Stairway to heavenly design

The Design Milk website has featured pictures of beautiful and unusual staircases which illustrate how these functional features can prove to be stunning pieces of sculpture in their own right.

These pictures, of projects from around the world, showcase a range of styles from spiral and floating through to geometric and triangular using a range of materials from wood, stone and steel.

The list of projects include designs from Maxwan Architects + Urbanists, Bell Phillips Architects, Ab Rogers Design and Alphaville Architects to name a few. Click here to see the full list of interesting designs.

The Lunch Book

Alessandro Garlandini and Sebastiano Ercoli designed Lunch Book, a recipe book made of paper plates.

The 100% recyclable and compostable dishes won the 1st Prize for lunch box design at Expo 2015 in Milan.

Describing dishes from different countries, the paper plates were used to taste the actual recipes during the exhibition.

Employee relations

On the subject of employee relations, City AM ran two stories last week which caught the eyes of the Think Tank PR team.

The first was about RBS chief Stephen Hester taking “the unusual step” of emailing a letter to every member at the bank to rally morale.  Excerpts from the email printed in the newspaper appear to show that he communicated his message in a straightforward and supportive way, recognising that being in the spotlight makes the job harder and could be potentially damaging for RBS, customers and shareholders.  He offers a pertinent cue for anyone looking at issue management: “We should try to be strong, to do our jobs, to deal with facts not fears.”

Meanwhile in the same edition of the paper, GlaxoSmithKline’s head of global brand communications, Kerry O’Callaghan, was interviewed about the company’s involvement in the London 2012 Olympic Games. This is the first time that a pharmaceutical company has provided the drugs testing services for any Games (the organising committee usually approach an academic institution or leading anti-doping centre in that country).

Rather than just being a sponsor for the 2012 Games (they are a Tier Three sponsor), GSK wanted to make “a material contribution based on what we are good at”. Partnering with King’s College London, GSK as the UK’s largest pharmaceutical company can bring scale to the testing, providing the appropriate facilities and support so that the KCL scientists can focus on the job of testing.

Kerry O’Callaghan says that GSK wants to use this opportunity to enhance reputation with key stakeholders and for people to think a bit differently about a big pharma company, to see GSK “getting in there and using science”.

What’s more they are planning on using 100 per cent of their ticket allocation as sponsors for employees and their personal guests, and running a global competition where you can nominate a colleague to receive tickets.

Michelle goes back to her German roots and visits ZOW!

Battling negative temperatures and snow storms, navigating the Autobahn and sampling some good German food; The Think Tank visited ZOW Bad Salzuflen last week.

ZOW Bad Salzuflen is the key supply show for furniture and interior design in Germany and ran from 6-9th February 2012.

It was not all Weiner Schnitzel and Weissbier, The Think Tank, along with PR support for Formica Group who featured on the Homanit stand alongside German distributor Homatrade, also took in the event to see what was new in the furniture materials world.

From tiles and doors laden with swarovski crystals to LED lit cooker hoods, ZOW showcased the most exciting and innovative products for the next season. We saw 3D surface finishes, thousands of furniture handles, from rose shaped to rhinoceros-tusk inspired. There were four halls filled with inspiration and free coffee (which we needed after walking everywhere).

Formica Group also featured new avant-garde texture Plex which illuminates the beauty and radiance of natural metals and provides a fresh alternative to the long-established brushed look. Inspired by satin textiles, damask and rough plaster, Plex is a crisp and versatile finish, ideal for use in luxury hotels and high-end retail environments.

All in all it was a great success and an excellent opportunity to see what's happening across European design.

Five things we picked up from the Surface Design Show 2012

The Think Tank visited the Surface Design Show, a well established event where Architects and Interior Designers get to see firsthand the latest in innovative surface solutions.

The show focuses solely on materials for surface design featuring inspirational solutions and seminars. As many of our clients work in the built environment it was the one place for The Think Tank to be last week. One of clients, Formica Group, featured on The Trend Wall, an installation presenting the colour trends for Spring/Summer 2013.

Here are some things we picked up...

1.  Future Thinking
The Future Thinking feature definitely gave us food for thought with its innovative and inspiring approach to materials. Using interactive recycled materials and renewable energy, the exhibitors at the Future Thinking feature proved that the products’ limits and boundaries can be pushed further while staying environmentally-conscious.

Pavegen Systems harvests a renewable energy from footsteps – every time you walk over the Pavegen tile, the kinetic energy of your footsteps is converted to electricity which can be stored and used for a variety of applications, such as powering street lighting, displays or signage. Made from recycled materials, this technology offers a cutting edge use for renewable energy.

The ‘Invisible’ project by Alicia Tam explores the modern notion of privacy, particularly in urban environments. She showcased personal accessories (umbrella and sunglasses) which disrupt the visual perception of both cameras and viewers through the use of an ‘invisible’ pattern algorithm and super-reflective materials. We, of course, had to try this out!

The ‘invisible’ pattern algorithm can be applied to various surfaces and objects and has many commercial applications. Whether shielding celebrities from paparazzi or blending in with nature, these ‘invisible’ products push the boundaries between what our eyes see and what our minds perceive.

