Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Most Contagious 2010

Today a good friend sent me this link to Most Contagious 2010 thinking it would be right up my alley. Being a wrap up of all the biggest campaigns, trends and technologies in the past year, of course it’s right up my alley!
 Brilliant reference for some of the best creations we’ve seen recently such as Old Spice, Intel’s ‘The Creators Project’ and of course the iPad. There’s also some stories that Activated Space has covered like the Dulux ‘Let’s Colour’ Project.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Season’s Greetings

I was excited to receive this Xmas card from Design Victoria today. Beats Hallmark’s musical cards!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Multi-Channel Gifting

With the silly season officially in full swing I’ve noticed many retailers setting up Xmas gift destinations within stores, however chasing the impulse buy is nothing new after all.What I am impressed by though is brands that have seized the opportunity to multichannel  with their gift offers. Two great examples of this are Sportsgirl and Dezeen.
Sportsgirl has launched a Gift Pop Up Shop on its site. The shop is divided up into themes including Make It (cupcake kits, puff paints, bedazzlers & sewing kits), Learn It (diaries, journals & star signs) and Road Trip (festival kits, headphones & luggage tags). Members can create their own Gift List and for further incentive they’ll ship within Australia for free if you purchase before December 17. The Summer theming, typically vivid Sportsgirl colours and simplicity of buying are making it difficult to tear myself away from the site!
Gift Pop Up Shop

Dezeen is a, sorry ‘the’ design blog focusing on some of the coolest architecture and interior projects from around the globe. From December 9 through to 19 they’ve set up The Temporium, a pop up gift store featuring a range of fashion, fine jewellery, watches, ceramics, books, furniture and lighting from UK design brands.image
The TemporiumThe Temporium
The TemporiumThe Temporium

Both brands have used this event to market to consumers outside their traditional channel. Dezeen have provided a physical space to showcase the designers they blog about – engaging the senses of touch and smell that aren’t communicable online, as well as making a few quid on the side. Sportsgirl have made it easy for customers to avoid the chaos and possibly their competition in malls by purchasing their gifts online.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Power Shop 2

I had the pleasure of unwrapping a very heavy parcel that hit my desk today… my copy of Power Shop 2.

The bright magenta casing is home to two volumes of porn for lovers of inspiring retail design. The first is pure fashion and the other is anything but fashion –think shoes, books, food, auto, eyewear etc. Over 640 pages it features 200 store designs including Colette, H&M, adidas Originals, Fiat and Sony from top designers around the globe. Aesop Adelaide and Sportsgirl Bourke Street represent the local market.

With floor plans, designer profiles and full colour photos its the retail aficionado's bible.
If you’re interested in getting your hands on it for a fraction of the retail price, Frame Magazine have a sale on throughout December.


Friday, December 3, 2010

Need to Know - December

As you will have read I am quite the fan of Howard Saunders of Echo Chamber.
I’ve just received a list of his December Top 10 Unmissable Stores…
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Well there’s one store in there that I’m not convinced he’s seen in the flesh and that has changed since these photos were taken!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Will iPads Replace Mannequins?

In the November edition of their newsletter, uber fashion/art/gadget store Colette announced they would be supplementing the outfits displayed on their mannequins with additional looks available for viewing on an iPad.

This is a fantastic way for a retailer to showcase more garments and styled looks with greater frequency. It’s particularly great for stores with a small footprint and limited space for visual merchandising. However, there is nothing like being able to see the way fabric drapes around form in the third dimension… so I don’t think we’ll be seeing the demise of our innate fibreglass friends anytime soon.

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Brands Creating Culture Around the Iconic

I’ve observed a trend (yes I did swat up on trendwatching’s 15 Trend Tips article this month) that luxury brands are executing particularly well. They’re fostering an online community or culture around their most iconic products and sharing tips and information on how to style or use the item in a fashion that makes us want in. Think Hermes’ J’aime Mon Carre (I Love my Scarf) or Burberry’s Art of the Trench.

The latest is the release of the Louis Vuitton City Guides. The City Guides, now covering over 40 destinations, have been published by the brand for the past ten years and detail the finest stores, restaurants, hotels and nightspots for the discerning traveller as well as revealing a few secret spots. Now Louis Vuitton have produced a clever teaser for the guides… videos on their site that provide 90 seconds of insight into the city, like New York that many locals wouldn’t even be aware of. All presented in a package as cleverly crafted as the luggage.


It creates a nice consumer hook… watch the video and be inspired to buy the guide… read the guide and work to book the trip… and of course you need the luggage for the trip!
LOUIS VUITTON TRAVEL GUIDES

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Are Clarks Comfortable Enough to Live In?

One couple is putting this to the test by living inside giant shoes for a week at Westfield Parramatta. The ‘Shoes You Can Live In’ campaign coincides with the opening of Australia’s first adult Clarks shoe store in the centre. The store will specialise in fusing design with comfort, following Clarks international belief in the power of beautifully designed footwear and its ability to transform the way you feel.

An engaging and somewhat voyeuristic way to promote their arrival to the centre!

 
 

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Why Pop Up?

Why Pop Ups Pop Up Everywhere is a great article on one of my favourite phenomenon's that has taken over the marketing/fashion/food/art worlds in the last few years. Published by Kira Cochrane in the Guardian, it provides a history of pop ups of all varieties and some solid reasons why brands should consider getting in on the act.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Higher Level Art Makeover Cincinnati Streets

If only the streets in my hood looked like this…



Thanks Wooster

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Range Rover Evoques Paris

Range Rover have taken over Paris with the unveiling of 4 pop up temporary installations celebrating the launch of the new Range Rover Evoque and coinciding with the start of Paris Fashion Week.

Created by artists André (AKA Monsieur A), JCDC, Surface To Air and Yorgo Tlouplas; the wire frame replicas of the vehicle have been positioned at iconic locations around the city including Palais de Tokyo, Quai Henri IV, Musée des Arts et Métiers in the and Centre Pompidou. Each focuses on a different key aspect of the Evoque – luxury, design, sustainability and technology and will in place for public viewing until September 30th.

 
 

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Barclays… Wishing the Wheels Came Off

This is what I love about advertising in public spaces... that we the public have right of reply!


Any brand can pay for public space, but if you don't have a positive public face you leave
yourself vulnerable.

Thanks Wooster for the pics.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Let’s Colour Project

Their mission is to spread colour all over the world. Their target is any grey space.
Paint giants Dulux, Duluz Valentine, Coral and Marshall have combined forces and working together with local communities have painted streets, houses, schools and squares across the globe.
Since March 2010 the Let’s Colour Project has hit up:

Streets of Lapa, Rio de Janeiro
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A council estate in Aulnay-sous-bois, Paris
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Virginia Primary School in Tower Hamlets, London
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A community square, school and main road of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
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There’s a lot of vids on youtube detailing the project, but one of my favs is this stop-motion animation by directors Le Groupuscule. It depicts the evolution of the murals in Marseille, Lyon and Paris painted by Matt W. Moore. The accompanying track is by Monsieur Monsieur.

Here’s some more about the project