fyi : reactor

3 Reasons Print Design is Not Dead

2009-10-29T17:16:00.007-05:00

Like the promise of a flying car and a cashless society, the invention of interactive technology (including the internet and all things digital) was supposed to eventually mark the end of print. All of these are dreams and haven't happened yet. The closest one to reality is the cashless society, but it'll probably never happen. I rarely carry cash anymore, but I still need it on occasion and it just doesn't seem feasible to create a money-charging technology for every single aspect of our lives. Tipping a bar tender or a coat check person at a party comes to mind. There is also a huge movement in the US to go back to cash-only budgeting as a way to limit over-spending. But I digress...

(Print, as I refer to it, is brochures, packaging, direct mail, even business cards. Basically, it's hand-held, physical printed pieces of marketing.)

Reason 1: Digital content is now striving to be more like print.
E-book readers are the prime example of this (Kindle, Nook, Sony eBook, etc). The technology of electronic ink is super cool and tries to mimic the printed experience. It's awesome technology and I can't wait to see where it goes, but this may just be the closest digital content will ever get to print.

Reason 2: Sustainability
The Print Council released a report recently, called Why Print is Green, that describes 10 specific ways in which print is green. "Our industry is a leader in recycling, sustainability and pollution control,” says Ben Cooper, Executive Director of The Print Council. “In fact we pioneered putting those concepts into widespread practice over the past three decades...Media buyers and marketers who believe that print is lagging as an environmentally friendly medium need to know these facts, which show that print is in fact leading in this critical area.”

A few facts from Why Print is Green:

In 2008, more than 57 percent of paper consumed in the U.S. was recovered for recycling, more than any material
Less than 10 percent of U.S. power comes from renewable sources, but in the pulp and paper industry, that figure is greater than 60 percent
The average person’s paper use for a year — 440 pounds — is produced by 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity, the amount used to power one computer continuously for 5 months

Reason 3: The Experience
This is the most important reason: A well-crafted print piece will engage at least 4 of the five senses – sight, sound, smell and touch. Whereas a well-crafted interactive piece will only engage two senses – sight and sound. (I suppose you could argue touch if you count the keyboard, mouse or touchscreen, but there is not enough variation in feeling to make the case).

Humans crave a sensory experience and we rely on our abilities to see, hear, touch, taste and smell. The more of those senses that are engaged, the better. Therefore, I say, print can have a longer lasting impression than digital media.

In conclusion:
Don't get me wrong, I love digital and interactive media and have fully embraced it myself. It has taken a prominent role in our culture and society and I don't ever see it going away either. But I believe that in order to have a successful marketing campaign there needs to be a mix of both digital AND print. I would even challenge digital-only companies to try marketing their products via print as part of an overall strategy.

Resources:

The Print Council Website

All about e-ink

Walmart Great Value Cereals

2009-09-29T23:56:00.004-05:00

I've been watching the roll out of all-new design and packaging for Walmart's Great Value brand. So far, I have been impressed with the clarity and simple nature of the packaging. I don't think it works in ALL cases, but works quite nice in most. I just saw the new cereal boxes and love the playful nature and hand drawn illustrations. This is a great example of expanding a concept while still keeping the base of the design. It's still very recognizable as Great Value, but adds a fun touch for the kiddos. Even the names are fun. Kudos Walmart. Or shall I say "Fruity Sparkles".

REACTOR Trivia 003 - Cars We've Owned

2009-09-14T14:44:00.007-05:00

Chase has already owned five cars since he's worked at REACTOR, I have owned one. Here is the historical list of each of the cars we have owned:

Chase:
81 Mercury Capri
86 Pontiac Fiero SE
84Pontiac Fiero
84 Pontiac Fiero
94 Honda Civic
02 Subaru Impreza
01 Mazda Miata
03 Subaru WRX
05 Pontiac GTO (current)
93 Ford F150 (current)
# of accidents: 3 (all cars were totaled)

Clifton:
1980 Chevrolet Citation
1988 Toyota Camry
2003 Toyota Matrix
# of accidents: 0

Needless to say, we have very different patterns in car ownership and accidents!

