Have you ever had the feeling that somebody is watching you? Well, you can definitely get that feeling with these lamps by a French Design Group called 5.5 Designers. These designers are into object cloning which to no one’s surprise was inspired by medical cloning technology. They offer a custom lamp service where they make eyeball lamps based on YOUR eyes. Yes, they clone your eyes! Or to put it in medical terms, you become the “donor”.

What you have to do is fill in a form which is available on their website, indicate which is the predominant eye color and submit a close-up picture of your or someone else’s eyes. The lamps which mirror your eyes are then made to order by glassblower, Livio Serena. The lamps will watch over you or watch over somebody else’s shoulders and totally creep them out! - Via

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Cloned Eyeball Lamps To Watch Over You

Nanimarquina, the Spanish textiles company recently launched this global warming rug for the Valencia International Furniture Fair. The striking design created by the Mexican collective NEL depicts a polar bear stranded on an ice floe in the vast expanse of the Arctic sea. Polar bears as we know are at risk for global warming will melt much of the sea ice they need to get to their hunting areas.

The NEL collective consists of designers Ricardo Casas, Alejandro Castro, Héctor Esrawe, Emiliano Godoy and Cecilia León de la Barra who focus on innovative and thoughtful designs. Rugs have long been used as a cultural record so their polar bear rug sends an important message for our time. Their polar bear rug definitely fits perfectly with Nanimarquina’s new catalogue theme, global warming. - Via

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Global Warming Polar Bear Rug

This string chair invites a second look, a wish to try it out and perhaps even a love-hate reaction. The chair boasts strong clean lines - literally - for the seating area and backrest are series of taut strings. The two groups of strings neatly interlock at the junction of the seating area and the backrest much like the warp and weft of looms. The design certainly begs the question - cushion or no?

The designer is egawa+zbryk whose skillful use of bent birch plywood, nylon cord and stainless steel has given his creation its curving form coupled with straight lines and pleasing balanced colors. The three seater or single chairs surely will capture everyone’s attention in any contemporary home. - Via

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The String Chair

To be an industrial designers you have to be three people at the same time. You have to be the crazy person. Then you have to be the person who reviews those crazy ideas and says, "no, not that, and not that either". The third person has to be the observer who stands off to the side and managers that process. If you fall in love with what you're doing too soon in the process, you're eliminating all the chances to come up with a different variation of the idea. There has to be a disinterested observer of the process. You have to recognize your ego structure, and you have to be very humble and know that you should be sort of scared each time you start something new because it could go horribly awry. ~ Syd Mead, from a Concept Design interview in Axis Magazine, 6 June 2008, Vol. 133 (Note: I've broken down the original quote into paragraphs for a better read)

This fantastic quote from, Futurist and Industrial Designer, Syd Mead describes the mental challenges Industrial Designers need to take when they work through a design. It's not easy having multiple personalties eh?

our second sneak peek features a 1930’s residence at the historic grasmoor in cincinnati, ohio. the goal of rebekah sigfrids and her design team of aubrie hensler, mike dereix, mom - donna sigfrids (as favorite antiquing partner)  - was “to create an earthy femininity by balancing soft modern furnishings with time worn primitive finds.” you can click here for more images of rebekah’s condo, and as always, all the sneak peeks can be found here for inspiration (and if you still need help, call on rebekah sigfrid’s studio). [thanks to rebekah for showing off her latest project! ] -anne

[above: I love the contrast of the classically modern black marble Saarinen table against the raw wood chairs. The chairs pull out the color of the very old and clearly adored buffet. I love the feminine modernity of the silk screened canvas by Jenny Sauethat is paired with a photograph by Lightleaks.]

I am not ashamed of my love of watching a little television (mostly Barefoot Contessa) after a long day. We composed the television with a clouds canvas, a photograph by Lightleaks (purchased on Etsy) and rustic antique finds on top of IKEA media storage units.

The last time my sister was in town we spent an entire day on this B&B Italia sofa: reading, napping, chatting, watching Darjeeling Limited and drinking coffee that later shifted to cocktails. The photo above the sofa is by Madelaine (purchased on Etsy).

We wanted the bedroom to have a barefooted sense of elegance. The long primitive church pew is where I sit to put my shoes on? and, I’ll be honest?it is also a great collector of all the clothes I considered wearing but then decided against.

