We’re excited to announce that we’re having an exhibition of work by our newest design talent Charlotte Coulais, Geetika Alok, Hiromi Suzuki & Jack Gilbey
The exhibition, called This, This, This and That, is on Wednesday 23rd February from 6.00pm - 9.30pm in our London studio. If you want to come along, email us at thisthisthisandthat@wolffolins.com and we’ll add you to the guest list.
Every few weekends, I have the fortunate pleasure of frequenting the quiet, natural environment of the countryside. For me personally, it’s a wonderful juxtaposition from the bustle of the city. But something that I’ve noticed recently is that it takes almost a full day before the ringing subsides in my ears. Not loud, disabling ringing- but it’s there when I lay down at night. And I only notice it because it goes away….
So, over the past few weeks, with my handy decibel meter app, I took some snapshots of the noise levels associated with the random, day in the life travels of a 30-something guy in and around New York City.
The first thing that comes to mind is context. Not of the experiment, but of the contributions to the constant drone of major cities. I looked around at the cars and trucks, the stereos, the aircrafts overhead, the air conditioning units churning away. All these things are measured for noise in the context of individual performance. There are metrics developed, tests performed, certifications awarded, based on that individual product’s performance goals.
But what happens when it’s 60 cars on the road or dozens of HVAC units churning across rooftops? What might be new solutions for garbage trucks, construction tools, and the myriad of other noise-making solutions we’ve designed into our daily lives? Who’s designing within a framework that embraces the context to define the new design criteria of the urban system?
The second thing that comes to mind is technology. Specifically, how the new context can spur innovation. Imagine noise canceling screens for our windows, or ATM machines that do more than beep at us incessantly. If technology begets technology, then what is the marketable advantage to incorporate a quieter solution for our lives throughout the 21st century?
The third thing that came to mind is human tendency. In this case, we tend to find new solutions to overcome the problems we’ve created. It’s a vicious cycle. And in an attempt to find peace, we drown it all out with more noise.
As a health measure, this is disconcerting. Per the decibel meter application, the level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss is 90-95dB. A quick glance at the peak and sustained noise levels from my recordings around town reveal a story that challenges our ability to find peace in quiet.
On average, the ambient and environmental noise levels were on par with standing next to a revving motorcycle. Amazing. And as the world’s population expected to do nothing but elevate urban development and mega-city population sizes, we can see an interesting need to literally consider the sound of growth just as we consider any other aspect of sustainability.
(Eric Wilmot) @ewilmot
I’m getting old. When I first started making stuff with technology and the Internet, things like Internet Explorer didn’t exist. In the insane calendar of Moore’s Law, it was an age ago. A little later I worked in places that called themselves ‘web design’ or ‘Internet agencies’. We built web sites, and other exciting stuff for things like ‘Interactive TV’ and ‘mobile’ using WAP 1.1. Driven by new technology, anything seemed possible.
Fast forward to say 2006, suddenly, everyone is talking about Digital. Digital referred, not to one’s and zero’s, but primarily to the Internet in its many fixed and mobile forms, the things living in it and connected to it. It was a term coined to describe new things that certain business didn’t quite understand, and were scared of…
Now fast-forward again a little, but only a year or so: did I hear you say Post Digital? Post digital was coined as a term to describe the fact that the Internet, or vague ‘Internet connected digital thing-a-ma-bobs’, were now so prevalent, normal and accepted in business and society that we are living in a ‘post digital age’ amidst an ‘Internet of connect things’.
Stop. So we went from Digital to Post Digital in a couple of years? I know technology moves fast, but here’s the rub: for many businesses, being digital was and is hard. Embracing technology in and outside of an organisation is not easy. But what if we can adopt the notion of post digital? That sounds easier! It implies we got digital, then moved on! Or rather, back to business as usual.