Restaurant freebies on your birthday

2009-08-25T09:40:00.010-05:00

Since Clifton just received a lot of free meals from various restaurants for his birthday, we thought it would be a great idea to let our readers in on the fun. We're not just talking a free scoop of ice cream (everyone does that). Most of these deals do not have to be redeemed on your actual birthday, which is handy, because that's a lot of food! Some of them make you sign-up for their email list, but we can attest, they don't bombard you, and they promise not to sell your email. Here are some restaurants where you can hook up to the free food:

Famous Daves BBQ - Join the P.I.G. (Pretty Important Guest) Club and get a special birthday offer in your email. Bonus: you also get BBQ tips for grilling at home. Double Bonus: August 30th is "Dave's Day," they are giving a free entree to anyone named Dave! If your middle name is Dave, you get half price.

Garozzos - Just show up on your birthday with an ID and you get free chicken spidini. Yum!

Houlihans - When you join the email club, you get a free meal on your birthday. Clifton likes to order the Kansas City Strip, a $22 entree! Bonus: you get a free appetizer just for joining plus lots of other cool swag.

Minsky's - Signup for Free Minsky's for Life and get free a small pizza on your birthday. Bonus: free menu items throughout the year.

Red Robin - Join the Red Robin eClub and you get a free burger and fries on your birthday. Bonus: you get a free gift in your email within 24 hours of signup.

Sheridan's - Become an E-Club member and get a free small concrete on your birthday. Bonus: you get a free treat just for registering.

Baskin Robbins - Join the Birthday Club today and receive a free 2.5 scoop on your birthday. Bonus: You also get special offers, coupons, and a sneak-peek at new flavors and treats.

Cold Stone Creamery - Enjoy a free creation on your birthday. Join the Birthday Club by clicking the link and create a My Cold Stone Account. Bonus: in addition to free birthday ice cream, you'll receive other special offers and coupons.

Did we miss someone? If you know of any other birthday deals, plug em in below!

Alltop

2009-08-25T08:46:00.006-05:00

We're really excited to announce our blog has been added to Alltop.com - an "online magazine rack" of popular topics updated every hour. You just pick a topic by searching, news category, or name, and Alltop brings it to you 24x7. You can find our blog by searching Design or Branding. There's lots of other cool blogs there too!

Is your brand image only worth two hundred bucks?

2009-08-14T13:18:00.012-05:00

Commentary by Clifton:
Quickbooks and 99designs team up to provide uninspired logos for a couple hundred bucks.

Intuit (makers of Quickbooks) have teamed up with a website called 99designs.com to help provide logos and branding materials through a vehicle called "Intuit Creative Solutions".

Description of how it works (in their words):
Getting something designed at 99designs is easy. We help you run a “design contest”, where thousands of designers compete to create the best possible design to meet your needs. All you need is a clear idea of what you want designed and how much you're prepared to pay for it ... amounts generally range from $100 to $600 depending on the type of design you require.

I see Intuit as a company that promotes professionalism in small business. Doing it the right way, etc etc... So why on earth would Intuit officially support a "contest" approach to branding a company. Here are my thoughts on the matter:

Some of the logos on 99designs look fine, some are even quite nice, but how can the "designer" know enough about the business to make sure the logo is appropriate for their market and audience and culture. In a contest setting like that, it's just not possible. So while it may look nice, does it accomplish any goals of actually branding a company?

There is a point at which I understand how newly formed businesses with no start-up capital can be tempted by getting a nice-looking logo for less than $200. But I see professional, well managed companies on here that are running these design contests. Ask yourself this question: "Would I, as a professional, ever enter a 'contest', and give away my work for free in the hopes of winning $200." Probably not.

But going back to my main point, why would Intuit support this practice with their so-called "Intuit Creative Solutions". I'm not convinced that anyone on that site is getting a solution. Intuit is certainly not going to use 99designs when they are ready for a logo redesign. I just don't understand a company like Intuit supporting and promoting 99designs.com, where professional businesses can get a logo and brand from an amateur. It's sad, really.

