

Just as Picasso began his Rose Period soon after his Blue Period, we too can have hope that there is a light at the end of the dark tunnel.

Top image from Imgembed.

This is a cross-post from The Art of Mind.

Lisa A Riley, MA, LMFT is a Creativity Coach and has spent more than nine years working with creative individuals such as artists, actors, designers, musicians, writers, and actors. She “helps to empower clients to take steps towards enhancing their creativity and move closer to becoming the artist they envisioned themselves to be”. See her multiple ‘Products for Your Creative Success’ on her site The Art of Mind.

Man Creates An Amazing, Comic Book-Like Spiderman Costume

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:12:56 -0500

Cosplayer MoonSpider has created an impressive Spiderman costume that definitely puts all other Spidey costumes to shame.

Looking like he just popped out of a comic book, the amount of detail put into the design of the costume is ‘out of this world’.

Created with the help of other prop makers and printers, he spent about $600 to create this one-of-a-kind costume.

To find out how he did it, please click here.

[via Imgur]

In Photo Series, Bauhaus-Influenced Food Designs

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:00:46 -0500

The German school established in the 1920s, Bauhaus, was known for its approach to design, and its influence on modern design.

Inspired by Bauhaus, Berlin-based photographers Nicky&Max created a food photography series.

The series features interesting yet minimalist color and compositions made up of food.

[via Trendland]

Thought-Provoking Photos Document South Korea’s Obsession With Plastic Surgery

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:04:17 -0500

South Korean photographer Ji Yeo has created a thought-provoking photo series—entitled “Beauty Recovery Room”—that documents her country’s heightening obsession with cosmetic surgery.

As more and more Korean women are willing to go under the knife to attain the “ideal beauty” portrayed in the media, the cosmetic surgery industry in South Korea is booming.

Featuring post-surgery women sitting in their recovery rooms, the bruises and scars on these subjects tell of the pain that they had to go through in pursuit of the good looks that is deemed to be increasingly important by society.

These poignant photographs reflect on the powerful influence of the media on body image—view the entire series over here.

[via It’s Nice That]

Photographer Catalogs The People Of New York City

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:36:16 -0500

You've got to respect a man who refuses to pretend like he's having a good day.

‘Humans of New York’ is a photo project started by photographer Brandon Stanton in 2010, where he captures portraits of people who live in the ‘Big Apple’.

Armed with a camera, he travels around NYC, capturing the quirky and unusual characters that he encounters on the streets—cataloging them in his personal project.

“I thought it would be really cool to create an exhaustive catalog of the city’s inhabitants, so I set out to photograph 10,000 New Yorkers and plot their photos on a map,” wrote Stanton.

Besides photos, Stanton also collects quotes and stories of the people he photographs—giving his viewers a more personal glimpse into the lives of strangers from New York.

"Before it was all about us. Now it's all about him."

"Every country is good for different reasons. They are like different fruits. But Egypt is my favorite. Egypt is like a mango."

Seen in Jackson Heights

Seen in Jackson Heights

"I worked hard, I was honest, I provided for my family, and I took care of my parents."

I sat by that stroller and called out her name for three minutes: "Julia, Julia, Juuulllliiiiiiaa." But she wouldn't emerge. Finally this happened.

Turning Pink

One of them pointed at a passing rollerblader and said: "Why don't you photograph him instead?" Another one answered for me: "Because he's not a Hasid with a chihuahua."

"I really started running when I was 18, right after my dad died. I was doing 17 miles everyday. It was my own way of facing death each night and beating it."

"I want to be an artist."
"What kind of art do you want to make?"
"I want to make different versions of myself."

"What's your greatest struggle right now?"
"Interacting with other people."
"In what way?"
"In this way."

We talked for a few minutes. She told me that she'd had a plan to join the Navy out of high school, but that fell apart because her knees were bad. She told me that she'd just finished working a 12 hour shift on a food truck. She told me that she'd moved to New York for no reason, just to get out of Kansas. "But I'm so glad I came," she said.
"Why's that?" I asked. Her eyes began to water.
"Because I'm so in love with a girl right now."