Light filters beautifully through the big old trees outside the windows of this room, so the space required little more than a beautiful modern bed (Elemento) with a billowed duvet (anthropologie) and an old trunk that holds lots of books.

I was originally attracted to this 1930’s residence at the historic Grasmoor in Cincinnati, Ohio because of the elegance of its formal layout and its’ petite but gracious size. We sanded down the original parquet floors to reveal their natural color and protected them with a custom white tinted sealer. Throughout the residence this washed effect on the floors is paired with foggy shades of white.

The bath combines modern plumbing with herringboned white carrara marble and gold accessories. The bird painting in the foreground was created by my Mom; the bird sketches in the pair of gold frames are by the very talented Mike Dereix.

first up today we have a sneak peek into the oakland, ca “treehouse” of jean orlebeke, of obek design and the designer behind the fantastic wrapping papers by eiei-o studio (be sure to check out the awesome new digital prints too!). thanks so much to jean for opening up her home and garden for us (you can find more here). stay tuned for a second fabulous sneak peek at 2pm! - anne

The woven walnut lamp shade and the orange, white and black lacquer modular table bases are from Publique Living. I designed the fabric on the slipper chairs for Luna Textiles. I bought all of the other furniture, including the couch and table on ebay.

This is the main room of the house, the entry, living room and dining area. The house is built into a grade, so you enter on ground level, but the opposite wall is the height of a second story. Feels like a tree house!

This view is looking from the den into the kitchen. Behind the sunflowers is an Ikea wardrobe unit used as a pantry.

This is where I sit when I am feeling… overwhelmed. It’s a tiny room filled with both gifts from friends and souvenirs attached to good memories.

I am completely obsessed with collecting seeds — know exactly where each of these is from.

Mies, the A-cat…View to garden.

we haven’t done a reader recommendation on d*s for quite some time and i thought it might be time to bring them back a bit. or at least in this case because i couldn’t resist posting these fab chair frames (so much potential!). d*s reader killorn o’neill bought these great chairs for $5 at a yard sale (i am so, so jealous) and is having a hard time deciding how to redo them in a fabric that is patterned but doesn’t compete with or overshadow the chair back design. killorn would like to paint them white and go with a navy fabric but i thought i’d open it up to you guys and see what you think? if you have a suggestion for killorn’s chairs just leave them (and any links to colors/fabrics) in the comment section below.

why suggestion would actually be for something soft. i’d suggest a benjamin moore color like “abalone”, “grey owl”, “winter white”, or “november rain” for the frame and then a pale yellow and white fabric (with a small-scale pattern) for the seats. but that could be just because i’m crushing on grey and yellow right now (again). but a white frame with a textile like the tan/white version of lena corwin’s field print could be nice, too.

[ps: speaking of print+pattern, bowie at print and pattern is looking for submissions for her new book! click here to check it out and send something in]

last thursday our interns, christy and lesley, hopped in a zipcar with me and we headed to the hamptons for a quick two day work trip. i’ve wanted to film a little “webisode” for d*s for some time and we finally bit the bullet and decided to film some shop tours, a garden tour and an interview with a local designer. in addition, we’re building our d*s hampton guide and working on building a slideshow of some of the incredible furniture we saw. but before that’s all live i wanted to share a few of my favorite shots from last week- despite the torrential rain on thursday we had a great trip and can’t wait to share the roadtrip with you in a few weeks. [image above: beautiful yellow glasses at ruby beets. these were the one thing i wish i’d bought when i was there. they’re so lovely]

[image above: my favorite piece of the entire trip: an incredible (beyond-words) scandinavian wedding chandelier at dienst + dotter]

[image above: the curves on this table at dienst + dotter were gorgeous]

[image above: industrial mercury tubes at reuben. ps: reuben totally rules]

[image above: a turned white lamp base at ruby beets i wanted to smuggle home under my raincoat]

[image above: ok, i lied- there was another piece i wish i’d taken home. this milk glass pendant lamp from india was for sale at jed. it outside of my price range or it would have been riding home in the trunk with me- i’m obsessed with milk glass right now.]

[image above: i’m home! well, not really. this was one of the beautiful homes where we were fortunate enough to shoot an interview. can’t you imagine driving up to this every day? and having a glass of tea in those gorgeous yellow chairs on the back porch?]

