July 22 2010
July 22 2010
The debate over the future home entertainment experience rages on.
Mostly it’s centered around the needs of advertisers and networks. Will Google TV, Boxee or Apple TV completely replace the cable box? How will they impact the bottom line of networks, channels, broadband providers and advertisers? Really, it is understanding and delivering for the needs of the consumer sitting in their living room that will ultimately move us forward. They are looking for seamless experiences with clear and easy interactions.
Julie Tsao’s Curious Displays imagines a future where the TV literally revolves around the user’s needs, becoming an intelligent device at the center of the home. The display moves around the living room, responding to behaviors, alerting household duties and interacting with other household objects. Although this appears as a slightly whimsical experiment, the idea that objects will be able to recognize and sense our needs is already here. This is another example of where ‘smart’ objects merge the digital with the physical and the virtual with the tangible.
July 21 2010
Last week we posted on the latest fad sweeping the nation – Silly Bandz. Those silicon rubber bands are just the latest from a long line of fads. We had a look at some other ones that have taken America by storm: How long did they last? What was their appeal? What was their downfall? We hope you enjoy our chronology of fads, Fads for the Ages, as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Click the image to view full size.
July 16 2010
Like many people, we’ve been closely watching how Apple and its Delphic CEO Steve Jobs handle the recent uproar about the new iPhone 4. In reading the reams of news, and watching Steve Jobs’ press conference today, we’re struck by two divergent realities: This episode (which we all know will merely be a speedbump on the highway of world domination) proves just how strong brand Apple is, as it simultaneously gives us an object lesson in how brands shouldn’t act. Call it the Good, the Bad and the Ugly in Silicon Valley.
As we watch, Apple is reaping the benefit of just how strong its brand is. Despite all the news, all the dropped calls, people who are loyal to Apple believe one thing in their heart of hearts—whatever the problem, Apple will fix it. Apple’s core consumers trust Apple so implicitly, they have no doubt the company will make things right. It is that trust that brands spend decades and millions of dollars trying to attain. They usually fail. Sure, there have been brands with that kind of loyalty and trust before, but most existed in a simpler time, with more trusting consumers, and much less competition. This episode is proving that Apple has created the holy grail of brands—one that consumers believe will do the right thing.
As details of the development and pre-launch process emerge, we are treated to a classic case of a brand that thinks it knows it all. Apple so closely held the pre-launch reigns because Steve Jobs and his designers got caught up in the iPhone hype, and lost sight of the fact that people actually had to USE the thing. They acted like a category leader rather than a challenger—they acted like GM, not Mini. Our favorite part—the “stealth” phones sent to carrier partners for testing were designed so the phone couldn’t be held. Isn’t that kind of like testing a new cookie without letting people taste it? Remember Icarus?—the guy from Greek Mythology who flew too close to the sun on wax wings? Steve “Icarus” Jobs has a certain ring to it. Marketing 101: Maintain a close relationship with consumer needs and give them what they want, not what you THINK they want.
Apple still rocks—despite putting a moderately ridiculous and self-indulgent music video (full disclosure—Apple didn’t produce the thing) on its site today. But now they can add “walking contradiction” to their long list of accomplishments.
July 14 2010
We love coffee here at Plaid.
Living in NYC the complex coffee scene continues to grow more and more interesting. To make things easier we decided to create a simple guide for everyone from the Average Joe to the coffee connoisseur. We would love to know what you guys think. If you are interested in a print please contact tom@plaid-creative.com.
Recently our info-graphic for the perfect pour has been popping up everywhere. A big thanks to NOTCOT, Idsgn and Design You Trust for spreading the word. Check out the full size version here.
July 14 2010
Silly Bandz are the fad du jour, adorning the wrists of children and young adults all around the country - from 10-year-old girls in Kansas City to 26-year-old males in East Hampton. But can these fun, colorful bracelets that come in a variety of shapes and themes become more than just a fad? Can Silly Bandz become a sustainable business? We got to thinking about how Silly Bandz stacks up against past fads (Beanie Babies, Webkinz, etc.) and what Silly Bandz might learn from its predecessors, so it can become more than just an item for a VH1 “I Love the 2000s” countdown.
Tip 1: Make authenticity more than just a name
While it’s inevitable that any strong business will attract copycats – Zanybandz is just one of Silly Bandz’ many clones – it is critical that brands distinguish themselves from the sea of knockoffs. Beanie Babies managed to do this very well by endowing each of its Beanies with a unique identity – name, birthday and poem. And then later with the launch of Beanie Babies 2.0, each Beanie received a unique code that brought to life a virtual pet version or avatar in an interactive, online game. Ty Warner, the makers of Beanie Babies, may not have been able to stop the competition but they did manage to clearly distinguish the real thing from the riff raff.
Silly Bandz could follow a similar path as Beanie Babies and endow each pack with a unique code that activates the items within as avatars in a virtual world (more on this in Tip 2). The upside to this practice is that it doesn’t matter if the market gets flooded with a million of these colorful rubber bands – only the real things get to move onto a second world in the clouds (the computer kind).
