From the category archives:

Brand

…’helping you with all your needs’

July 16, 2010

I’ve always hated the marketing line …’helping you with all of your ______ needs.’
Shirly will help you with all of your real estate needs. Ben’s plumbing, for all of your plumbing needs.’
I always thoughts I hated this term because it was lazy, banal and boring. It lacks creativity. But now I realize why I really [...]

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Aether Apparel - Wicked Aesthetic, One Question

May 19, 2010

I recently noted my love of jackets. Then I stumbled across Aether Apparel. The site prompted a sharp intake of breath as I admired the clean elegant design and beautiful photography. Great name. It extended their clothing aesthetic. If I were to start/join an outerwear company, it would be something like this. (Or Arc’teryx, but [...]

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Google’s Nexus One: Designed for Wear?

May 11, 2010

I’ve been rocking the Google Nexus One since January. I’m not easy on my gear, so I suspect I’m a good case to see how well it’s designed for wear and abuse. (Note: we’re not talking about the os, apps, functionality or broader open source philosophy here. I like all of those. Just the wear [...]

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Signaling Identity: Better a Surfer than an MBA?

May 4, 2010

I love jackets. I don’t actually have that many possessions, but I do have a disproportionate collection of technical jackets. So when I saw a friend’s dark blue softshell, I decided it was time for an SBS version and set up a class purchase. The spec was ‘OXFORD’ across the back. What came back was [...]

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Words, Images and Music

February 22, 2010

For a couple years now, I have been mulling over a project that combines photography and word, collected widely and presented in publishable form (kind of like this). This project has always taken a back seat to current realities, although a few people have heard the concept. At the core, it plays on the power [...]

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Promoting Something? Get Two Points of Contact

January 31, 2010

There’s influence in getting two points of contact. Let me explain. Back when I had the geographic stability and facilities to do it, I used to throw quite a few parties. A few were duds, but most went off nicely. Making a real party happen is all about anticipation and momentum. I always knew we [...]

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Excessive Packaging from Creative and Lexar

January 5, 2010

Two recent purchases.
First, this Lexar SD card. The packaging is 28 times the size of the product. Many consumer electronics segments are becoming commodified. Memory tops that list: there’ s little to differentiate Lexar from Sandisk and others beyond branding and advantages such as packaging design. I understand the need to convert browsers to purchasers [...]

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Threadless.com: 4 Reasons for a Great Shopping Experience

January 2, 2010

I just got my first Ts from Threadless. It was a great experience, all around. Enough to make me write about it. What did they do right? Everything.
1) The site is clean, well-designed, easy to navigate and simple to shop. There’s a good balance of promo links, standard navigation and links to popular content. Shop [...]

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3 Unrelated Thoughts on the Financial Times

December 4, 2009

This is today’s Financial Times.
1) I’ve always wondered about the pink colour. Is it for readability or differentiation from other newspapers? Is it really the latter, but do they claim it’s the former?
2) It’s important to speak the right language. If you want to get into industrial design, you need to learn how to speak [...]

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A Good Example of Bad Design: British Doors

December 3, 2009

The main entrance to a bank on Oxford’s businest corner. The door on the left tells us to push, but is locked shut for some strange reason. The one on the right does open but the handle tells us to pull.
Doors are not new technology. You’d think people would have figured out how to design [...]

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