PS, In this blog post, I'm not even getting into why this would be considered speculative (spec) work and why spec work is bad for the design community, devaluing what we do as professionals. That's another post for another time.

Popcorn's Got a Brand New Bag

2009-08-13T09:17:00.001-05:00

Popcorn's got a brand new bag! (Sung like James Brown :))

You know those little take out boxes that fold up nicely to take home your leftovers? This design is reminiscent of that, at least to me. You just stick it in the microwave and the package goes from flat to full of that delicious puffed kernel we call popcorn.

You can even stylishly serve the popcorn straight from the package! That's right. The Pop-Up Popcorn Bowl transforms itself automatically from a flat piece of purified cardboard into a nice four-legged bowl when the popcorn is ready to be served.

(via blogpackaging.blogspot.com)

REACTOR Trivia 002

2009-08-11T17:12:00.010-05:00

Clifton is the original designer of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation logo. It has been in use for ten years. He designed it while at Barkley.

REACTOR Trivia 001

2009-08-10T10:12:00.002-05:00

This ongoing series of posts will show personal, professional and silly facts about the staff at REACTOR so you can get to know us better. Be sure to pay attention, there will be a pop quiz!

Little Known Facts #001

Chase has hitch-hiker thumbs
Clifton can fool someone into thinking he broke his thumb.

Do you still use the printed phone book?

2009-08-10T09:57:00.000-05:00

Recently, and for a two week period of time, two phone books had been sitting on my porch, unwrapped and unused. I finally recycled them when I noticed they were getting warped and soggy from the recent rains. As I threw them in the recycle bin I thought to myself, I wonder how many people actually use the phone book?

In my curiosity, I quickly posted my thought on Facebook and within an hour 15 people had left their answers: a defiant No!

My scope became broader. If this many people had quickly and passionately answered, would the answer be the same or different in other metropolis areas? For instance, in Kansas City it's fairly common that you own and drive a vehicle to get around. In New York City, many people do not own a vehicle. The same goes for Wi-Fi internet access; it is widely available and used in Kansas City, but I found it quite difficult to find a Wi-Fi signal most places I went on a recent trip to New York City. Maybe the signals are blocked by tall buildings? Using this logic, could the feeling of printed phone books be different in different cities?

Sean Fallon of gizmodo.com blogs about his disgust with phone books, "It would seem that this epic tree rape is largely unnecessary, given the fact that the internet and many of our cellphones can provide contact information quickly and easily." With a total of 9748 votes, only 4% answered Yes, 76% answered No, and 20% answered Rarely.

Kathy Murdock of allbusiness.com has written about her non-use of a phone book while she lived in L.A. to her dependency on it now living in a small town in Georgia. She says, "In a small town, most businesses are NOT online...I've made so many random notes in the margins of pages and flipped down so many pages that it looks as though I have owned this book for two years and not just two short weeks."

Ink Magazine recently posted an article entitled Do you still want a paper phone book? on it's Frink Panel. The article reads,

"The White Pages phone book no longer matters in most households. The latest sign of its shrunken role is a tentative deal in Missouri that would let AT&T stop automatic delivery to homes and businesses on the Missouri side of the Kansas City and St. Louis areas. Customers could still request a directory, but only a small fraction are expected to do so.

Deliver of AT&T's Yellow Pages would not be affected, and there is no plan to stop automatic delivery in Kansas.

Last year AT&T stopped automatic delivery of the phone book in Atlanta with the promise of giving one to any customer who still wanted it. By April, only 1 percent of its customers had asked for one."

The state of Oregon, a very eco-conscience place, has gone so far as to submit legislation - HB 3477 - basically stating (according to BlueOregon.com):

"The Legistlative Assembly finds that the annual, if not more frequent, distribution of hard copies of telephone directories by multiple publishers to persons at their residences without first determining whether such persons want or will use the directories constitutes both a waste and misuse of paper and natural resources and a harm to the environment without justification. The Legislative Assembly declares that it is in the public interest to establish a prohibition on the distribution of hard copies of telephone directories unless a person specifically requests the delivery of an identified telephone directory. (2) A person may not distribute a hard copy of a telephone directory to another person at the other person's residence in this state unless specifically requested by the other person to do so. A request under this subsection may be made in writing or submitted using the internet."