[image above: fun decorating idea- balls of twine as decorative touches at dienst + dotter]

so the buzz in my little brooklyn design world is all about the selby right now. it seems that everyone i’ve spoken with in the last two weeks has said “hey, have you checked out the selby yet?” and the answer? yes, yes i have. and i haven’t stopped checking it out since. photographer todd selby takes incredible photos of artists, designers and creative personalities in their homes and studios and then posts them on his recently launched website. beyond showcasing some seriously rad interiors (how awesome is that dark blue/black kitchen below?), selby is an all-around whiz with the camera so each home tour feels like a cooler-than-cool (complete with a friend to a link to photo king the cobrasnake) magazine spread shot by the home-owners best friend who knows all the best pieces to shoot. the interiors tend to to skew a little bit edgier (or more out-there) than what i normally post here, but i think it’s great to see something a little bit more outside of the box. click here to check it out and start developing a serious crush on all things selby.

a just found out another friend of mine is having a baby so i’ve got nursery decorations on the brain lately (which isn’t helping my baby-crazy-late-20s phase). i saw this fun mobile at spool a while back and have had it bookmarked for ages, hoping i’d find an excuse to make one. and now i have one! you can download the pattern for each fabric bird right here and then pick up some (clean, fallen) twigs from your backyard and use clear fishing wire to hang each bird. it’s a great way to use up leftover fabric (or those super-fun fabric packs from purl) and give a homemade, customized gift. click here for the full post at spool.

I received an email from Professor Sunny Cai, who teaches architectural design at a college in Beijing , China. He mentioned his interest in ancient Chinese architecture, especially the earthen buildings called ?tulou,? and he sent me some pictures of these rammed earth buildings.

I had never seen anything quite like them, so I queried him further about how they were made and used. He replied, ?The foundation was built with rocks, 2 feet high all around. The juice of glutinous rice and some lime is mixed into the earth for strength, and then sliced bamboo, reeds, and sometimes pieces of wood are also used.?

This picture was taken in front of a rammed earth building with Sunny Cai and his students.

I did some further internet research and found out more about these interesting structures. Tulou are traditional communal residences in the Fujian province of Southern China, often of a circular configuration surrounding a central shrine. Some of these vernacular structures were constructed of cut granite or had substantial walls of fired brick. The end result is a well lit, well-ventilated, windproof, earthquake resistant building that is warm in winter and cool in summer.

There are more than 20,000 tulou in southern Fujian, and these were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008 as ?exceptional examples of a building tradition and function exemplifying a particular type of communal living and defensive organization, and, in terms of their harmonious relationship with their environment".

Actually the Tulou were built by a minority called the Hakka, who were originally Han who fled south to escape war and famine during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). As they gradually moved they changed the local architecture by incorporating Han styles and that produced the tulou. Not only were the high walls built for defense but they were also the result of traditional Han architecture. Tulou were mostly built between the 12th to the 20th centuries. The oldest one was constructed over 1,200 years ago and is regarded as a ?living fossil? of the construction style of central China.

There are three types of Tulou. The Wufeng has three halls and two side rooms and are said to be the result of a redesign of the Han courtyard. The oldest tulou are the rectangle ones, and the most emblematic ones are round. They are typically designed for defensive purposes and consist of one entrance and no windows at ground level. The biggest round one can have up to five stories with three interior rings. The largest houses cover over 40,000 m² and it is not unusual to find surviving houses of over 10,000 m². Most round tulous are three or four stories, with family kitchens and livestock on the ground floor. The next floor becomes a storage room for food and furniture (with no windows), and above that are the bedrooms.

These structures are exemplary of sustainable architecture in that they are built of local, natural materials with simple techniques. They have good thermal attributes, with the massive earthen walls to help buffer temperatures. They are obviously built to last, and house many of the necessities for life. And they embody a communal life style that conserves energy and resources; these represent a form of ancient co-housing.

Hello and big ups to those of you who have followed along to my rambling this week. Thanks Grace for the opportunity — i love how D*S has created a network of people who make things, arrange things, recover things, collect things, etc. Sometimes I refer to my “internet friends,” and I’ve made many of them through this site and links from this site. I also have realized that I should use the phrase “internet friends” sparingly.

One last thing I’ll leave you with:

Casey Rubber Stamps. Its a shop in the East Village run by a man named Jon Casey. Finding him a few years back was a windfall for us…with his help we got all the rubber stamps that led to our package re-design. He has a catalog with hundreds of unusual drawings that can be made into rubber stamps. He also creates custom rubber stamps with your own ink drawings. I love visiting him, he always has the best stories about bar fights, Ireland, and general shenanigans. (In fact… if or when you go, be sure to ask him about the Mercedes that was lost in the woods.)

