My pal and fellow designer Jessi Arrington recently gave a talk at TED wherein she elaborates on her tactic of buying all clothing second-hand. In this case, she actually flew to LA with no clothing save for a week’s worth of underwear. Being ever resourceful, she saved herself from nakedness by shopping around for quirky, colourful, second-hand gear. Could you do the same?

See the video on TED’s website and don’t forget to visit Jessi’s colour-savvy blog Lucky So and So to catch the Rainbow Princess in all of her non-naked Brooklyn adventures.

I find it interesting when products are services are marketed in the manner pioneered by the fashion industry. We all accept that handbags and perfume is lumped in with that, but the luxury/fashion approach has been applied to luggage, with brands such as Tumi, travel, with NetJets, and now toilets.

Check out the Numi by Kohler. This is, first and foremost, a really hi-tech toilet with all sorts of functionality. Considering most toilets have precisely one function — flush — this is indeed a broad jump in the evolution of bathroom gadgetry. Features include a heated seat, illuminated side panels, and a built-in music player. It’s probably better equipped than half our cars.

I can’t confirm it from the photo, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that is an ethernet port along the bottom. Toilet goes on Internet, bitches.

Funny thing of all this is that the Numi isn’t marketed solely by its functionality. Geeks and travelers have known for a while that Japanese toilets have similar features, making your “go” like a trip to the future, but they’re not the audience for this toilet, it seems. Based on the photography, writing, and design scheme of the site, it’s determined to be a piece of high design, more in line with hi-end chairs than plumbing gear. This video evokes the senses and makes the toilet an object of desire. Super sleek design is central. You have to be cool enough to own this toilet.

download .mp4 / watch on YouTube

I give full props to Kohler for not only creating a distinctive new toilet, but for being bold in their approach. Initially, I was going to write this up as a WTF Wednesday, seeing as the idea didn’t fit in with their brand overall, but this is refreshing in its bizarreness. Something original. And I like the logo.

via The Daily Giz Wiz »

Boy Scout rank patches

Whether or not it’s popular to admit, the Scouts are based on the military. The ranks and rituals and uniforms associated with protecting a nation are distilled into a pint-sized, commodotised, mostly-harmless pastiche, minus the hazard pay. Militaries, since the time of the Romans, have guarded and controlled their own mythology. As my schoolmates were paying their dues in the world of Scouting, I admit that I was fascinated with the associated mythology they helped propagate. In creating the ranks, the Scouts create their own brand language. Achieving Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life, and Eagle — without falling to the temptations of teenage life — bolsters the mystique and exclusivity of this club. Seasoned Scouts can recite the Meaning of the Boy Scouts Law (A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, etc., etc.) without a second thought, bombarding the listener with a sequence of brand traits. Even the motto “Be Prepared” shows their core values of preparedness, training, diligence, and so forth. A quintessential lesson in brand strategy.

From a graphical point of view, nothing is more captivating than the Merit Badges. These earn-as-you-learn trinkets are essential for progressing in rank, but also create a backdrop to show dedication and aptitude within the Scouting society. There is some debate about the need for a Boy Scout to earn one of the more obscure badges such as Stamp Collecting, but you don’t need your Graphic Arts badge to see the beauty in the haphazard pattern they create when arranged side-by-side in neat little rows.

Boy Scout Merit Badges, aren’t they pretty?

The Merit Badge system is more than a subtle influencer for one of the most popular online brands today, Foursquare. The location-based social network awards Badges to users who achieve a set number of reappearances at a certain location or who check in at a particular date and time. I recently earned the Gym Rat badge for returning to my local gym 10 times in a 30-day period (yay January) and won an Epic Swarm badge for being one of many checking in during Snowpocalypse 2011.

foursquare badges made actual patches (they’re usually just digital).

well-earned Gym Rat badge

Similar to the Scouts, Foursquare uses the badges to reinforce their overall graphic style and lighthearted brand personality. While no single badge can be seen as a work of art, together they create something familiar and powerful.

foursquare badges made actual buttons.

Recently, the W3C, the folks who govern web design standards worldwide, released a branding system to serve as website badges for their new standard, HTML5. In building a site with this new technology, designers and webmasters can reward themselves by including one or more of the new icons. Here, a system of sub-brands support the main technology, allowing visitors to the page to see precisely how in-depth the developers went to bring the latest and greatest to this particular site.

HTML5 with technology-specific sub-branding

Somewhat military in their execution, making use of shields and chevrons, this icon system shows us again how a logical set of related graphics can be a powerful tool for branding. A reason for this is that our own human nature used against us — the sudden desire to earn badges affects otherwise level-headed consumers. We want to join the tribe, to participate in the secret society, and be rewarded for our effort — with pixels if nothing else.

closer look at technology-specific website badges

If your brand needs hopes to entice people to participation, try experimenting with a reward system like badges. Reward your tribe for interaction and contribution. Not only will they wear those badges with pride, showing off your brand in the process, but the scheme may ignite something within potential new consumers or clients. It’s worked for the Boy Scouts and for Foursquare, so why not for you?

Inbox Zero

PS, don’t forget about Nerd Merit Badges, allowing us grown-ups to display our efficiency in maintaining a zero inbox, for example.

Ugh, are we back to this? I’ve never visited the land where fragrance brands are born, but I seriously wonder what sort of toxic cesspool brings forth these wacky ideas.

Enter Jack Bauer cologne. Y’know, because staying awake for 24 hours running and jumping over things, shooting guns, torturing people, and yelling makes one smell amazing. The smell of victory, friends. Bizarre.