Tip 2: Create a virtual marketplace
Webkinz (the more digitally-oriented version of Beanie Babies) and Farmville (the mega-popular Facebook and mobile gaming app) seized the opportunity to tap into customer’s pockets without having to incur a dime in shipping and offered virtual goods for purchase. Turns out people are more than willing to purchase a swimming pool so their animals can stay fit and healthy or a virtual tractor to plow their crops. In fact, the virtual goods market in the U.S. is growing exponentially and is expected to reach $1.6 billion in revenue this year (it is already a $4 billion industry in Korea).
Silly Bandz is ripe to capture a piece of this growing market. As mentioned in Tip 1, Silly Bandz could endow each package with a unique code that when registered online, activates avatar versions of the items in the physical pack. Consumers would then be able to interact with their avatars and make incremental purchases for them. Take, for example, how this might work for the Silly Bandz baseball theme 24 pack. A customer purchases the pack for $4.95; they then come home and input their unique code, which brings to life a virtual baseball team. For 50 cents they could create a stadium for their team, for 75 cents they could participate in a tournament against other teams, and for $1 they could send their team to Florida for training. In no time, the revenue from the avatars will surpass that from the physical product by simply adding dimension to what would otherwise be just another accessory. 
Tip 3: Expand your product line
Creating a virtual marketplace would obviously be a form of expansion but can Silly Bandz also expand its physical product line? We think so. Crocs, those awkward-looking but mega-comfortable rubber clogs, have turned what could have been just another faddish-style of shoe into a bona-fide company with lasting appeal. The company now makes a variety of shoes out of the same crostellite material as the original Crocs. We’d love to see Silly Bandz come up with a new line of “Silly” objects like “Silly Shoez” or “Silly Chairz” – shoes or chairs that are made of the same colorful silicon rubber, come in a variety of shapes/themes and adjust to your body.
Some might say Silly Bandz belongs on a VHI countdown but here’s wishing longevity and prosperity for this fad du jour.
June 15 2010
Smart phones (iPhone, Android) have allowed us to think more laterally about how we connect the physical world with the digital world. As we know the iPhone is a lot more than just a phone or even an information display. It is a environmental sensor in our hand: Location aware (GPS ), motion aware (accelerometer), directionally aware (digital compass) visually aware (camera for QR codes and AR) and sonically aware (microphone and speakers). Not to mention connected 24/7(wireless or 3Gs).
There is enormous potential to make our lives healthier, easier, safer and more environmentally friendly by creating a ‘smart web’ of products and services that link our physical and digital worlds. Many companies, organizations and designers have realized the huge value of this and begun to experiment with embedding sensors in their products and developing interfaces that can be used for self assessment and or compared/shared with others.
Nike+
Nike has built the largest
online running club based on its Nike+ technology. Effectively a smart shoe that monitors and communicates individual runners stats, goals, progress, routes and music choices to a community of competitive worldwide runners. Runners place a sensor directly into their shoe under their sole that connects to their iPhone, iPod, iTouch or Nike+ watch. Running activates the sensor and immediately records your progress while updating you and your community on your progress against desired targets. The Nike+ is a good example of a platform that links a smart device, community and digital resource together with products to add genuine value to runners’ lives.
Zipcar
Zipcar has created a whole ecosystem of smart objects to create a seamless car-sharing experience. The Zipcar app enables users to identify available car by type and model, reserve them, locate them through maps or make cars honk in a crowded car park. Before the car will unlock its doors, sensors in the car linked to Zipcar’s database verify that the user and car match. Refueling is done with a credit card that resides inside the car. This series of interconnected devices and back end technology make the process of connecting customers with their cars both simple for the user and secure for Zipcar.
Xbox Kinect (formerly Project Natal)
Out in November Kinect will remove the traditional game controller completely, leaving only the gamer’s actual body movements to guide the experience. The proprietary system has the potential to connect a whole array of household objects acting as an information hub for the home.
The Copenhagen wheel
Launched at the Copenhagen 15 conference the Copenhagen wheel is a bicycle wheel that has buried within it a kinetic energy recovery system (KERS), sensors, a smart lock, and a Bluetooth connection to the rider’s iPhone. The KERS system allows you to capture the energy dissipated while cycling and breaking and save it for when you need a boost. The sensors capture your effort level and environment, including road conditions, traffic congestion, carbon monoxide, noise, ambient temperature and relative humidity. All controlled through a smart phone, users can access this data and use it to plan healthier bike routes to achieve exercise goals or share data with friends.
Energy Aware Clock
The energy aware clock is the most recent of a bunch of in-home smart devices that have been developed to provide residential customers with visual displays showing their energy usage and the relative costs of using it. Developed by Sweden’s Interactive Institute, the device resembles an ordinary kitchen clock with a simple graphic display. But when, for example the dishwasher is switched on it shows immediately on the display of the unit. Graphs of previous consumption fade away slowly, making it possible to compare your energy use for several periods. By increasing awareness of cost usage users could increase energy efficiency and reduce costs. This can also apply to Commercial customers to shift energy-intensive processes and production away from high-priced periods.