After doing some research, I was unable to find any stats as to how many people actually use the printed phone book and where they reside. So here's my question to the blogosphere: Do you want/use a printed phone book?

(Please say where you're from!)

This Cup Doesn't Runneth Over

2009-08-04T16:26:00.006-05:00

"The Glass Tank" refills itself so you never have to worry about having an empty glass. That is, unless you drink an entire bottle to yourself. Japanese designer Kouichi Okamoto designed the set-up to use air and water pressure to keep the glass filled with a constant amount of liquid.

via JustCoolDesign

Clifbo: Besides the fact that it's just plain ugly, it looks really impractical to drink from. I mean, how are you supposed to properly swish the wine around?

BSJenn: The only way you could really drink from this is by using a straw. I think the designer was incredibly creative, but I really don't think anyone would buy it for anything other than a novelty item.

Pepsi Aluminum Bottles

2009-08-04T14:30:00.003-05:00

Found these Pepsi aluminum bottles on a Wal-Mart shelf last week - the color popped out at me. Aren't they sweet? Watch out for the bottom of the cap, it's a little sharp!

Rad to the Power of Sick

2009-07-29T09:34:00.003-05:00

It's been all over Australia, a couple guys buy a used BMX bike for $27.50 AU on eBay and test their creative marketing skills to resell for a huge profit, what they call the Wicked Sick Project. Bonus: they also got a ton of hype.
(via geekologie.com)

Amazing Mirror View Underground Parking Garage

2009-07-22T10:41:00.004-05:00

Célestins Parking - Lyon from House42 on Vimeo.

A parking garage that does more than just hold cars? That's right. This French underground parking garage allows those above ground to peer through a periscope down seven stories to a giant rotating, tilted mirror. As you can see, it creates an image that appears to be an ever twisting, turning tunnel spinning through the underground.

(via jalopnik.com)

REACTOR comments:
Clifbo - This would be so much cooler if you could look in the periscope and actually see the cars and people moving inside the garage. It's a pretty cool effect though.

BSJenn - One side of my brain wants to go along with the illusion, but the other is screaming "You can tell it's a mirror!"

Chase - It's like a giant Kaleidoscope. I can't imagine parking my car at the bottom of that thing.

Pecha Kucha Night Kansas City

2009-07-21T16:22:00.004-05:00

Last week Clifton had the pleasure of presenting at Pecha Kucha Night Kansas City, a place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. His project entitled One Man's Epic Journey to Find Awesome Tacos demonstrated his three hour trip to eight taco joints in Kansas City and the tacos he tried as well as some sites along the way.

The event took place at Crosstown Station, nominated best live music venue by KC Magazine, where approximately 150 people gathered to watch featured presentations by nine local designers.

Continue Time Clock

2009-07-20T11:04:00.005-05:00

A design by sandermulder.com, this single arm time clock still shows minutes, hours, and seconds. On this Continue Time clock, two out of three pointers rotate around another pointer, instead of the central point on the clock face, as with traditional clocks. The resulting kinetic artwork, and functional clock, is continuously changing its shape during a full rotation of 12 hours. While creating mesmerizing patterns on your wall the pointers are still read as with any traditional clock. The Continue Time clock measures a little over 41 inches from end to end; a full 12 hours will span a circle of approximately 83 inches of wall.

on youtube.com

via @donttrythis

REACTOR comments:

Chase - Reminds me of the Tokyo Flash watches. I can always appreciate someone pushing what is considered the "norm," but this is definitely more visual art than a clock, but still cool looking.

BSJenn - It might take a little time to learn how to read it, but I'd buy one!

Clifbo - The shapes created and continual motion are awesome, but I still can't read the time. Where are the digital numbers, it would be so much easier!

Physical Sequencer Translates Movements into Sounds

2009-07-20T10:12:00.007-05:00

The Physical Sequence Translator by designer Giuseppe Guerriero mixes the worlds of dance and music together to create a unique music mix for each user. The standing interface includes elements respond to both movement and touch, translating these gestures into corresponding sounds that would be a welcome addition to your grid. Time to get your dance on!

