Thank you Design Taxi for featuring edible versions of famous artwork today! We're thrilled that our post from October 2010 on the same subject is seeing a larger audience.
December 15, 2012 | By Shannon Kelly
{Image: Selfridges}
Selfridges is launching a new campaign to celebrate the power of quiet and see the beauty in calm among the crowds from January 7th to the end of February 2013.
The "No Noise" concept will feature the world's most recognizable brands, sans logos, in an exclusive Quiet Shop collection of minimalist design and de-branded products. The retail experience is based on Harry Gordon Selfridge's original "Silence Room" in 1909.
Within the designated space — shoppers will be asked to remove their shoes and hand over their cell phones. To facilitate the journey, customers can “find balance in this fast-paced world” via in-store meditation sessions guided by London based Headspace or by enjoying specially commissioned art installations designed to nurture the imagination.
Is quiet the an anecdote to retailing ubiquity or do you think that will Lessism will continue its reign in 2013?
[UPDATE 1.7.13: View campaign video and shop the range of products without logos at Selfridges.]
November 28, 2012 | By Shannon Kelly
A nature conservatory is growing as night falls in the Hilltop neighborhood of Tacoma.
FlowerHouse Tacoma, an installation by Duncan Price, is starting to take shape to transform the darkest days with an astonishing glow and heroic scale. With 28 photographic panels featuring invasive species – from brambles to thistles – Price will transform his home near downtown into a pictorial preserve of gorgeous flora.
Made possible through a grant from the Tacoma’s Artist Initiative Program (TAIP), we previewed the artistry in progress and insist it will captures adults' imagination with greater magnitude than the Christmas Ships and Zoo Lights combined.
Look forward to twilight and curse dawn
through December 31st at the corner of South 15th and G streets.
It's magical.
November 25, 2012 | By Shannon Kelly
One of the best parts of shopping online with Bona Drag is the mixtape available with purchases over $25. The compilation rotates seasonally, every six months, “introducing new ideas” through the parallels of music and fashion. Past editions have included emerging and established musicians — with songs by Beach House, Lissy Trullie, The Black Keys, and Family Band.
The concept of creating a dialogue between your eyes and ears is also being embraced in Portugal by a gourmet sandwich shop that delivers food with a song handpicked by the chef. According to Springwise, each of the seven “Soundwiches” come with a musical tin to create the perfect ambience for eating lunch.
{Source: Springwise}
These examples show how songs can be more than a background track to the shopping experience or a SKU for impulse purchases. A “gift with purchase” is hardly a new marketing ploy, but as companies look to create a more authentic connection between brands and goods, we hope that music will become more than a seasonal theme or aspirational proposition.
Next year, look for the senses to become more important influencers of moods.
August 18, 2012 | By Shannon Kelly
To name a concept store Secret Location would seem a little gimmicky unless you ventured into the 1/2 retail, 1/2 restaurant playful space in Vancouver, Canada. Separated by a minty green foyer, the fashion-meets-food 10,000 sq.ft. "shopstaurant" (yes- we made that up), complete with doormen at the entrance, is ultra-modern, luxuriously eclectic, and visually dramatic.
North of the front doors, we discovered a beautiful assortment of women's apparel, accessories, shoes, books, music, and cameras/gadgets from brands such as Camilla Skovgaard, Marios Schwab, United Nude, Thierry Lasry, Rad Hourani, Tweety, Pantone, and artist Lauren Clay of Brooklyn NY. The fixturing is a combination of modern and traditional, with a hint of baroque. The space maintains a constant frequency with open spaces to allow the products to shine.
"Secret Location supports a diverse mix of fashion-forward international and Canadian designers. We do not acknowledge brands, but place emphasis on quality craftsman ship, design philosophy and creative ingenuity that stands behind each product. Deter mined to offer new, thought provoking and limited quantity pieces, Secret Location is and will continue to be an ever-evolving place of discovery."
To the south, the bar + restaurant is the perfect spot to escape from tourists with a glass of rose. The setting, much like the shop, is modern and classic without feeling sterile or over-designed.
Located in the historic gastown area, the term Secret Location is definitely a play on words for the word-of-mouth crowd. The only secret may, or may not be in the ownership of the concept.
July 28, 2012 | By Shannon Kelly
When tapping into the pulse of emerging trends, we believe it’s important to connect the dots with real-time data. Unfortunately, research can’t predict how a launch or event might be perceived regardless of good intentions and fundraising. Case in point — revitalizing the Kulturepark amusement park (featured in this post from June 2012).
Our friend, Mandie O'Connell, was kind enough to give us a first hand report from the event from both an American and artistic perspective. She’s the founder and co-leader of La Mission, a Berlin based record label/ magazine/performance project, and is performing in Heiner Goebbels' direction of John Cage's "Europeras 1" at the Ruhr Triennale.
Hi Mandie. Welcome to trendscaping and thanks for chatting with us about the Kulturepark public event. We'd love to hear your impressions, but first, let us know how you learned about the exposition.
Mandie O’Connell (MO): My friend, collaborator, and former Seattleite Alex Schweder told me about the project. He suggested that I apply to create something for Kulturpark. So, I applied to create a performance installation.