2.  Sharing knowledge is crucial

The Think Tank popped along to one of the seminars at the CPD Hub. Hosted by the Association of Interior Specialists (AIS) the question was posed: ‘Environmental fit-out: a reality or a myth?’ This led to an interesting panel discussion which provided perspectives from a designer, contractor and recycling and waste specialist.

Sharing knowledge certainly seemed to be the order of the day. Collaboration of all parties at early design stage can be beneficial for providing a sustainable fit-out.

3.  How the process of drawing is important for understanding design
The PechaKucha evening was a great event allowing the packed room to gain a snapshot of some truly fantastic projects and insightful thoughts from leaders in the architecture and design industry.

Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", this simple format saw 11 speakers present 20 slides with 20 seconds to chat about each.

George Saumarez Smith from ADAM Architects spoke about how the process of drawing is important for understanding design. Take a look at his Three Classicists Video for some inspirational drawing.

4.  Elastic bands make funky light shades
Show regulars, the University of Huddersfield, asked ‘What if?’ BA Hons surface design students questioned and explored material curiosity resulting in a collection of items using wood, concrete, glass and elastic. The elastic band light shade caught our eye as a simple yet stylish way to reuse the material.

5. And finally, ‘Reuse is King’...

How many brands would you recognise?

There is often a lot of market research, time and effort that goes into creating a company's brand identity and it's interesting to know a person’s first impression of a logo, but what would a small child's impressions be when presented with certain logos?

‘Fresh impressions on brandmarks’ is a recently uploaded YouTube video that runs through a slideshow of famous logos with the commentary of an innocent five-year old giving her thoughts on them. A number of insightful comments are offered throughout the video that may make you laugh out loud. Google Chrome is described as looking like a beach ball and the Olympic Rings are viewed as baby toys; two observations that may not have occurred to the original logo designers.

Watch the video for a few more insights

Top predictions for IT Organisations and Users 2012

Technology analysts/research group Gartner has released a summary report for its ‘Top Predictions for IT Organisations and Users, 2012 and Beyond: Control Slips Away’.  Certainly an interesting title which made The Think Tank PR team want to read more.  

Gartner foresees that by 2016 at least 50% of enterprise email users will rely primarily on a browser, tablet or ‘mobile’ client instead of a desktop client.  Put simply that means employees will be bringing iPads, tablets and other personal mobile devices into your workplace.

In terms of a reflection of how we live and work today, this speaks volumes.   

But the report goes on to say that through 2016 the financial impact of cybercrime will grow by 10% per year, due to the continuing discovery of new vulnerabilities.  IT delivery is changing to add the use of cloud-based services and support the use of employee-owned laptops, smartphones and tablets.  

The implications for securing data and systems enterprise-wide are significant in terms of new and evolving security issues; the implications for marketing and communications professionals may mean an escalation in the need to protect trademark infringements, data protection issues and, of course, how everyone uses and accesses social media at work.  

Read more here.

Unilever Headquarters unusual interior design

Camenzind Evolution, a Swiss interior design agency that focusses upon 'emotional comfort' and how it influences our living and working environments, has designed a rather unusual new office interior for Unilever's headquarters in Switzerland.

This interesting interior design has been created to inspire the highest levels of creativity and innovation. What do you think?

See a complete range of images on Contemporist.

Photography by Soguel Fotograf

Award winning ads of 2011 - the Gunn Report

The Gunn Report for 2011 has been released. This comprehensive report combines the winners' lists from all of the world’s most important advertising award contests and establishes the annual worldwide league tables for the Advertising industry.

It seems that it was a pretty good year for the Wieden + Kennedy network.... For the first time in the Gunn Report's history, Wiedens has won the top two places in the Most Awarded Agency category, with Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam coming top, and W+K Portland in second place.

The UK came second in the most awarded countries:

Most Awarded Countries in the World in 2011

1. USA
2. UK
3. Brazil
4. Argentina
5. Germany

For the complete list winners from the Gunn Report visit the Creative Review blog.

And, below is the most awarded TV commercial for Nike:
 

People spotted flying over New York

Is it a plane? Is it a bird? No, it's people flying through the air above New York City.

Actually these human-shaped RC planes were part of a viral marketing stunt for the launch of a new superhero movie, ‘Chronicle'.

Amazing video and would have been even better to have seen it in person.

See the video for yourself below:

All cooked up in the microwave!

Ever wondered what would happen to a watermelon, CD, egg or lightbulb cooked in a microwave. Well this ad for Moes Southwest Grill lets you find out.

But please don't try this at home.

A great ad for Bounce? Or is it?

This is a great ad for Bounce with a few surprises! We'll leave it at that.

Good viewing.

View in full screen for the full impact.

How PR stunts can go horribly wrong

German advertising agency Sassenbach came up with what appeared to be a great idea to create awareness for the 'wind and weather proof' messaging for the Mini Cooper.

The problem is that the stunt involved paying to name the cold front, now sweeping Europe, 'Cooper' after the Mini Cooper - a cold front that has claimed many lives.

