ideas

Flat packed and clever…

by aileen on March 5, 2013

So clever. This is the kind of design that makes me grin and makes me thankful for people like Leo Rosa Borges (thank you Leo) – On his Behance profile he is described as

“A Brazilian designer living in Dubai, trying to sneak some creativity into the market.
I believe ideas make things look good too. I strive to make my work relevant first and beautiful later.”

I think we would get along. There is not much explanation needed for his ikea brochure. It’s clever, beautiful and it works – what more can you ask?

Check out Leo’s work here and expect to see more stuff from him on this blog.

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My brainwaves are going crazy…

by aileen on November 21, 2012

When you are as obsessed with people and ideas as I am, you can’t help be amazed by brains and how they work. So when I got a message about this Indiegogo project in my inbox my brainwaves must have danced. Muse is a brainwave sensing headband (yes, go back and read that again) – It then sends those brainwaves to your smart phone or tablet showing you how well your brain is performing; and also translates your brainwaves into instructions to interact with content on your iOS or Android device. Watch the video below – and expect a blog post from me next summer about how amazing it is.
Find out more here

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Where good ideas come from…

by aileen on September 3, 2012

If you have the day off work today (and even if you don’t), do yourself a favor and spend 17 minutes and 46 seconds watching this video. It’s worth it just for the line about coffeehouses “where ideas can have sex.”

This is now my answer to people who ask why I work in coffee shops so often when I have such a cool studio space – and the gps story is a great thing to know.

Steven Johnson, if you ever read this, please take it as an invite for coffee – anytime, anywhere.

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Wanna spoon?

by aileen on August 20, 2012

BEN & JERRY’S — WANNA SPOON from AMALGAMATED WORK2 on Vimeo.

This is both clever, and slightly scary – I haven’t tried it (and probably won’t) but I still watched it (and I’m sharing it) so it worked anyway. I would love to have been in the room when they came up with this idea. (thanks Silvia for sending me this)

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Eriks design bus…

by aileen on August 9, 2012

Genius. I have joked about doing this with my friends, and now I have that ‘ugh I wish I’d done that’ feeling. An Idea Bus? What do you think? Does anyone have a bus? Erik Olovsson wanted a unique way of interacting with his client base…

“I want to explore new ways to work and above all get closer to the customer. Maybe you need the local pizzeria help with new menus? The dentist new business card? The local gallery a better logo, or the farmer a new sign on the barn?”

He is also traveling around Sweden exchanging his services for great meals, hot showers. I’m a huge fan already. Follow his adventures at Eriks Designbuss website. And seriously, anyone got a bus? I’m up for a roadtrip. (via dwelling gawker)

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29 ways to stay creative…

by aileen on July 2, 2012

I came across 29 ways to stay creative and it reads like my daily routine. I love “carry a notebook” (when you meet me I probably have 4 0r 5 on me) and “stop trying to be someone else’s perfect” but one of the most interesting, (and important) is “Finish Something”.

Watch the video below – What do you think?

Thank you Mr NotFamous, I love this.

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write on… wipe out!

by aileen on June 6, 2012

The amazing people at IdeaPaint sent me some CLEAR to play with*. We painted the wall, a table, and one of my surfboards – it’s now my favorite to-do list ever. The CLEAR paint goes on easily and makes any surface into a dry-erase board. The only tough part is waiting 4 days until you can start brainstorming. Now my ideas can be in color… and it’s so easy to wipe-out (c’mon you have to allow me the ocassional surf pun) Read my other ideapaint post here and how my wall became blue here. What would you paint with CLEAR?

*they didn’t ask me to write anything, or even use the stuff – my opinions are always my own (and I have the trouble to prove it)

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Clearly Clever…

by aileen on May 18, 2012

Nothing will ever quite be the same again. The people who bought us idea paint (yes, I have mentioned it before) – the paint that turns any surface into a whiteboard have launched a new product – CLEAR.

CLEAR can be applied over any type and any color of interior paint to achieve a dry erase think space that seamlessly blends with any decor. It is also certified low-emission, virtually odorless (insert happy dance here). This is one of those companies who make innovative products with a conscience (insert sigh of contentment here). To add to this they are donating $25 for each kit sold to charity: water a non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

The future just became CLEAR - imagine the possibilities! – what would you use if for?

Watch the video below. You can read my other post about idea paint here.

UPDATE: I would like to welcome all the people visiting from NOTCOT – you obviously already have good taste and a creative mind, you are most welcome here.