{photo: Mandie O'Connell - train tracks across the murky waterway at Kulturepark}
What kind of marketing did the event planners do to get the city excited leading up to the June 30th event? How does the communication differ in the US than in Germany?
MO: Honestly, I did not hear too much about the project outside of information I personally sought out. The Kulturpark team obviously sent out the occasional update to their mailing list (mostly regarding their Kickstarter campaign) and posted some information on their website and on Facebook and so forth, but that's about it. I did hear about some lecture which happened after the fact in association with a gallery. Here in Berlin, a lot of people hear about events through the top popular blogs: Sugarhigh and I Heart Berlin. Kulturpark was not spoken about on either of those blogs. I didn't even read about it in "ExBerliner" the expat newspaper and website!
As an American transplant to Berlin who works in site-specific performance, I had been looking forward to attending Kulturpark and even submitted an (unsuccessful) application to participate. The idea of the project was interesting and timely. The artists, curators, and historians heading up the project seemed smart and ambitious. And, last but not least, the park itself is a special and complex landscape that balances in between being a ruin and a monument in a city full of ruins and monuments.
{photo: Mandie O'Connell - ferris wheel as seen from the train at Kulturepark}
Sounds like the planners had found the perfect demographic in the local artist community. Tell us more about what you saw.
MO: So. June 30th rolls around. I bike over to Treptower Park with my friend Kaleb, a video artist who also works with found spaces. Kaleb and I were both disappointed to discover that while Kulturpark was a disorganized, half-baked effort at art making, it was a full-fledged effort to party (complete with a DJ and daytime ravers sporting utility belts).
Sounds like a festival. What about the working train ride? And the other structures-- anything cool there?
MO: Unfortunately, no… After we made the obligatory round on the old train (from which one could not exit into the park itself—the park was actually off-limits unless you were on a paid guided tour) we left. There were supposedly events being held across the river later in the evening (by events, I mean more parties) but my interests were in what was actually happening AT THE PARK!
It seemed like the rules and regulations regarding the park itself ended up limiting to a crippling degree what the artists were allowed to do in/with the park itself. The park’s revered status as an iconographic location trapped it in a museum-like bubble; a bubble through which Kulturpark’s curators, project managers, partner artists, and certainly the viewing public, were not allowed to break.
{photo: Mandie O'Connell - paint on dinosaur art installation at Kulturepark}
SK: That is so unfortunate. Especially when the Kickstarter campaign raised $26,366 to transform the park.
MO: This project was an example of why sometimes it is better to leave a romantic urban legend alone rather than knock its cobwebs off in an effort to re-contextualize it. “Spreepark” is surrounded by a wobbly and easy-to-jump fence, and is quite beautiful in the wee small hours of the morning when accompanied by the adrenaline rush of hiding from the security agents!
SK: Thanks for the insights and time. Sounds like you're on the inside track for culture in Berlin. Looking forward to hearing more from you in the future.
Editors Note 8.8.12: Berlin Art Link posted this review of the Spreepark event.
June 25, 2012 | By Shannon Kelly
What happens to food courts, amusement parks, and Olympic venues when they are outdated and overgrown? Should they be revitalized or demolished?
Three projects across the globe are re-imaging, re-branding, and re-financing iconic structures with the hope of tapping into consumer culture with inspiring and informing works.
Act One: Global
Jon Pack and Gary Hustwit are exploring the legacy and impact of the Olympic Games on economies, architecture, and building via a kickstarter photography project titled The Olympic City. The fully funded hardcover art book will document the successes and failures, the forgotten remnants, and ghosts after the torch is extinguished.
According to he project page, "Some former Olympic sites are retrofitted and used in ways that belie their grand beginnings; turned into prisons, housing, malls, gyms, churches. Others sit unused for decades and become tragic time capsules, examples of misguided planning and broken promises of the benefits that the Games would bring. We're interested in these disparate ideas — decay and rebirth — and how each site seems to have gone one way or the other, either by choice or circumstance. We're equally interested in the lives of the people whose neighborhoods have been transformed by Olympic development."
The team is now crowdsourcing other Olympic cities from members who back the project — with Sarajevo announced days ago. So far, the team has photographed Los Angeles, Montreal, Lake Placid, Athens, Rome, and Mexico City.
Days remain to support the book (approximately 200 pages) and New York City exhibition before finalizing summer and fall travel. With $54,813 of the $45,000 needed for the project to be fully funded, it's clear to us that the idea resonates with the collective community.
We were so moved by the project that our founder became a backer. To learn more click here.
Act Two: Berlin, Germany
From June 28-July 1, 2012, Kulturpark will re-open an abandoned amusement park located in the sprawling Treptow Park in Berlin to explore the poetics and potential of these recent ruins, building upon the unique energy of Berlin’s urban, social, cultural, and political landscapes.
According to the website, the park, originally called Kulturpark Planterwald — built in 1969 by the German Democratic Republic — was a rare site for Soviet amusement and attraction. After the fall of the wall in 1989, the park became the family-owned Spreepark and suffered challenges of access, attendance, and economy. In 2001, the park closed from capital collapse. Ever since, visitors have regularly traversed the fence to explore this jungle of broken thrill machines.