"I ain't never made a doll before, and it came out perfect!"

"You look kinda like Ernest Hemingway."
"And we're both from Key West."
"You're from Key West?"
"Well, I used to smuggle coke out of there."

"I never married."
"Why not?"
"Because you didn't come along until today."

[via Humans of New York]

Infographic: The Multiple Personalities Of Coffee Drinkers

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:17:23 -0500

Ever judged someone by the type of coffee they ordered?

To help you accurately associate the kind of person one is from the kind of coffee one orders, local guide Loku created a chart.

‘The Multiple Personalities of Coffee’ points out the ‘Snob’, the ‘Gossip’, the ‘Addict’, the ‘Businessman and Woman’, the ‘Night Owl’, the ‘Early Starter To Tonight’, the ‘Europhile’, and the ‘Ex-tea drinker’.

All in good fun, the Snob usually orders: an espresso, a French press coffee, freshly ground coffee, or café sua da.

The Businessman or woman: black because it's no frills, to-go because he/she is in a hurry, an Americano for political reasons.

The Night Owl: triple shot for three times the productivity, black eye for those who leave at 2 in the morning, or caffeine of any kind.

Coffee drinkers, is this chart accurate? What kind of coffee do you drink?

Click to view full image

Click to view full image

[via Visual.ly]

Fantastic, Otherworldly Sculptures Of Animals

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:03:28 -0500

All her life, Ellen Jewett, from Ontario, Canada, has been in love with sculpting.

For her, “sculpting has always been about life; biological narratives, emotions, movement, balance and observations about life's subtleties and overtures”.

Jewett has been creating these fantastical masterpieces since 2007, when she graduated with a degree in Biological Anthropology and Fine Art.

The sculptures are otherworldly in nature, and her imaginative creations bring to mind creatures from ‘Princess Mononoke’ and ‘Pokemon’.

Made from clay, and sculpted over a handmade metal frame, the sculptures are then painted with acrylic or oil paints.

[via Ellen Jewett Sculpture]

Saturn-like Rings Around Earth Would Make For Spectacular Landscapes

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:02:39 -0500

Ron Miller from io9 has created some stunning looking illustrations that imagine what having Saturn-like rings around the Earth would look like.

Miller puts forward several hypotheses that explain the formation of rings around a planet.

One theory says that the rings were formed from material that were unable to form a moon, while another puts forward the possibility that the rings may be remnants of destroyed moons.

Any of these scenarios would be possible in forming a ring around the Earth.

Miller goes on to say that it would be easy to imagine what they would look like from Earth if they were the same proportion as those on Saturn.

Head on over to io9 to find out more about the rings around Saturn.

Quito, Ecuador

Guatamala

Polyneisia

Washington, DC

Nome, Alaska

[via io9]

Chandeliers Made Of Bicycle Parts Create Wonderful Light Show Beneath Overpass

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:37:57 -0500

Based in Arizona, artists Joe O’Connell and Blessing Hancock have installed six shimmering chandeliers under an overpass in San Antionio, Texas.

Entitled ‘Ballroom Luminoso’, these chandeliers cast mesmerizing, colorful silhouettes over the bare concrete space as the viewer wanders through the display.

Made from recycled bicycle parts, LED lights and custom-made structural steel, these carefully crafted chandeliers allude to the area’s agricultural history.

Each chandelier sports a medallion, reminiscent of the iconography of La Loteria, a Latin American game similar to Bingo—each symbol is inspired by the community’s farming roots, celebrating its eco-friendly achievements and cycling culture.

Scroll down for more images of these unconventional and visually arresting chandeliers.

[via This Is Colossal]

Artist Creates ‘Self-Portraits’ Using His Own Bacteria

Tue, 21 May 2013 06:49:11 -0500

Finnish artist Erno Erik Raitanen—who brought us edible cotton candy sculptures—created ‘self-portraits’ out of his own bacteria.

What he calls ‘Bacteriograms’, the brightly-colored images—that are more like photograms, and not so much like photographs—were made by collecting bacteria samples from his own body, and cultivating the bacteria samples on photographic film.

