Time on Your Hands

A Truly Functional Design

Haptica, a concept timepiece for the visually impaired designed by David Chavez, relies on a series of dials to represent military time in Braille. Users draw their finger across the tastefully integrated channel to read the time represented in raised dots.

The idea has already garnered international awards including a 2008 Spark Award.

The steely tones and stylish tech lines call to mind the abstract pattern designs of brands like Nooka—a good look on any metropolitan wrist. The Haptica is a thoughtful fusion of form and function.

Sipho’s image by Fabian Biasio

Sipho Mabona, the origami artist
behind the Clio Award-winning film,
In Pursuit of Perfection.

Simple Vehicles; Collaborative Vision

Often the simplest elements allow viewers the most latitude to add their own vision to and create engagement with your concept or message.

The Nordpol+ agency of Hamburg, Germany created In Pursuit of Perfection, a short film honoring Asics founder, the late Kihachiro Onitsuka.

Central to the Clio award-winning short is the work of Swiss origami artist Sipho Mabona. Devoid of extraneous color and detail, Mabona’s hand-folded works add a human quality, proving the perfect medium to express the essence of the Asics story, from Onitsuka’s initial vision through its rise to today’s global sporting goods heavyweight.

A Tiger, a Microscope, an Octopus, a Foot…

Using only single sheets of square paper, Mabona worked on-site at Nordpol+ for five weeks, producing 17 models. He consulted as his designs were combined with stop motion photography, leading-edge motion control and 3D animation.

“The initial sequence featuring the tiger and the house, and the final trophy sequence are the scenes I am most proud of,” Mabona told .think.

More Mabona

Mabona produces custom-made models, animation, events and workshops for clients such as Antalis, Siemens and Epson. To learn more about Mabona and his work, visit his Mabona Origami web site.

via: A. C. Riley

Those who have, buy?

A Call to Quality

In late 2008, Motorola released the Aura, a $2,000 cell phone. What it lacks in modern-day feature-rich gadgets, it makes up for in austere styling, quality materials and precise engineering with a Swiss-made main bearing and 130 precision ball bearings; tungsten-carbon-carbide-coated main gears; chemically etched textures and patterns; a mirror finish; and a scratch-resistant 62-carat, grade 1 sapphire crystal display.

Reality Check

In the midst of a recession has Motorola gone mad, or will their release of a $2,000 phone prove to be a timely decision?

In an October Washington Post article, Bain & Company Partner and retail expert Darrell Rigby said, “Contrary to some popular predictions, high-end retail is not recession-proof. There’s not a retailer in the country that isn’t taking this downturn seriously.”

However, an alcohol distribution manager recently noted while his mid-range clients are buying slightly less prestigious brands and low-end consumers are opting for the lowest possible price point, his upper-end clientele’s purchase of top shelf brands has sharply increased and profits are up.

Likewise, a custom home builder reports sales increases so great they have more business than they can handle and said this has been their experience in past recessions as well. The high-end builder cites low material costs and attractive interest rates available to affluent, asset-rich customers, as driving forces.

My father once told me he believed that during bad economic times affluent people spend money as a means of escape—a self-administered reassurance, a distancing from the dark realities around them.

You Make the Call

Time will tell if Motorola can successfully circumvent the recession by developing a phone that transcends it. If branded properly, the Aura may have the proper cachet to attract wallets still overflowing with disposable income.

Visit the Aura Microsite or, if you’re already sold and have what it takes, buy it here.

Who’s Who?

What do BBDO, New York; Disney, Paris; Greenpeace; the BBC; and Brainstorm all have in common? Each won a Best in Show Award from the 2008 W3 Awards, a global competition for website and online content designers, creators, and promoters, judged by the International Academy of Visual Arts.

“In a competition pitting over 3,000 competitors, including Fortune 500 companies and international marketing agencies, we’re pleased to finish in the top 1 percent,” said Brainstorm’s president, Bob Blass.

What’s What?

Brainstorm also won a Gold Award for Visual Appeal for the site, Camino a la Universidad (The Road to College). The site brings interactive life to a research report on Latino’s post-secondary access and success by University of Texas at San Antonio professor Dr. Raymond Padilla.

“Brainstorm created a beautiful, culturally relevant, sharable way to interact with decades of research data without diminishing its depth and substance,” said Teresa Detrich of the Lumina Foundation, sponsor of the research and website.

This is Brainstorm’s third W3 Award, including a Silver Award in 2007 for a website promoting Community Health Network’s North Hospital.

“Enter zip code.”

First Impressions

Low on fuel and on a tight schedule, I pulled into a BP-fueled truck stop. Grimy housings, hand-scrawled, duct-taped instructions, greasy LCD screens and several “out of order” signs indicated that this wasn’t your typical BP.

My instincts told me to take my business elsewhere but my fuel gauge and my watch spurred me on.

Imposing Impressions

I inserted my credit card into the slot and after a long delay—as if awakened from a deep, sleepy dial-up—the screen queried, “Credit or Debit?” I punched “Credit” and, after another delay, got “Car Wash Y/N?” I scanned the keypad and hit “N.” At last the computer processed my input and responded “Enter zip code.”

Zip code? This zip code? Certainly not. My business zip code? My home zip code? And why? ID verification? Demographic purposes? Requiring personal data mid-transaction calls for a friendly explanation. Something beyond “Enter zip code.”

Perturbed, I punched in my home zip code. Time passed, “Authorizing…” At long last the pump offered up its final decree: “Card error.” Now invested and thinking I’d erred in supplying my home zip code, I repeated the entire process, entering my business zip code—to no avail, “Card error” again.

Lasting Impressions

I returned to my car, cold, irritated, and still in need of fuel, wondering exactly what “Card error” meant. And why zip code was the last query in my customer experience, not the first. Several exits later I filled my tank at a competitor’s pump using the same credit card.

So what did BP gain from this customer interaction? They realized no sale, no add-on sale and, by association with the truck stop, a less than positive brand impression with a potential customer.

Acquiring customer data and positioning yourself for additional sales opportunities is smart business, but never at the expense of your customers’ experience. In today’s convenience-oriented, competitive business climate, place a premium on your customers’ time and expectations. From housekeeping to user interface design, put customer needs and desires ahead of your own. That’s front line branding.

[ image: ifranz ]