Earlier this month students, artists, researchers and creatives from Berlin, Harvard University, the Urban Art Institute, and around designing site-specific works inside the park. The only working amusement ride, the train, will be utilized in the public interactive opening which includes a 2-day conference, public exhibition, and civic exchange.
We love how the Kulturepark team has ignited cultural imagination to explore opportunities for shared memories — past and presence.
Act Three: Seattle, Washington USA
Ever evolving as a community gathering space, Seattle Center is re-branding and remodeling its Food Court with artisans, chefs, and street food vendors to take over the new spaces and kiosks under the Century 21 Master Plan.
Built in 1939 as the old Armory Building, the Worlds Fair reconfigured the space into the first vertical shopping mall, called the Food Circus. Over the decades, not much had changed within Seattle Center's kid-centric, dated structure – including the fast-food menus and candy shops.
Scraping the food court persona, the re-named Armory/Center House includes a mix of local and regional merchants representing mobile operations, bakeries, and freestanding restaurants across the city. The list new operators breathing culinary life into the directory include: Skillet Counter, Pie, Eltana Wood-Fired Bagels, Mod Pizza, and The Confectional. Future planned openings include Bean Sprouts, Plum Bistro, Collections Café, Street Treats, and Bigfood.
As society continues to examine child health and diet, we’re particularly interested in the latest addition to the revitalization: Bean Spouts, a national café chain and cooking school dedicated to sparking children's appetites with yummy, good-for-you food. We hope these changes help to make happier mealtime – deserving of the 21st Century mantra.
{UPDATE June 29, 2012: Kulturepark in Berlin has launched it's exposition July 30th and July 31st. View the details and program here.}
June 14, 2012 | By Shannon Kelly
From "as much food as one's hand can hold" to full blown power lunch, New York has seen it's share of mid-day meals.
On June 22nd, the New York Public Library is launching a new food exhibit dedicated to exploring the 100-year evolution of lunch in the big apple.
Lunch Hour NYC will include a reassembled section from an original Horn & Hardart automat, pushcarts with stories about iconic street-food, "the democratizing influence of sliced bread," the history behind how New York school lunches "became a model for the federal governments program", and more.
We love how the modern identity of lunch has transformed views of cuisine across America. It's hard to imagine the resurgence in food trucks and popup restaurants without the pressures of industrialization that forced the New York meal pattern to change.
A deeper look at the rich heritage of lunch, and the people who cook it, represents the cultural shifts of a city and country obsessed with speed of service and entrepreneurial excellence.
{source: Eater.com}
May 3, 2012 | By Shannon Kelly
Why Our 2013 Annual Trendscaping Report is Required Reading.
1. Trends matter.
Now more than ever, culture is fueling the engine of commerce. Consumer behavior, preferences, and expectations determine our culture. And it’s constantly changing. Keeping up with these cultural changes – or trends – gives you the power to advance your brand. To be in the right place, with the right message, at the right time. To leave the competition eating your dust.
2. We’ve spent our time and money so you don’t have to.
We’ve done all the legwork, scoping out brands, products, and cultural phenomena that are inside and outside your category. Our annual report gives you a concise and stylish account of the latest consumer trends. What’s more, it tells you what they mean for your business. Doing your homework has never been so easy. Or affordable.
3. With insight comes innovation.
It’s not enough to just spot a trend. Great ideas come from understanding what it means and where it’s headed. Think remote retail. Personalized window shopping. Or mini pastries. The more insights you have about your customers’ behavior, interests, and expectations, the easier it is to tailor your business or service to meet their needs.
4. Turn a pitch into a home run.
Whether you’re a manager pitching a new idea to your boss, or a CEO trying to persuade the board, the job of selling never stops. We make it easier by providing additional research, facts, visual aids, and insider knowledge to strengthen your presentation. In other words, the extra muscle you need to knock your next pitch out of the park.
5. It Pays to be Proactive.
The world is changing even as we speak. And that affects business. Exploring big-picture consumer themes and what they mean is crucial to staying one step ahead of your competition – and your customers. Because once you know where people are headed, you can be there to meet them.
Get out front and stay there.
Pre-order your 2013 Annual Trendscaping Report here.
April 20, 2012 | By Shannon Kelly
Plants with QR codes are popping up in garden centers for spring.
When we scanned the tag for the MiniFamous™ Compact Orange Calibrachoa (aka Mini Petunia), we were directed to BloomIQ — a generic online tool for gardening — instead of planting or care information for the specific plant we scanned. It was a little bit of a let down considering the potential to educate, sell, and cross-sell products.
Unfortunately, the most unsettling part of the marketing flop occurred when we returned to the office to write this post. The name of the plant above, "MiniFamous™ Compact Orange Calibrachoa", is not searchable within BloomIQ database. To find the correct plant info, the user must search "Petunia" or "MiniFamous".
Just because you can add a QR code to your promotional materials, does not mean you should.
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