Voodoogoo Jam

Perfecting Good Taste

Friends from afar sent me not one but seven jars of assorted gelatinous delights for the holidays. Each homemade delectable is tastefully adorned with an elegant custom label and a short background regarding the origin of the harvested contents. Perfect.

I can barely wait to taste them all. But await I will.

The Assortment Include

Grape Jam · Wild Plum Jam · Apricot Peach Jam · Banana Butter
Chokecherry Jam · Black Raspberry Jam · Voodoogoo Jam

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

The Spork of Tomorrow,
Here Today

The Forgotten Spoon

A recent visit to the deli counter at Target yielded an interesting consumer experience brand extension. It’s a small detail, yet answers a very basic quandary.

Ever leave a deli or carry out without a utensil with which to eat? Enter this little innovation.

Forget Finger Food

The lid of the food container has a small thermoformed cavity that’s roughly the shape of the head of a spoon. In this cavity is a “folded” spoon with a living hinge and a snap-fit tab that transforms it into a fully functional utensil roughly 2/3 the length of a normal plasticware spoon.

Putting a Finger on Innovation

A need was identified and with some simple ingenuity a smart solution was borne. While it won’t change the world, it is genius.

[ image: illig ]

White Castle’s conversation-inspiring promotion.

Dining on Slyders®
by candlelight

What’s Wrong with this Picture?

This street sign isn’t advertising a 4-star restaurant, it’s a 24-hour White Castle that serves miniature hamburgers called Slyders®. A regional player, they consistently rank among the Top 100 U.S. foodservice companies, serving over 500 million burgers a year.

White Castle is running a serious business, but not too serious.

Love is in the Ambiance

A kitsch castle motif and hamburger joint ambiance doesn’t register as a romantic destination for most couples. Nor does dining on steamy Slyders® in a stainless-steel and plastic-laminate setting on candlelit, linen-draped tables. Which is exactly why White Castle’s charming Valentine’s Day promotion works.

Not your typical White Castle experience: waiters, flowers, candlelight and tablecloths.

Embrace Yourself

From a strategic marketing standpoint, White Castle understands and embraces their market space and brand persona—and are willing to leverage it by poking fun at themselves. This promotion transcends a one-way communication, inviting consumers to interact with the brand—sharing a little levity with others at White Castle’s expense.

Instigating Viral-ability

The promotion’s self-effacing humor became an opportunity for consumer-generated online viral buzz. The Brainstorm employee who took the picture emailed it to 3 people; two within Brainstorm and one in Oregon. Several weeks later she received the image back in an email from a former co-worker, unrelated in any tangible way to the original recipients with the subject ‘Valentine’s Day dinner plans?’ Who knows how far it traveled or how many people saw it?

Share the Love

Socially shared experiences both on and offline begin with transparency, relevance, and often wit. Inspiring people to talk positively about your brand requires involvement and reaching out to engage.

[Restaurant interior photo: Girlieleep]