From the category archives:

Brand

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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‘We need to educate them on…’

December 1, 2009

I’ve heard this used more than a few times.
I’ve heard it in development: ‘We just need to educate them on the benefits of clean water, then they’ll buy our pumps.’ ‘If only they’d understand how immunizations can help them be healthier, they’ll come in and get them.’
I’ve heard it in marketing: ‘We have a killer [...]

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Silicon Valley Comes to Oxford - The Quick Version

November 23, 2009

This is how my brain, perspective and ambition feels after 2 days in Silicon Valley Comes to Oxford. More later.
B
       

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More Ridiculous Biking from MacAskill and Volkswagen

November 8, 2009

As someone who has dabbled in trials riding, I’ve always loved watching riders like Ryan Leech and Hans Rey do the impossible. Danny MacAskill has made millions of fans during the last year by having this video go viral. Now he’s released a commercial for Volkswagen, and it’s straight up ridiculous:

I can do three of [...]

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More Love for Kiva and Awareness for Pneumonia

November 2, 2009

Good news in the kicking ass against poverty front today: Kiva has surpased 100 million dollars in funding for entrepreneurs around the world after less than 4 years of operation. 100 million dollars lent to people, by people. I love it.
While we’re talking about Kiva, it’s worth mentioning their recent response to criticism that they [...]

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