Sadly, there are more problems with this term. I give you Exhibit A – The Nabaztag. So post-digital is all about digital being so normal right? Well The Nabaztag is a Wi-Fi enabled, Internet connected, talking, white plastic Rabbit. Say that aloud: A Wi-Fi enabled, Internet connected, talking, white plastic Rabbit. A Wi-Fi enabled, Internet connected, talking, white plastic Rabbit IS NOT NORMAL!
Exhibit B – Access to the Internet and technology outside of the developed world. I wont bore you with the stats, Google them. But if you don’t believe me, travel to a country where people have to charge their Nokia via bicycle power, then look at their blank faces as you show them your Nabaztag. I rest my case.
So where are we? Somewhere in the early to mid 90’s the basic technology foundations of the Internet we know today were laid, lets call it Web 1.0. In the mid naughties, everything got standardised and connected into a web of open data, Web 2.0. Today, we approach Web 3.0, an Internet of connected ‘applications’ underpinned by a web of semantic data. Exciting enough on it’s own, but now there’s a difference: Internet access devices and interfaces are finally beginning to meet expectation and deliver on the promises envisaged for them back at the beginning. Technology now works, and it works well. If we can work on equal access then we’ll hit ground zero, the beginning.
Post digital? Bullshit, we’re just barely getting started. Lets do some awesome stuff…
(Nathan Williams) @nathanawilliams Nathan Williams is a Strategist in Wolff Olins London. He likes technology, and delicious cake. Photo courtesy of Lisamarie Babik via Flickr Creative Commons License.
Dopamine is a chemical associated with reward. In it’s worst form, it results in addiction. However, one of its many beneficial outcomes of its release is that the brain becomes primed for a perfect state of learning. But I suspect, without any hard evidence to back me up, that even the feelings of novelty and newness are related to it. Sociologists describe this experience as flow, which is best understood as those points in time when work flies by, when productivity is best and when we stop looking at the clock wondering when’s lunch.
Games have proven to be very good at initiating flow. The result that follows is accompanied by that desired sense of learning. Even in the most entertaining game franchises there is proof that gamers are learning certain skills. The coming proliferation of gaming will be born from the targeting of skills to be learnt and defining which types of games can deliver the desired information or skill to be communicated to the learner.
The role of game mechanics in our everyday lives is growing along with the Millenial demographic. For many of us, growing up with video games may seem to be the integration of pastime into real life. When I look back on my own moments playing games, I realize that many of these were ones of intense concentration where time stood still. Fun, play and learning come together at these moments and make for memorable experiences and connection.
Over the past ten years the role of brand has transformed. It’s no longer simply a logo or a tagline, but has become a position from which we deliver experiences that connect and inspire. Gaming has a role to play in how brands build these connections through unique and useful experiences. Our challenge is to determine how gaming can best create these connections.
(Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons user: Futurilla)
From Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare to the rss feeds which are filtered to us through our aggregators and devices. Managing global data on our local monitors and touch-screens, we maintain social networks, follow breaking news and share our location. Today, it’s not just those that are in the design world that consider a screen perhaps the most vital tool in creation and collaboration.
There have been tablet computers before but the release of Apple’s iPad this past spring led to a breakthrough in application design for literature, gaming, and education. What could possibly be next? Iain Roberts, co-leader of Ideo talked about consumer electronic design in Dwell magazine. He stated that “The dominant element in a lot of the products we are designing is the screen: It’s changed the way we design and now we’re needing to build the product around it. We’re looking to tie the physical and graphical interaction together as closely as possible, paying new attention to materials, surface, finishes, and details as well as focusing on sensory aspects such as touch and sound. We’re looking to products to engage all the senses.”
Here are a few new ways screens will enter our lives:
My Ford Touch will soon change how drivers interact with their vehicles. Consumers will use “touch-sensitive buttons, touch screens, and voice recognition.” In addition to this, OnStar is adding voice-command Facebook and SMS status updates.
What’s thrilling is finding out that those who are lacking the sense of sight can engage and thrive with a touch-screen tool. Austin Seraphin, blind since birth, explained in June how the iPhone changed his life forever. He recently posted about rejoining the Apple family of computer users and shared his experience with the Color Identifier app on his Behind the Curtain blog.
