design

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you would know by now that I’m a big fan of sharing ideas and thoughts. Internets biggest contribution to a better world is exactly this – getting rid of protectionism and replacing it with sharing knowledge.

Together we can tear down the walls of monopoly built up by multinational companies more interested in giving money back to shareholders than actually building great things for the people. The open source culture is probably the best example of this with code like Android, MySQL, WordPress, Drupal, Linux but also real objects like the 3D printing Makerbot and Frankencamera 2.0 by Stanford to prove that it works. We’re living in exiting times!

Now that’s a sort of long introduction to this short link tip. But I felt I needed to remind you all to share your knowledge before sharing my knowledge about the Yahoo Design Stencils. This initiative by yahoo is yet another example of sharing. Yahoo has this section called All Design Patterns where you can find all their best practice thinking on usability and design for both mobiles and the online world. Then a couple of clicks away you’ll find all these great thoughts in downloadable templates for Photoshop, Omni Graffle, Visio and…yes you name it!

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Two days ago I got the news that my application for a TEDx license was approved. My idea is to host an event for around 75 people in Viggbyholm, Täby where I live. The focus of the event will be visualization and how design shape our ideas about the future.

The event will be held in Täby, Sweden on 18th April.  18:00 – 22:00.

Now there’s three things you can do:

  1. Apply for a ticket – because the seats are limited there will be a draw monday next week.
  2. Suggest speakers – if you know someone that can speak 5-10 minutes on visualization, let me know.
  3. Spread the word. Tweet this post or copy the url of the TEDxViggbyholm site and spread it in your network.

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I‘ve spent some time this evening browsing my favorite packaging site The Dieline. That’s when I suddenly realized I should blog about packaging today.

When I speak about creativity and innovation and how it must be a part of every interaction (especially packaging) you have with your customers one of the most common replies I get is: “How can I make use of what you say in my business. We don’t have a sexy product”. Wrong question!

Today no one, no matter what kind of product you market, can overlook the fact that your customers lead a stressed life. People want to be entertained. We want drama. We want smiles. We want to feel. Everything is about entertainment and drama! Brand owners – inject emotion into your products or eject yourselves from your position!

The one question you should ask yourselves when it comes to packaging is: “Does my packaging make people smile”

Here are 10 brands that obviously have understood that you can make something out of anything.

1. Rellana Wool – Making Yarn Come Alive

wool-packaging

This wonderful wool packaging concept called Wolly Heads was made by Ogilvy Frankfurt- It’s one of my absolute favorites. They’ve turned something very ordinary into something [click to continue…]

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Innovation is a strange thing. The best of innovations usually happens when someone takes something established from the world of culture and ads a twist or adapt it to future needs. Weiden & Kennedy’s great Honda COG pastiche on Peter Fischli & David Weiss’s art expression ‘The Way Things Go‘ is the perfect example on this.

So, when I performed my every day ‘link yoga’ this morning and did some soul stretching on Cool Hunting I suddenly found myself in love with a set of icons – Helveticons.

helvetica_icons_typeface

Max Larsson from Örebro, Sweden has created a set of icons, glyphs and symbols based on the Helvetica Bold typeface and the result is stunningly simplistic and…helveticified.

Hmm. Now I just gotta work out where I need those icons.

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matsu_wine_bottle_design

The Matsu’s wine triology, ‘El Pícaro’, ‘El Recio’ and ‘El Viejo’

Today on TheDieline I ran into the company ‘Vintae Luxury Wine Specialists’. Vintae is Spanish based company that specialize in top of the range and luxury wines.

Not only do they have a great wine portfolio. Together with Spanish agency Moruba, they’ve designed some wonderful bottles to stack in your cellar.

numbernine_wine_bottle_design

The Winery Arts collection revolves around the number 9, considered by many cultures as the supreme number of knowledge

When a company understands the value of differentiation, simplicity and creativity like Vintae, I can’t do anything but run to the wine shop and empty my savings account. This is the shit you wanna put on your table!

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ferrari_dino

The Lamborghini Miura – A timeless car

What makes an object timeless? Why in some cases do we all end up liking something so much so it rises from being just another thing to instead becoming culture? Certain designs and certain objects has that little extra, they’re like an open fire – we can’t stop staring. And what’s even more strange is that [click to continue…]

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What the font was that?

February 11, 2009

That’s more or less the name of this ingenious new iPhone app that let’s you identify a font purely by taking a photo of it. I downloaded it and tried it – it’s a killer app! As often before it’s Miss Swissmiss that delivered the news about the Whatthefont app.

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Just came home from Barcelona but wish I was in Great Britain

February 4, 2009

The British Royal Mail has released a set of stamps featuring British design classics. Great Britain is a wonderful country indeed. Don’t you agree? Getting a post card with one of these ‘licked’ to it would definitely put a smile on my face for the rest of the day. Thanks SwissMiss for the find!

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Objectify, my kind of movie

January 6, 2009

I love Industrial design. I love gadgets. I love communication. If this movie lives up to my expectations – then I’ll love the Objectify movie too. Hey. If you’re as eager as me. Sign up to the newsletter on the Objectify movie site.

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Visualization makes things easy to understand

November 5, 2008
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