California has adopted the nation's first statewide green-building standards, which will become mandatory in 2010. The new California Green Buildings Standards Code requires builders to reduce energy use by 15 to 30 percent beyond current standards and use more recycled materials. Some of the code will be mandatory, while other parts are just suggested. This is a significant recognition that energy and resource conservation is essential for the welfare of state residents, and hopefully this officially sanctioned consciousness will spread to other states.

These new codes include basic passive solar mandates: "When site and location permit, orient the building with the long sides facing north and south. Provide exterior shade for south-facing windows during the peak cooling season. Provide vertical shading against direct solar gain and glare due to low altitude sun angles for east- and west-facing windows."

For renewable energy, the codes says, "Use on-site renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, low-impact hydro, biomass and bio-gas for at least 1% of the electric power."

For water conservation, the code says, "A schedule of plumbing fixtures and fixture fittings will reduce the overall use of potable water within the building by 20%, and provide water efficient landscape irrigation design that reduces by 50% the use of potable water beyond the initial requirements for plant installation and establishment."

"Each building shall further reduce the generation of wastewater by one of the following methods: The installation of water-conserving fixtures (water closets, urinals) or utilizing non-potable water systems (captured rainwater, graywater, and municipally treated wastewater
(recycled water)."

For materials to be specified for construction, the following is mandated:

• Select building materials or products for permanent installation on the project that have been harvested or manufactured in California or within 500 miles of the project site.
  
• Select bio-based building materials and products made from solid wood, engineered wood, bamboo, wool, cotton, cork, straw, natural fibers, products made from crops (soy-based, corn-based) and other bio-based materials with at least 50% bio-based content.
  
• Employ wood-based materials and products comprising at least 50% of a major building component, such as framing, flooring, or millwork, which are certified by one of five listed sustainably harvested certification programs.
  
• Use materials made from plants harvested within a ten-year cycle for at least 2.5% of total materials value, based on estimated cost.
  
• Use salvaged, refurbished, refinished, or reused materials for a minimum of 5% of the total value, based on estimated cost of materials on the project.
  
• Use materials, equivalent in performance to virgin materials, with post-consumer or preconsumer recycled content value (RCV) for a minimum of 10% of the total value, based on estimated cost of materials on the project.
  
• Use cement and concrete made with recycled products, fly ash, raw or calcined natural pozzolan, blast furnace slag (as a lightweight aggregate) .
  
• Select materials for longevity and minimal deterioration under conditions of use.
  
• Select materials that require little, if any, finishing.
  
• Select materials that can be re-used or recycled at the end of their service life in the project.
  
• Select materials assemblies based on life cycle assessment of their embodied energy and/or green house gas emission potentials.

"Provide readily accessible areas that serve the entire building and are identified for the depositing, storage, and collection of non-hazardous materials for recycling, including (at a minimum) paper, corrugated cardboard, glass, plastics and metals."

Environmental and health-related items establish specific limits on VOC emission of materials used within the structure, as well as regulate ventilation, CO2 emissions, tobacco smoke, lighting, outside views, and noise transmission.

Additional recommended measures include:

• If feasible, disassemble existing buildings instead of demolishing to allow reuse or recycling of building materials.
  
• Utilize a Frost-Protected Shallow Foundation.
  
• Use pre-manufactured floor and roof systems to eliminate solid sawn lumber whenever possible.

The code also identifies site improvements including bicycle storage and designated parking spots for low-emissions vehicles.

I have been advocating most of these measures at www.greenhomebuilding.com for many years now, and it is heartening to see them being officially sanctioned. This is a far-reaching and well-considered attempt by California legislators to establish requisites for living sustainably. If there are going to be building codes, they might as well be green! Yeah California!

Months on from Cadbury's landmark ad from Fallon, that did this.

“Its 28 different postings on YouTube have garnered 10m views.  It has been spoofed with a toy gorilla as well as remixed with a 50 Cent and a Bonnie Tyler track.  It is simple, bonkers and funny”   

Media Guardian-October- 2007

What have we learned?