The bacteria consumed the film surface to produce the unusual images.

“I have been removed from the process but, at the same time, the images are a product of my body,” Raitanen said in a statement.

“With this work I want to raise questions about representation and reality; the nature and the place of photographic medium in contemporary society.”

[via Erno-Erik]

Strikingly Soulful Black & White Portraits Of Wild Animals

Tue, 21 May 2013 06:43:28 -0500

Connecticut-based photographer Stephanie McDowell has shot some incredibly intimate, black-and-white portraits of wild animals from the New England region.

In addition to photographing the injured wild birds housed at the Connecticut Audubon Society, she has also captured some beautiful pictures of other wildlife, such as wolves, monkeys, horses, and even tigers.

These portraits freeze surprisingly tender moments in the brutal wild and bring out the beauty and personality of their animal subjects.

View more of the photographer’s stunning work on her Facebook and Flickr pages.

[via Photographyblogger]

Portraits Of Iraqis With Faces Covered With A Photo Of Saddam Hussein

Tue, 21 May 2013 05:37:34 -0500

Iraqi-Kurdish photographer Jamal Penjweny’s project ‘Saddam is Here’ takes an uncanny look at the relationship between Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi people.

“Generous” yet “cruel”, a “good father” and a “criminal”, Saddam Hussein still elicits complex feelings among the population, years after his death.

In Penjweny’s words, “his shadow is still following Iraqi society everywhere”.

Penjweny says that “Iraqi society cannot forget him even after his death because some of us still love him and the rest are still afraid of him”. While in Baghdad, he felt that Saddam still lives through the way the people acted and interacted.

This inspired him to start the project ‘Saddam is Here’, where he photographed people covering their faces with a photo of Saddam Hussein’s face.

Naturally not everyone was keen to participate in his project, but Penjweny believes that art plays an important part in confronting the past and overcoming it.

[via The Guardian]

‘Plus-Size’ Blogger Challenges Abercrombie & Fitch's ‘Skinny’ Image

Tue, 21 May 2013 06:46:45 -0500

Seems like Abercrombie & Fitch just can’t catch a break—another person has decided to make a stand against A&F and its claim of not wanting “unattractive” and “larger people” shopping in its stores.

Arizona-based blogger Jes—who goes by her online moniker ‘The Militant Baker’—has taken the fight to CEO Michael Jeffries by publishing an open letter to him, and also recreating stereotypical A&F ads with a twist.

Adding the tagline “Attractive & Fat” to the ads, the self-proclaimed “fat model” is seen posing with a typical Abercrombie male model—in some of the pictures, Jes even appears topless.

She writes: “I didn’t take these pictures to show that the male model found me attractive, or that the photographer found me photogenic, or to prove that you’re an ostentatious dick. Rather, I was inspired by the opportunity to show that I am secure in my skin, and to flaunt this by using the controversial platform that you have created.”

“I challenge the separation of attractive and fat, and I assert that they are compatible regardless of what you believe. Not only do I know that I’m sexy, but I also have the confidence to pose nude in ways you don’t dare. You are more than welcome to prove me wrong by posing shirtless with a hot fat chick; it would thrill me to see such a shoot.”

Last week, LA-based writer Greg Karber started a campaign to give A&F a ‘brand readjustment’ by donating A&F clothing to the homeless.

Similar to Jes, he started the campaign after reading Jeffries’ statement about not wanting ‘undesirable’ people shopping in his stores.

To read the full letter and view the rest of the pictures, visit The Militant Baker.

[via The Militant Baker]

Nifty ‘GIFTY’ Camera Produces Instant Polaroid Flipbook

Tue, 21 May 2013 04:43:57 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

Believing that “memory is not a movie, nor a photo”, but instead closer to being like a GIF animation, Jiho Jang has created a Polaroid camera that produces physical GIF animations in the form of a flipbook.

Jang’s design is part of his thesis project, and works by taking a sequence of Polaroid pictures, which are developed and printed instantly. This is then combined into a flipbook.

