Brands be nimble, brands be quick

After a week of globe trotting, I've had time to think ridiculously long on red-eye flights. Mostly, I've been thinking about what's next in my life. What do I want and where will I get it. What can I offer, and where do I want to offer it. Stuff like that. Oh, and yeah, I've also been thinking about the future, not just of design, but about nailing tickets to the opening ceremonies at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, about what color Nike runners should I decide on at Nike.com ( black with white soles, or black, steel grey and white soles?), but mostly, I've been thinking about bigger junk. Bigger opportunities, bigger steps that might change everything for me.

This sort of thinking has be bonking myself in the head sometimes, but this time it is different, for, sometimes, the answers are right there in front of you, the whole time, and you suddenly realize it only when viewing it from 33,000 feet.

That had be thinking about desire lines, a metaphor coined by landscape architects for those paths people ( or, my dogs) make in yards, parks, etc, that do not follow the identified paths, that the designer intended. Shortcuts, if you will. I read an article online by Peter Merholz and his concept of desire Lines as a metaphor for the 'Adaptive Path', brilliant, obvious, but brilliant because of that innate obviousness. I love that. The idea of adaptive design come slow, to some businesses, but in a world which is constantly changing, and redefining what one should and should not do when it comes to marketing or in attracting consumers, it's not surprising at all, after all, adaptive design is, um, scary. In the USA, a commercial is currently airing which confirms my theory that many still feel that listening entirely to the enduser, is still rather irresponsible, old school even, after all, what do they know about what they want? The ad is for a telephone service, and runs something with a line like this" You mean you are listening to the customer? What do they know, that sounds dumb to me".

Dumb? Well, perhaps, if you are in the business of blazing new trails, for I don't disagree with the fact that often, the masses will direct you in the most common direction, if not the most cliche one....then again, with some brands, the customer will only lead to to the most direct, and obvious path if you listen to them, and ...well, see? It might actually make stupid sense with certain brands. Confused? Look....

Peter references a recent talk by Doug Bowman, Creative Director of Twitter, and it reminded me of recently meeting him on the set of Martha Stewart, there, he talked about how the Twitter consumer is actually improving his idea, by use. User designed, if you will. Martha asked him why did he limit Twitter chat exchanged to 140 character message? And he responded with a technical solution, that that was the amount of characters that could fit comfortably on a cell phone window. Beyond that, not much thought went into what the user will think , or how they might use it.

All around us consumers adjust their use. At Hasbro, little girls played with The LIttlest Petshop Toys, but they never had names or a world, so girls made up their own, now, the brand is massive worldwide, and continues to grow. Twitter users created FollowFridays (#ff), hashtags, retweets,etc, and Twitter is now the number one choice for sharing news, thoughts and ideas worldwide. Somethings just don't need to be designed, rather, they are phenomenal, they evolve, they have a life of their own (scary) but exciting if you've got the balls. Mostly, you need to be open to such information, and use it properly, not over react, not deny it, not ignore it, and most definitely, have the ability to not only identify it but to jump on it. ( if not over it).

Desire lines are sometimes right there in front of us. "I want it, oh I don't know why, maybe because it's yellow" Or maybe because it makes me look successful, or part of a tribe. Maybe it makes me look sexy, hot, thin, rich, tough, cute, or maybe I want it because I am lazy, rushed, tired, the reasons are endless, but ultimately, they often are emotionally rooted. Still, we all desire something, and usually, that something, is expressed as a brand.

Especially in Internet usage, but even more so in architecture and space, well, anywhere where humans must navigate, be it a website, a mall, or a retail store. Even a magazine page, a package back panel, even a remote control for a TV, damn it. And, yes, even a park. Fact is, sometimes THEY do know better. Not always, but, sometimes design is so obvious, that the answer is right there in front of you. Just don't trip over the candlestick.

What happens when the mall, is suddenly, more experiencial than your retail store?

The Tokyo, Omotosando Prada retail experience designed by Herzog & de Meuron





I was researching retail store design this weekend at my local high-end mall, and I noticed something. Amongst the faux wearhouses, concrete cubes and other fantastically designed retail stores, there were still rather average experiences, if not poor ones. The best analogy I can throw together is that now that the interior of the Mall is essentially, perfectly designed with birch forests, interesting angles and surprising arcs of glass and space, that some of the retail stores still stuck in the 1990's felt, um...a bit like shoe stores. Laminated wood, chrome, and some even had cash out areas at the door.

But the retail world is changing faster than many of us all thought, and I think, for the good. A recent trip to Tokyo reinforced this while researching Zaha Hadid buildings for retain, for my book Beyond Trend. Simple, think like the firm, Eight.inc.

As these images suggest, when retail design moves beyond the typically inward focus of interior design (something in which most retail stores take part), the results can elegantly (and instantly) raise the brand’s profile and even transform the shopping experience of neighboring stores. Herzog & de Meuron’s exoskeleton Prada store in Tokyo’s high-end shopping district is one of many “one-off” Prada stores designed by noted architects. Instead of developing a one-size-fits-all in-store experience, Prada shrewdly chose to bolster its image by being unique in each location - so long as each store is suitable for its level of luxury. Prada’s Tokyo store plays well against Toyo Ito’s Tod’s store down the street too, which consists of another equally original take on exoskeleton/open floor-plan architecture - this time in the form of poured concrete and seemingly random shards

The Apple’s store experiences are certainly among the most well-executed worldwide. Eight Inc.’s minimalist use of materials, color, and layout are perfectly consistent with the clean, efficient design of most Apple products; similarly, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson’s crystalline Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York City serenely rests in a clearing of monolithic, concrete, behemoths (a fortuitous - or sly - Apple v. Microsoft metaphor).

Behance Brilliance. Go ffffffFFFFFAT Face

Lately, I am loving the work of Montreal graphic artist Stefan Dukaczewski. Seems like others are too, after the buzz online at Freelance network Behance, as well as FFFOUND. Look how sweet his work is here - hint* it's the color!