As we progress customers will demand the seamless and customized experience enabled by ‘smart objects’ and their network. Brands will need to think innovatively about how to deliver experiences and interactions across many more touchpoints. All brands will need to be dynamic, flexible and iconic through physical shape, display, movement and sound. Those that do will create revenue streams and position themselves for future success.
June 2 2010
We are proud to announce that our work for Kayak.com was selected as a winner for “365: AIGA Annual Design Competitions 31”.
Out of over 2,500 entries, Plaid’s Kayak identity was chosen as #30 of the winning 126 examples of ‘outstanding design produced in 2009’. The work will go on permanent display at the Denver Art Museum, become part of a public exhibition at the AIGA National Design Center in New York and be included as a ‘historical record of notable graphic design’ in the AIGA Design Archives. We are honored to be recognized by AIGA and grateful to our clients Robert, Paul, Steve, Billo and Lincoln at Kayak for making this happen. You can see a snapshot of the work in the brief motion example shown here.
June 2 2010
Our creative director, James Sanderson was featured in Creative Review’s 2010 Annual. He was interviewed among a panel of judges to critique four websites, utilizing new advancements in web-design. The critique focused on design in a choice driven medium and balancing user experience with design freedom. Pick up the 2010 annual to see our critique and some of the best visual communications work of the year.
May 21 2010
New developments in online fonts have allowed designers to move beyond typical web fonts like Verdana that have become the standard. Organizations can now have corporate faces and websites can differentiate themselves using unique typography, rather than graphics. This is particularly useful in a medium which relies so heavily on text. Designers can now incorporate traditional learning on typography and layout, which can no-doubt be an improvement to the internet we are used to seeing. An interview in Eye magazine picked up on the opposing trend, affecting design outside of web:
“People for so long have had to accept default nature of the web. Which some have turned around to their advantage. The ‘default look’ of non-flash websites has spilled into books, magazines and music design as a conscious style choice rather than necessity.”
—Simon Esterson, Jay Prynne, eye magazine
A few months back we blogged about Typekit, which is a service allowing web-designers to utilize a large variety of fonts (beyond the typical web-safe, system fonts) on a subscription basis.
Since that time, similar services have popped-up (fontspring, fontdeck) and the independent type foundry typotheque went on to develop a similar hosting service that can be licensed by individual type foundries.
Over ten years ago (in 1998) the HTML tag @font-face was introduced to bring web-fonts to the world. Sadly the plan was roadblocked by the proprietary formats that Microsoft and Netscape tried to enforce and outraged type foundries worried about piracy.
Typekit managed to divert this problem by hosting fonts online that were encoded in multiple formats to work across platforms. More recently, Web Open Font Format (WOFF, still only available on firefox) has allowed developers to upload and embed open-source, free fonts into their own websites.
Google has recently jumped into the game by creating an open-source, completely free service, allowing users to embed fonts into their websites. These fonts are unlicensed and free for anyone to use. At the moment there is a limited selection, but expect that to grow as open-source developers create more.
Many foundries and type-designers are still considering their position on the greater access to their designs. AIGA NY hosted an event last week with type-designers Joshua Darden, Jessica Hische and Georg Seifert. All seemed mixed about the new developments but there was a general consensus that more choice and better design online was a benefit to the industry overall. Eye magazine also interviewed three leaders in the type industry for their thoughts on this issue. 
Some examples of designers who are taking advantage of web fonts:
New York Times Skimmer
(using typekit)
Formula 1 Racing
(using @ font face to embed SaxMono, a free font)
Objects in space and time
(using typotheque)
Some other examples are here, here and here.
An in-depth look at the history of web-font development can be found here (this site also uses Typekit).
May 18 2010
The original Star Wars movie was created over thirty years ago. Amazingly the global brand that ensued from that movie is still being used to great effect.
Adidas’s recent sneaker range take visual queues from the Millenium Falcon, storm troopers Death star, X-Wing fighters and other characters.
TomTom has just released Star Wars character voices for its GPS navigation systems. Users can choose from Darth Vader available now, C3PO from June, Yoda from July and Han Solo from August. A hilarious YouTubeclip (seen above) promotes Darth Vader recording his TomTom voice that will help you ‘Reach your destination’
The Vader project features 100 Darth Vader helmets that have been reimagined by contemporary street artists, Shag, Marc Ecko, Tim Biskup , Frank Kozik and many more.
The traveling exhibition is about to return to the US after a world tour.
So how is a film made 30 years ago still able to promote modern day fashion/technology products and act as the inspiration for art projects to contemporary audiences in fresh and interesting ways. Nostalgia is obviously one thing but the enduring legacy of the Star wars brand is and probably will be for a long time to come, its distinctive visual style, tone of voice, characters and sounds. A cultural phenomenon that resonates with people of all ages the world over. Yes there have been other franchises like Batman, Bond etc but nothing else has the ability to be mashed-up again, and again and again.