1.Sales Performance: It worked- Dairy Milk got a 9% bump in sales

2. Some Creatives Get the New World: Creatives liked it and it won big at awards shows including Cannes

3. Some Creatives Don't Get the New World: Creatives didn't like it- it caused some significant debate at awards shows including Cannes

4. There's No Such thing As A Formula: It's hard to repeat success- the second spot, despite it's craziness could not capture in the way Phil and the gorilla did

5. The Planners Worked Hard: Despite the feeling that planners weren't involved in this- they did a ton of work setting the stage for the client to accept a new form of advertising. Things like:

Why being matters more than saying

Being true to yourself, rather than pretending to be something you are not

Being authentic vs. contrived

The idea of brands taking on the role of entertainers.

6. Research Can't Explain Everything: This thing was tested to death- it blew the lid off Millward Brown's ad testing scores, but the company couldn't explain why.

One thing is for certain, it's paved the way for other clients and agencies to take more risks. Not everything is going to work, but they are going to have a lot of fun doing it.


Posted by Ed Cotton

Mark Earls and Domenico Vitale are doing an interesting session on the future of planning at this year's AAAA's planning conference in Miami.

They are keeping up with these 2.0 times by using a wiki to record the thoughts and insights from other planners.

Here's what they are asking.




Posted by Ed Cotton

There's a provocative piece by George Monbiot in today's Guardian, where he talks about the failure of politicians to grasp the concept that there are either higher energy costs from renewable sources or no energy at all.

People are still thinking about alternative energy as alternative to oil, but what if there isn't one? Higher prices are the likely new reality.

Brands thinking about the future are going to have to realize that consumer's disposable income is going to decrease based on increased expenditures on items that we've previously taken for granted; fuel, energy and food. In addition, the knock on impact of this on costs of goods will be significant.

The prospect of decreasing standards of living looms large, but this appears to be the price we are paying for a reliance on an oil-based economy.

"Almost everyone seems to agree: governments now face a choice between saving the planet and saving the economy. As recession looms, the political pressure to abandon green policies intensifies. A report published yesterday by Ernst & Young suggests that the EU's puny carbon target will raise energy bills by 20% over the next 12 years. Last week the prime minister's advisers admitted to the Guardian that his renewable energy plans were "on the margins" of what people will tolerate.

But these fears are based on a false assumption: that there is a cheap alternative to a green economy. Last week New Scientist reported a survey of oil industry experts, which found that most of them believe global oil supplies will peak by 2010. If they are right, the game is up. A report published by the US department of energy in 2005 argued that unless the world begins a crash programme of replacements 10 or 20 years before oil peaks, a crisis "unlike any yet faced by modern industrial society" is unavoidable.

If the world is sliding into recession, it's partly because governments believed that they could choose between economy and ecology. The price of oil is so high and it hurts so much because there has been no serious effort to reduce our dependency."


Posted by Ed Cotton

On July 9th at 6.30pm, Influx is presenting an evening with Dawn Danby at Method's Home's HQ in San Francisco.

Here's how Dawn describes herself.

"Dawn Danby explores the intersection of design, sustainability and business. Which is a fancy way of saying that she wants the things we make to benefit both people and the world.

An industrial designer by training, she's a boundary-spanner and synthesist who has acted as a cross-disciplinary designer, strategist, art director, project manager, producer and artist."

Dawn is a sustainability expert and will talk to us about what's next for brands and companies as the start to face the issue head on.

We have very limited space for this event, but if you are interested please email ecotton@bssp.com and hopefully we can squeeze you in.


Posted by Ed Cotton

Strawboard building panels are a kind of structural insulated panel (SIP) designed to replace 2x4 stud and drywall construction for both interior and exterior walls, as well as provide load and non-bearing ceilings, roofing, doors, flooring, and prefabricated buildings. These environmental friendly, solid panels are made of all natural fibrous raw materials, mainly wheat and rice straw. The durable panels feature thermal and acoustic insulation as well as fire and termite resistance and are available for a variety of applications to speed up the construction processes. While these have been used in over 20 countries for more than 50 years, strawboard panels have only been introduced to the U.S. in the past few years.

Strawboard panels have a solid core of compressed wheat or rice straw. High pressure and temperatures forces the straw to release a natural resin that binds the fibers together. The compressed panels are then covered with either paper liners or OSB that is adhered to both sides with water based non-toxic glue. The standard panel measures 4 feet by 8 feet by 2-1/4 inches to 8 inches, weighing from 140 lbs. to 440 lbs. each. Custom panel sizes are available ranging from 3 feet to 12 feet long.