Germany's meteorology institute allows the sponsorship of weather systems and the advertising agency says on its website that naming the front after the open-air vehicle was a "wind- and weather-proof idea".

It encouraged people to follow the path of the weather on meteorological websites and has also named a warmer weather front that will follow this one "Minnie".

This just shows how careful you need to be with PR stunts and how they can back fire! A great shame as it was a good idea.

By the way, can you get weather insurance for naming a weather front?

Click here for more info on the BBC

'Trendfear' and how it's impacting upon communications

There was a great article on the BBC website earlier this week by Tom de Castella looking at ‘Trendfear’ – the nagging anxiety at the back of your mind that you are missing out on something.   

While marketers traditionally referred to such groups as early adopters, in the digital world, where many of us find ourselves now living and working, just keeping up with what’s new is often a challenge. There is a potential for information overload, and conversely for only sharing information within or between specific groups.   

Tom cites the circumstance of finding yourself baffled by the rise of ‘dual screening’ – ie watching television and posting instant reactions on Twitter. However, for ardent fans (or critics) of a programme it's probably just the outlet they have been looking for.  What if you do feel left behind when you read a story in the newspaper when you could have been watching it unfold through digital media?

In communication terms it adds a layer of complexity to how we, as professionals, need to approach media strategies. But as consumers we also becoming more aware that trends, like some products we may have experienced, can fail to live up to the hype? 

For example, we’re keeping a watching brief on Pinterest* here at The Think Tank, and we think it will be great for sharing design ideas and inspirations. We’ll keep you updated.  

*An online pinboard where you can post images and inspiration (already in the top 10 social networks in the USA). Find out more here.

The latest installment in the VW saga - 'The Dog Strikes Back'

We feel that we are posting a lot of VW items but anyway, here is the latest installment of the VW saga - keep watching at the end!

360 degree view from the top of the Shard, London

Will Pearson has taken an amazing 360 image from the top of the Shard, London Bridge, 310m above London, on the night of the student protests in November 2010.

Will says 'You can see the police helicopters hovering over London above the demonstration. Technically this was a very difficult shoot, I was on the crane at the top of the Shard, and I had to wave at Andy the crane driver so he knew when he could rotate 45 degrees between the exposures.

The temperatures were well below freezing and if you look in the distance behind Canary Wharf you will see the snow on the hills. Technically this image is not perfect but I find it fascinating nonetheless.'

Find out more and see the 360 image here.

Getting ready for a crisis

We recently ran a crisis preparedness workshop for one of our clients which sparked lots of interesting debate.

One outcome was the development of a ‘crisis manual’, one that is comprehensive but also succinct, avoiding the danger of becoming so ‘big’ that no one will read it when it should be a useful, easy reference tool.   

For multi-site locations, the development of a common core element of company best practice can easily be supplemented with pertinent local information, added into each site-specific manual. Any organisation operating internationally should also ensure that appropriate ‘early warning systems’ and international information networks are in place that operate across borders.  

Another key outcome was the importance of your organisation being the principal trusted source of information for your own affairs, i.e. ensuring ‘ownership’ of your stakeholders through provision of information. This is increasingly a challenge in today’s networked world, with social media and ‘citizen journalists’, meaning there is little time before an issue becomes live and spreads across networks, potentially out of control.  

Lots to consider, and thanks to Magnus Carter of Mentor Ltd for all his input into the day too.

Volkswagen takes to the skies for parking

This amazing feat of engineering is Volkswagen's temporary vertical parking lot at their production facility in Wolfsburg, Germany.

16 storeys high, the silos are composed of glass and galvanized steel and are illuminated by night. A conveyor belt system transports finished cars directly from the adjacent manufacturing plant to the towers' basement and then lifts them into position via mechanical arms that rotate and run along a central beam.

Each silo can hold up to 400 cars at a time and deliver, with fitted number plates, around 600 vehicles to customers each day as well as acting as part of VW's Autostadt visitor attraction.

Find out more on DesignBoom

Olly and Molly reward your social interactions

Olly is a scent-based system rewarding social media activity designed by Foundry, a small research team at Mint Digital. They call it a "web-connected smelly robot."

Linking to web-based social applications, Olly emits a fragrance when you receive emails, retweets, instant messages and various other pings across social channels.

Joining Olly is Molly, a robot that dispenses
sweets in a similar way. They are both available on Kickstarter for $50 each.

Great fun and nice to be treated occasionally!

Molly - turns your retweets into sweets from Olly Factory on Vimeo.

The Singing Ringing Tree

The Singing Ringing Tree, by Tonkin Liu, may not be a new sculpture but we have just come across it and think it's fantastic.

Constructed of stacked pipes of varying lengths, each layer differs from the next by 15 degrees to respond to the changing wind directions. As the wind passes through different pipe lengths in different layers it plays different chords. Each time you sit under the tree you apparently hear a different song.

It's situated on a hill overlooking Burnley, Lancashire - we will definitely keep a look out for it next time we are in that part of the UK.

See a video of the sculpture below and turn the volume up.

singing ringing tree | tonkin liu from tonkin liu on Vimeo.