REACTOR comments:

Clifbo - You could do some totally rad dance moves and make some totally weird music at the same time. Cool!

BSJenn - I can imagine laughing at a neighbor doing this in their living room and jamming out. Remember, when you're alone and you think no one can see you, you'd better think twice!

Futuristic Pyramid House

2009-07-14T13:01:00.012-05:00

This futuristic pyramid house is actually inspired by ancient Japanese design: pit dwelling. Normally made from bamboo and rice straw, these dwellings were built by placing a steep thatched roof over a hole dug in the ground. Architect Makoto Tanijiri's conjured this version for a family in Saljo, Japan.

Although the home appears to be a solid pyramid sitting atop a man-made hill, it has a few floors and actually sits on a room with windows on all sides.

To see more pictures of this strange home, visit gizmodo.com

REACTOR comments:

Chase - This is pretty rad, but where is the living space, bedroom? Where is my couch and tv? Ha!

Clifbo - Maybe I'm being a spoil sport, but there are no railings so make sure you don't fall through the stairwells. And what's up with the bathroom with no walls? I don't think I could shower in that environment. But overall, a very cool concept based on an ancient design.

Heather - Sweet! I'm not sure it's exactly the most functional design, especially for a house. It definitely seems more like a studio space you would want so you could see the inspiration around you, rather than staring at a man-made "wall" of grass.

BSJenn - I'm a little concerned about flooding issues. When you build a retaining wall around 75% of your home like that you're bound to run into some water problems. I like the design, but I think it's best suited for an area that isn't surrounded by traditional housing. I wonder what the neighbors think!

HP Invent project

2009-07-09T13:05:00.003-05:00

HP - invent from Tom and Matt on Vimeo.

These guys do amazing stuff with printers. Cool concept!
(via digg.com/design)

Cars Racing on 105-Foot High Vertical Road

2009-07-08T11:49:00.002-05:00

Gerry Judah's work is amazing! He likes to mix awesome engineering and technology to get almost impossible pieces, like this sculpture featuring two Audi cars shooting into the sky.

To see more pictures of this sculpture, visit gizmodo.com

For more of Gerry's work, visit judah.co.uk

(via gizmodo.com)

A Paper Craft Castle On the Ocean

2009-07-07T13:27:00.005-05:00

This incredible work of art is created by Wataru Itou, a young student of a major art university in Tokyo. This hand made creation took four years to finish, complete with electrical lights and moving train, all made from paper! The exhibit also features a video of Mr. Itou working in his studio, cutting and folding paper piece by piece. Can you say paper-cut?!

tokyobling.wordpress.com

(via @Vonster)

Innovative Finger Food Wine Plate

2009-07-06T10:20:00.004-05:00

We've all had this problem...you're at a social event with a food plate in one hand and a beverage in the other and everyone has to eat standing up. Instead of trying to awkwardly layer your glass and plate in order to eat or say hello, K-wine has come up with a design solution when drinking wine (or really anything in stemware).

cooldesignideasblog.net

REACTOR Launches the Great Social Media Experiment

2009-07-01T14:29:00.005-05:00

Introducing REACTOR's Great Social Media Experiment!

Click here to find out more :)

Who Said a Yacht has to Look Like a Boat?

2009-06-30T16:41:00.006-05:00

The Oculus

The Infinitas

It's summer and it's hot! What better place to relax than on a yacht - but who said a yacht has to look like a boat? These cool designs will give you some inspiration for what you might buy (or maybe how you'd imagine spending your money).

Check out more pics here:

baekdal.com

Pool Noodle Rooftop Party Space in NYC

2009-06-25T11:30:00.004-05:00

The rooftop party furniture is made from pool noodles - the long, cylindrical, water floatation toys. They have been cut and bunched vertically into chaise lounges and ottomans of varying heights for up to 150 people.

When viewed from above, the arrangement of buoyant seating material spells out the word "bububluooopppp" - the sound of something either rising or sinking.

psfk.com