The panel's high density and low oxygen content does not support combustion. Since the panels do not contain added resins, alcohol, or other chemicals, no flammable vapors are produced. The panels have an R-value of between 3 and 25, depending on the composition and thickness. For permanent protection against insects and fungal decay and additional fire resistance, the boron compound polybor can be factory added to the core.

The product's workability is similar to wood as it can be sawn, drilled, routed, nailed, screwed, and glued. Lightweight wall attachments such as shelf brackets, picture frames, mirrors, and towel bars can be attached directly to the panel.

Since straw is a renewable by-product of wheat and rice production that becomes available annually, it takes less acreage (by about half) to build an equivalent house than with standard lumber, and which would then potentially preserve that forest for ecological habitat and CO2 sequestration.

See www.stramit-int.com/ for panels available in Europe and www.agriboard.com for panels available in the U.S.

A nice contrary thought from John Thackara.

"INNOVATION IS NOT GOOD IN ITSELF - IN FACT, MORE INNOVATION DOES HARM, THAN DOES GOOD.

My evidence for this statement is contained in a breathless announcement from Mintel, the market research company, that a "Record-Breaking Number of New Products Flood Global CPG Shelves" and that (the numbers are for 2006) "close to 182,000 new products were introduced globally, with key booming areas focusing on mind, body, and general good health".

Well over half of these of these innovations - 105,000, to be precise - were food and drink products. This flood of innovations enable us to profit from such trends as "brainpower foods, age-defying treatments, increases in portion control, and "just for you" customised products”.

Now I may have misunderstood something here, but surely the Mintel numbers mean that more than half the innovations that reach the market all over the world - 300 innovations, every single day of the year - decrease the resource efficiency and hence sustainability of global food systems?

Good, so that's Innovation dealt with. Bring on the next killer word!"

However, shouldn't innovators now consider the social and environmental responsibility of their actions?

If they do, innovations shouldn't be product launches for the sake of it, but new products that improve upon the social and environmental footprints of their predecessors and then innovation would be a good thing?

Posted by Ed Cotton

Things seem to be happening so fast as the  rapid change in the economy coupled with all sorts of other concerns seems to be changing consumer behavior in a rapid fashion. The suburban dream has been questioned for years, but I find it fascinating to see the European and New York city mantra of the value of neighborhoods starting to be widely embraced. One great manifestation of this comes in the form of the Seattle based Walkscore, a website dedicated to helping citizens discover the walkability of various neighborhoods.

The site explains the multiple benefits of walking.


Posted by Ed Cotton

The National has an amazing story about the South China Mall.

It was planned to be the world's largest and it now sits under-used (planned to house 1,500 stores and currently has just 12), the victim of a dream that failed to materialize.

Many speculators had big plans for China and wanted to capitalize on the supposed massive growth of the new middle class. Sadly, this growth didn't happen fast enough to propel this new mall to greatness.

It's perhaps a lesson that shows just how easy it is to get carried away with projections of potential and suggests that China's amazing growth can continue for ever.

"On a recent Friday afternoon, an amusement-park employee, slouched in a forsaken ticket booth, tried to kill time by making origami. Another worker slept, with perfect impunity, on a table. In front of the haunted house attraction, one attendant was doing hand-stands while two others looked blankly on.

There was nothing else to do, because the South China Mall, which opened with great fanfare in 2005, is not just the world’s largest. With fewer than a dozen stores scattered through a space designed to house 1,500, it is also the world’s emptiest – a dusty, decrepit complex of buildings marked by peeling paint, dead light bulbs, and dismembered mannequins.

“They set out to be the biggest, and hoped that being the biggest would be the attracting factor,” says David Hand, a retail analyst at Jones Lang LaSalle in Beijing, who has followed the project. “It hasn’t delivered.”

The world has plenty of empty malls; there’s even an American website, deadmalls.com, where connoisseurs of desolation post photos and reminiscences of the once-great, now-gutted places where they spent the Saturday afternoons of their youth. What sets the South China Mall apart from the rest, besides its mind-numbing size, is that it never went into decline. The tenants didn’t jump ship; they never even came on board. The mall entered the world pre-ruined, as if its developers had deliberately created an attraction for people with a taste for abandonment and decay. It is a spectacular real-estate failure – but it is also, as I saw when I spent two days exploring the site in May, a strangely beautiful monument to the big dreams that China inspires."

