Archive for the ‘partnerships’ Category
06
Jan
2009
Objectified: Dissecting Design
What cinema vérité and toothbrushes have to do with the truly transformational.
Imagine picking the brains of the world’s most innovative, influential, brilliant designers. The ones who transcend the realm of greatness and rise to the level of genius.
Now imagine not having to imagine that.
From Helvetica director Gary Hustwit comes Objectified, a new design documentary that delves into the magic of what is loosely known as “industrial design” — a term perhaps poorly suited, in its crude connotation, to a field that gives us anything from inspired toothbrushes to revolutionary tech gadgets, all held together by the common thread of being something more than mere objects to those who use them.
Objectified picks apart notions like creativity, identity, consumerism and sustainability — terms tossed around rather frivolously these days, but truly grasped and appreciated by few — examining them through film vérité and revelatory conversations with some of the world’s most influential designers.
The film features legendary designers like Karim Rashid and Naoto Fukasawa, world-changing design studios like IDEO and Smart Design, and some of our own deeply, deeply revered design idols like MoMA curator of design Paola Antonelli.
We’re rather excited for Objectified — because besides being deeply inspirational by way of exposure to pure genius, the film also makes us commonfolk look within ourselves for that peculiar force that makes us relate to the world and to each other through objects, using beatifully designed artifacts as extensions of ourselves, as badges, as fundamental pieces of self-definition.
Objectified premieres worldwide in March. Grab the production’s RSS feed or jump on the email newsletter to stay in the loop.
Thanks, Alek.
Hey there! If you're new around here, grab our RSS feed for the freshest pickings.
29
Dec
2008
A Little Awkward
How to socialize the hipster way and get a discount at Starbucks along the way.
iPod earbuds on, passing people by without eye contact, drifting through the metropolitan maze in your own little bubble. Sound familiar? It’s the Large City Syndrome, and we’ve all got it to some extent. So how do you de-strangerize and rekindle that “social being” side of your existence?
A little awkward is a quirky, inspired, distinctly hipster project that aims to encourage interaction between strangers in the city, coordinating low-key meetings between those who want to meet new people in urban environments.
The project is the work of two students at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Alex Abreu and Stella Kim, for the annual students’ ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program) show.
The way it works is brilliantly simple: To create a meet-up event, you specify the expiration time — could be 30 minutes, could be 3 days — and give a quick clothing description. Then, the system matches you up with someone else in your area who’s looking for an encounter at that time and each of you gets a text message with the nearby location of the meet-up (which the system picks out for you), the time you have to get there, and the other person’s clothing description so you can spot them right away.
Besides the undeniable cool factor and good times potential of the project, the founders are also contemplating some interesting marketing partnerships — namely, hooking up with specific venues in an area to sponsor the project. In return, A little awkward would push people to those venues for meet-ups, offering users perks like coupons or other exclusive discounts at the local partner hangouts.
50% off a Starbucks Chai Latte in good company doesn’t sound like a bad plan for a Sunday afternoon.
We just dig the idea of jolting people out of their urban routine and allowing them to surrender to chance and uncomplicated fun and all those things that somehow gave way the grown-up reality of work and rent and mandatory Friday night dinner parties.
Subscribe
Connect
Categories
Web Pickings