Unfortunately for all you GIF lovers out there, there is only one copy of the GIFTY in existence right now, and Jang has made a video showing how it works.

Click here to watch the video:

[via YouTube]

Popular Cartoons Reimagined As Horrifying Monsters

Tue, 21 May 2013 04:29:01 -0500

American digital artist Dan LuVisi has reimagined several cartoon characters as terrifying monsters in his illustrated series ‘Popped Culture’.

In his horrifying illustrations, characters such as Bert & Ernie, Cookie Monster and Donald Duck have been transformed into nightmarish creatures that will probably scare you as a child.

According to LuVisi, his characters live in an “alternate wildly disturbing universe”.

Check them out below:

[via Dan LuVisi]

A Clever Packaging For Cookies That Looks Like An Old-Fashioned Oven

Tue, 21 May 2013 04:28:37 -0500

Iowa-based creative studio Saturday MFG has created a great retro-themed branding design for Thelma’s Treats, a warm cookie delivery business that is named after the owner’s great-grandmother and her famous snickerdoodle cookie recipe.

Considering the cookie company’s heritage, the delivery box that holds the cookies is made to look like an old-fashioned oven, complete with graphics of hobs and nobs on the top.

Designed to bring on warm, fuzzy feelings of nostalgia, the brand’s tasty products even slide out of the box in the same way that cookies are removed from an oven.

For an added dose of grandmotherly love, the box is also printed with a few words of wisdom from Grandma Thelma on the back.

[via The Dieline]

Wacom Unveils Photo-Messaging Smartphone App ‘Bamboo Loop’

Tue, 21 May 2013 04:29:42 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

Wacom has unveiled a free smartphone app that lets users send customized photos to each other.

Called ‘Bamboo Loop’, the photo-messaging app lets users take pictures, add graphics and write messages on them with various tools available on the app.

Users can choose to send their creation, which would be known as a ‘Loop card’, to any number of their friends.

Upon receiving the Loop card, friends can either create their own card as a reply, or ‘loop’ it back with added scribbles or graphics.

Users can also share the Loop cards on their social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr.

Bamboo Loop is currently available on iTunes, and will soon be available for Android.

[via BambooLoop]

Yahoo Revamps Flickr, Promises To Be ‘Spectaculr’

Tue, 21 May 2013 04:31:36 -0500

Hot on the heels of Google Plus’ photography focused redesign, Yahoo has unveiled a revamp to its photo sharing website, Flickr, in a bid to make it “awesome” again.

The new Flickr gives you 1TB of storage space free, so that you’ll be able to share all your images in full resolution. That’s more than 500,000 photos, assuming a 6.5-megapixel camera.

Flickr has also redesigned its ‘Activity Feed’, placing an emphasis on large, high-resolution images.

The ‘photostream’ also got a new coat of paint, now looking like a mix between 500px and Facebook, with the ability to insert a cover photo.

The new design also focuses on the mobile experience, with Flickr releasing an ‘Android’ app to join the iPhone app released last December.

Will this impressive new redesign, together with Yahoo’s recent acquisition of Tumblr be enough to earn Yahoo a younger demographic and keep it relevant?

[via Flickr Blog, Yahoo Blog]

Coca-Cola’s Heart-Warming Video Shows That It’s A Small World After All

Tue, 21 May 2013 04:32:59 -0500

[Click here to view the video in this article]

We have featured cool Coca-Cola vending machines before, but the latest advertisement in its ‘Open Happiness’ campaign aims to help resolve the long-standing conflict between India and Pakistan.

Directed by American advertising company Leo Burnett, the video features two vending machines, equipped with webcams and touchscreens, in India and Pakistan.

In the heart-warming video, participants get a free can of soda if they engage in some simple and fun activities, like drawing peace signs or dancing, with their counterparts across the border.

Coca-Cola is trying to foster greater understanding between the participants by encouraging communication and the realization that they are more alike than not.

But can this campaign really have an effect on cross border relations or is Coca-Cola just exploiting a conflict to sell more cans?

Click here to watch the video:

[via AdWeek]