It's a strange coincidence that the story appears in a Dubai based publication- a country that has pushed development to the limits in the hope of becoming THE new tourist destination.

This story came from the amazing BLDGB blog, who has its own post on this incredible story.


Posted by Ed Cotton

MySpace is going through some tough times these days because of the intense competition its under from Facebook. Instead of calling up a large ad agency and briefing them on the challenges, My Space went to Adaptive Path (a user experience consulting firm) and asked them to help re-design the experience.

Since the brand is the web experience everything that happens there is critical to how people use and perceive the brand. It appears that Adaptive Path did tons of work to make MySpace a cleaner, less cluttered experience.

Lots of detailed and complex research and testing with users to make the improvements. However, it's way more than a cosmetic, because such changes impact the organizational culture and how the company functions.

Monkey Bites has a very interesting post discussing the process.

"Ryan Freitas, the project lead for the redesign, spoke with us over the phone Tuesday. Freitas says his team’s focus was to change the old way of thinking that was gunking up the MySpace experience, namely that you don’t need to put everything in front of the user all the time."

"Most importantly, Freitas says, these changes were more about the design process than the usability enhancements............

“You can see the way a team operates internally based on the way their product works when it comes out,” he says. “MySpace is pretty democratic, but they hadn’t ever streamlined their collaboration between tech, content and presentation.”

He says the Adaptive Path team pushed MySpace to become more inclusive as an organization. They brought all of the various stakeholders, from ad sales and technology to visual design, into the process of designing the user experience.

“It’s not just a UI change, it’s an organizational change,” he says. “It was a true ‘teach a man to fish’ situation.”

If some agency group isn't thinking already about investing in Adaptive Path, they soon will be.

This company appears to be at the front-end of a new world of positioning and re-positioning brands through experience.


Posted by Ed Cotton

Influx recently wrote about the power humans have to process images and how this impacts web site design. It now appears Google is placing a value on fast. It is now adding load time as a factor in how it applies quality scores to keywords.

The company explains the reasoning behind the move as follows..

"Two reasons: First, users have the best experience when they don't have to wait a long time for landing pages to load. Interstitial pages, multiple redirects, excessively slow servers, and other things that can increase load times only keep users from getting what they want: information about your business. Second, users are more likely to abandon landing pages that load slowly, which can hurt your conversion rate."

We are now in a world where milliseconds matter and clearly now there's a price to pay for being too slow.



Posted by Ed Cotton

Over at the blog ‘ideasonideas‘ Eric Karjaluoto has posted an interview with the well known (Sir) Kevin Roberts from Saatchi.

I thought I’d want to post my very own comment on this here since the interview is touching some good arguments that summarise my recent efforts (both theoretically as well as practically) on building an argument why it is essential for the design management community to understand and embrace the impact of digital communication and ‘social networks services in particular.

In a current client project I’m involved in we (that means Erik & Edwin from designest) are challenged by identifying the various digital and social touch points of social media with the brand in relation to the consumer.

What makes this process challenging is the somehow unknown territory we’ve entered therefore I’ve read with some relief Robert’s response to the question:

Eric: What kind of experiments are you running in interactive? Are there areas that you are testing with greater success than others?

Kevin: Our whole approach is pretty much one big experiment at this stage. There?s no proven pathway (Thank God!!!).

Accordingly we are currently combining tools of design research (consumer journey’s, empathic observation or ethnographic research in its broadest meaning) in conjunction with considering the whole spectrum of social network platforms & tools currently available.

While we still have a long way to go I do think that we are coming closer to “expanding tools, technologies and teams to get closer to consumers on the terms they want.”

However this all wouldn’t be possible without our client to allow for some degree of freedom and exploration that Eric and Kevin are discussing here:

Eric: What?s the sense like amongst your clients? Are they racing to embrace these new tools, or are you finding them more cautious?

Kevin: They?re emotionally engaged and rationally careful. But ? they?re becoming less cautious as they see the benefits of keeping up with consumers. You miss 100% of the shots you don?t take.

My personal conclusion so far is that the design management community has not embraced this challenge pro-actively so far (maybe there have been some discussions at the recent DMI conference in Paris of which I’m not aware). However what I mostly hear from my peers in my network is more lip service than actually founded arguments & insights.

Simply talking about ‘customer co-creation’ and ‘user driven design’ sounds nice and might sell good, but I’d like to see applications beyond being able to customise the colour of your sneaker …