This reminds me of Smith & Wesson cologne, which likewise is aimed at manly men, and also to makes absolutely no sense as a brand extension. The lesson, once again, don’t extend your brand beyond its reasonable boundaries. If your brand, service, product, or show has nothing to do with hygiene, fashion, health care, or elegance/luxury, you’ve got no business releasing a fragrance. There, I said it.

Natalie Portman Photographed for the January Issue of Vogue by Peter Lindbergh

via Vogue on Tumblr »

I think the BBC headline says it all: Gap Scraps New Logo After Online Outcry.

In short: Gap has vetoed their newly-unveiled identity and called off the hastily prepared open competition for user-submitted designs.

Ric Grefé, President of AIGA, has authored a blog post and open letter to Gap illustrating, yet again, what a terrible practice it is to crowdsource large-scale design project in lieu of hiring and working with professional designers. It benefits no one in the end.

“Clients risk compromised quality as little time, energy and thought can go into speculative work, which precludes the most important element of most design projects—the research, thoughtful consideration of alternatives, and development and testing of prototype designs

Designers are taken advantage of as clients see this as a way to get free work; it diminishes the true economic value of the contribution designers make toward client’s objectives.

There are legal risks for both parties should aspects of intellectual property, trademark and trade-dress infringements become a factor.”
— Ric Grefé

Everyone is talking about this. Brand New, for example.

It’s worth mentioning, briefly, that this same thing basically happened last year with Tropicana. Introduce terrible, amateurish design, Internet reacts with appropriate fury, company reverts to previous design, which was perfectly fine and didn’t need to be redesigned in the first place.

This is a departure from my usual WTF Wednesday segments. I normally comment on the bizarre mashup between pop culture, branding, design, consumerism, etc. where the confluence of factors is humourous or noteworthy. This time around, however, I’m simply shaking my head in disbelief. How can The Gap, a brand that is so well-respected, and so known for design savvy, change their logo to such a dud.

On design merits, I’m not a fan of the new logo. I don’t want to get into calling out the designers (and clients) who created this, but I have to say it simply, I don’t like it. Greater than my opinion, however, is the simply fact that Gap are tossing years of brand equity in abandoning their previous logo and familiar blue square.

The old logo was simple, recognisable, distinct. It used colour, shape, and letterforms together to create a lasting symbol in the mind of the consumer. It worked well in signage, in-store merchandising, hang tags, and clothing labels. Squares are convenient that way. This new one, with it’s free-form shape, makes all of the above more difficult. Objectively speaking, from a functional, brand-focused point of view, it’s just not as useful.

what some people think of it

The design blogs are already a-buzz, even though, from what I can tell, this new logo is a mere 24 hours old. (I actually waited until this morning to post so it could be part of WTF Wednesday, even though I knew I’d be scouped by Armin at Brand New, who wakes up at 5 am to post new articles.) Mat Dolphin has featured a thoughtful write-up, in which he does a better job than me of not scorning the new logo, or its apparent designers, Laird+Partners, whose work for Gap over the years has been very sharp indeed.

… I’m sure Laird+Partners, the designers behind the re-brand, will have had a huge, complex brief and an extensive rationale behind why they went the route they did. I don’t know what the brief asked for and I don’t know their reasons for the final design. But I’m sure they’ve put in a great deal of research and thinking as to how this brand will develop long-term. They may have got it completely wrong and the whole thing might be a failure, but surely it’s too early to say?

From a typographic point of view, Helvetica is a divisive choice. Designers, at least, usually have strong opinions. Here, the question in my mind is not whether Helvetica should be used in the first place, but whether it can be used in an arena where so many competitors abound. The most visible of which is American Apparel, who have created a distinct brand in spite of a dull logo.

I will watch this story with great interest. Most importantly, I want to see if the consumers take — one way or the other. Will the new logo effect sales? Can any logo bring Gap back from the abyss of mainstream retail? Does anyone care?

via Down with Design »

Here’s the video:

Watch on YouTube / Download .mp4

Betty White is clearly cornering the market on celebrities with a sense of humour. Even above more popular comedians, she knows herself and her role. She has her core values and sticks to them. Obviously her age is part of that living brand, but in this case it works, generating irony as fuel for the jokes. My hat is off.

via UnBeige »

This morning, I awoke to a post on the always-brilliant packaging design blog Lovely Package, regarding Boba Fett sneakers from Adidas. The Star Wars branded kicks are packaged in blister packs like the beloved action figures of the early 80s. These are a great example of adapting the design mode of, in this case, a costume, to a sneaker. The post on LP couldn’t locate a source, per se, but a quick Google search turned up tons of Star Wars gear from Adidas.

There are, in fact, a whole range of sneakers available, including some themed as TIE Fighters, and designed to match Rebel flight suits, for example. Check out the selection here.

I was presently surprised by the selection of tasteful t-shirts from Adidas, including this Darth Vader example.

There’s also a selection of other apparel, including the slightly abstract Wookie jacket. Interesting to note, this jacket is officially designed for men.

This, of course, reminds me of the time I spotted candy- and soda-theme sneakers on the streets of New York. Recently, we saw Borough-themed sneakers for the locals of NYC, and let’s not forget the Obama sneakers, which are still classy as hell.

via Lovely Package »

What better way to represent your borough than to wear sneakers that are vaguely associated with said bit of turf. Right?

Gothamist has a quick view of the shoes, a limited-edition Nike Air Force 1 priced at $135. For the sake of skepticism, let’s get past the novelty of the idea to realise that these in fact have zero imagery or associate with the boroughs. No skyline, no map, no logo, nothing. The colours don’t make exact sense, either. Would it have been so hard to make the Bronx navy blue for the Yankees and Queens Orange for the Mets? That’s an easy one.

Sneaker culture is a helluva thing, though. Remember the Obama sneakers? How about the candy-and-soda-branded sneakers?