Some offices think that open spaces foster creative collaboration. Others believe that the less contact you have, the more work you get done. Yanko Design shared an idea developed by Zhang Wei of an electronic imaging screen embedded within an office wall panel that displays programmed messages.
Sony has produced a fantastic flexible 4.1 inch screen. Readius has developed the pocket e-reader with a rollable display screen. IDEO released an intriguing video showcasing their vision for the future of the book. Their three concepts provide greater interaction, relevance, and content discovery than ever seen before in a touch-screen device.
How will screens affect your life in the near future?
(Jennifer Kubeczko) @rebranded
Photo courtesy of Enrique Dans via Flickr Creative Commons license.
Have you ever thought about buying or selling items with a Tweet? Would you like to trade for stuff with all those Foursquare badges you earned? Your activity on social media platforms could become the newest form of brand currency.
Imagine being able to reach a network of thousands by providing goods in exchange for 140 characters. Expertly crafted, a Tweet can become the perfect word-of-mouth promotion. Easily spreading, click by rewarding click. Pay with a Tweet is an organization that promotes paying for products via sharing on Twitter and Facebook platforms. This is where the value of the user’s network becomes a powerful delivery tool. Musicians, authors, businesses, and brands can all take advantage of this modern exchange to promote their art and/or identity. A perfect example is the Hotel Domspitzenwhich allows you to receive a locally brewed beer upon Tweeting.
Foursquare check-ins reward users with a free item or discount. Chili’s restaurant offered free chips and salsa with a check-in on Foursquare. This caused a 200% increase in check ins, increased revenue, and greater amounts of foot-traffic. Check-ins amount to badges now, but could trading those badges in for actual goods in the Foursquare store be just around the corner? Suddenly a virtual badge has potential buying power. The latest upgrade to the Foursquare platform includes an Add to my Foursquare button that you can apply to your website to promote tips, deals, specials, and events for your brand. The user now can save that clip for later use within the mobile app. Sharing between network connections just got even more flexible, informative, and rewarding.
These new methods to monetizing the Internet are creative and engaging. Barriers to marketing and brand-building for small businesses, musicians, entrepreneurs, and artists are broken down. New currencies have emerged. Now brands can partner directly with their most loyal customers to reach new ones.
Innovation is the word on every CEO’s lips. It’s the new corporate mantra: communication innovation! New product development! Customer engagement improvement! New business model! Bigger, better, faster products! Most companies are stuck on the competitive treadmill and innovation seems to be their energy drink. Surely we have more product choices today, but if you ask consumers, they think it’s more of the same. 80% of CEOs believe their brands offer a unique and differentiated experience – only 8% of customers agree (Bain, 2009).
Why? Because most companies focus on adding features to their product-line, or releasing a newer version of the same thing. This is not innovation. At best it is augmentation. As a counter to this, game-changing companies are choosing to keep the consumer at the center of their attention, thus building a brand around their customer and fulfilling the need to create more meaningful experiences. At Wolff Olins, we call it brand-led innovation.
A brilliant example of brand-led innovation is Gilt Groupe. What started as an exclusive online clothier has now evolved to include luxury home-goods, vacation destination packages, and five-star restaurants. Their newest offering is the Gilt MANual, which is a smart, informative “daily guide to permanent style.” Featured sections include essentials on etiquette, how-to and advice columns on topics ranging from growing a beard, and giving an unforgettable toast, to washing raw denim. Writers and editors produce timely, relevant, and educational pieces that engage their consumer-base and beyond. Rather than segmentation or augmentation, they’ve turned their sights on true innovation. They’ve developed Gilt Man as a brand itself, building equity and showing a greater understanding of their audience in the process.
(Jean-Yves Minet) @Ace_Brandage
*photo courtesy of Pauline A. H. under Flickr Creative Commons license.