Not the most original idea ever, but still a good one - Starbucks sampling Frappuccino Light out of an old ice-cream van.
(Shot with my new phone. Quality is OK actually, maybe I can stop carrying the camera around everywhere.)
tiffin genius
There's so much to love about this story in The Guardian.
The One Stop Thali Cafe in Bristol has been selling these Mumbai tiffin carriers to their regulars - so they can get takeaways from the restaurant using them. They're £20 each (inc your first meal) and they've sold about 1,500 in the last 18 months.
This is genius. In one fell swoop they've:
1. created genuine differentation for the business
2. done something environmentally responsible
3. made a little bit of extra money
4. tied their customers a little closer to their business
5. won themselves some interesting PR
6. actually improved their service (tiffin carriers keep the food hotter for longer)
And they've done it in a way that's:
1. entirely authentic to their business and its heritage
2. incredibly simple and charming (not some fiddly promotional thing with forms and vouchers)
3. generous and open - you can use your tiffin carrier at any restaurant
Brilliant.
good destruction
Apparently (according to engadget) Griffin (who make accessories for ipods and stuff) have an extremely quibble-free replacement policy. If you have a problem they immediately replace the thing and ask you to 'destroy the non-functioning device in a creative manner - and send photographic evidence'. This is someone doing just that with an itrip.
What an excellent thing for a company to do. Just the kind of idea that wins a bit of loyalty in a crowded market - demonstrate that you trust your customers, encourage them to have some fun and get yourself some PR at the same time. Brilliant.
Cafe Preservation Society
I bought the London Caffs book yesterday (fantastic - great photos and commentary, good mixture of 'cafe eras'). And it prompted me to look through Classic Cafes again. (Equally brilliant - lovely shots, fascinating points of view). Both make my own efforts look pretty feeble.
But that's not important now.
These books set me thinking that maybe we could all do more than simply document the decline of these places. Maybe we should try and take all this enthusiasm and knowledge and channel it into something like a Cafe Preservation Society.
It's role could be to keep an eye on the great cafes in danger, lobby planning authorities etc. and/or if all else fails; ensure that the atmosphere of the place is recorded and maybe some of the fixtures and fittings preserved for posterity.
Maybe it's something that English Heritage or the National Trust or the 20th Century Society are already doing, but they must have other fish in the air or balls to fry and sometimes you can't do better than get a few like-minded lunatics together to get something done. (You sometimes get the impression that Adrian Maddox is joined in lonely battle on these issues, maybe more of us could offer some help)
I'm going to write to the great cafe luminaries, see what they think, but I'm quite enthused by this idea. I'd love to get something going. What do you all think? Any volunteers? Who's in? Someone want to build a website? etc. etc.
If nothing else we could have some regular outings to cafes, and preserve them through our custom.
Or am I mad? Or is someone already doing this and I should pay more attention to the world around me?
Comments please.
hey mr consumer electronics manufacturer
Took Arthur and his friend Finlay to the Transport museum. Fantastic. Afterwards kept them entertained by letting them play with my camera. These are some of the shots they took. They had a whale of a time. Why isn't someone making a cheap digital camera for kids? They're great kids products. They get instant results - looking at the pictures they just took, they don't have to peer, one-eyed through a viewfinder (which they find quite hard) and they can take as many as they want without having to worry about paying to get them developed. Wouldn't have to have bags of megapixels, resolution's not a priority, would have to be fairly rugged, wouldn't need zoom and stuff, would have to have an LCD thing. Other than that, should be quite do-able at a reasonable price
why not?
this is from the lift in border's on charing cross road. this isn't rocket science, it's not even that original. it's just one of those good ideas more brands/companies could do if only they could be bothered. that's what i like about Borders, they always seem to be making a bit of an effort. infact that's the only real difference i can discern between great brands and ok brands. it's not about the quality of the ideas, or the leadership or anything, it's that great brands make more of an effort. in the fabled words of ddb; they 'try harder'
no empty bench in soho square
i walked through soho square the other morning and found myself completely affected by this bench. it always slips my mind that there'll be no more kirsty maccoll albums. gorgeous voice. lovely songs.
seeing this reminded me of a great thing, which i've not seen, because richmond park is too damn far. an ian dury memorial bench - where you can plug in your headphones and listen to music and interviews. and it's solar powered. this is the designer.
it also made me think about those bbc4 benches on the south bank. 'everybody needs a place to think'. i'm surprised people aren't doing more benches as (dread words) 'ambient media'. at least you're giving something back when you do that, rather than just creating more clutter and crap.
plumbers got design
right here's a lesson in design. i just happened to see both of these plumbers vans the same week. and they're both trying to engage with you a little, have some fun. but only one of them actually makes you want to phone them - only one of them delivers the values you want in a plumber. and isn't it interesting that what you want to see in a plumber is really old-fashioned stuff, not leading edge technology or anything. just a man from the fifties and his van. infact pimlico plumbers give out all the signals you want, even on their website.
full marks to mr bongo
this is the perfect response to all those ambient-media sticker-wielding tossers who deface our shops and street furniture. well done to the hiphop folks at mr bongo.