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Imagine: how creativity works…

by aileen on March 29, 2012

Love this video (below) – I’ll be reading the book this weekend (from what I’ve heard it’s an interesting read – I will report back)

IMAGINE: How Creativity Works from Flash Rosenberg on Vimeo.

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People will love it (and hate it)…

by aileen on February 16, 2012

From the genius that is the indexed blog.

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Christmas in a jar (part two)…

by aileen on December 19, 2011

Cute mason jar trees from Anthropologie, but they looked so easy to make so I did.. (see my version below)

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Melting snowmen cookies…

by aileen on December 15, 2011

What more is there to say? I love the clever twist on these Christmas Cookies. From Crazy Domestic via notcot.

You better eat them quick.

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Letterpress… for mac

by aileen on December 5, 2011

Calling all fellow letterpress geeks. This is beautiful. If I wasn’t so busy today I would spend all day playing with it. (via swissmiss)

“LetterMpress is available on the Mac Store and as an iPad App. (The iPad is 50% off for the month of december) Besides the use of a mouse and keyboard, the most significant feature of the Mac version is the high resolution that can be output, depending on your graphics card. Prints can be created as high as 8192 pixels in the longest dimension—that’s over 26” at 300 DPI”.

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Best gift ever…

by aileen on December 5, 2011

As you may have read last week we launched the DO GOOD project. I say “we” because something like this is never done by one person alone and if it wasn’t for those who were willing to help, willing to play and willing to donate it would have been just another good idea.

This is not an original idea, people have been doing this for years, but it doesn’t make it any less fun or valid. Ideas don’t always have to be cutting edge shiny and new, they can just be classic – this will turn out differently for everyone who does it.

The idea is this -we are going to give 20 people $50 to DO GOOD. There are only 2 rules. 1. Do Good. 2. Document it. 3.Have fun (it never hurts to slip an extra rule in there somewhere).

We have been very lucky, we have HOME BANK as a sponsor, as well as a whole host of smaller sponsors made up of companies and individuals. We have CARPE DIEM hosting the launch event (a short kick off where we hand out the money) and are working on an end event to celebrate those who played and those who helped. You don’t have to do it this way, you could just get a group of friends together and make this happen, you could give a group of friends $20 each and an hour to give it away, and get back to the coffee shop, you could give your kids $5 each and ask them to choose who to help. You can start them on their route to being the next Steve Jobs by teaching them to use it as seed money and make more from it.

This is a way for us all to remember that giving is one of the best gifts we have available, but be careful it’s addictive.

There is a facebook page set up so you can follow our DO GOOD project, (we kick off on Tuesday) and I’d love to hear about yours, however small or incredibly large.

UPDATE- WE NOW HAVE A DONATE BUTTON – try it out

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My favorite corkscrew ever…

by aileen on December 2, 2011

While we were in London this summer we bought a corkscrew. It looked a little different and I loved the packaging. It was an impulse buy. Since then it has become our very favorite way to open wine. This is genius.

Designed in 1949 (yes really) it was created so the cork came out intact, no cork crumbling here! – and also ” As the legend goes, the Bilame was the favorite tool of waiters in French bistros. Thanks to it, they could have a few sips from bottles and then replace corks without anyone noticing !”

I have searched for a link to get in it the USA and couldn’t find anyone that had it available. I did find this place though, (it’s under $20) they ship to the USA in 2-6 days and postage is calculated by weight. Readers in Europe, you are set, I know John Lewis carries them so I’m sure other places do too. It may look a little strange, but it works effortlessly and is clever and beautiful. A great way to start a bottle of wine if you ask me.

When I have my own little design store (and I will) these will always be in stock)

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Snowmen in Louisiana (and what your business can learn from them)…

by aileen on December 1, 2011

This morning Snowmen will arrive in Louisiana. They will call them sneaux-men.

Carpe Diem! – Gelato – Espresso Bar is preparing for an invasion of cuteness, by serving gelato snowmen, the tastiest Christmas treat around, and I think, the start of a new tradition for many families.

Each frosty treat is made with love by the staff and is guaranteed to get you in the Christmas spirit (if it doesn’t there really is no hope). They have a host of Christmas flavors, including SNOW (minty and sparkling white) for you to choose to build your snowperson. I can promise from experience that they taste delicious and make you smile. (The photo is the empty dish is what was left of my snowman)

Apart from the cute factor (which is pretty high) these make great business sense.

FULL DISCLOSURE ALWAYS:

Carpe Diem called me in to help come up with a low cost, fun, way to get people to think about gelato at this time of year and this is what we came up with. It uses their product in a new way that embraces both its qualities and adds a new twist and should help people to think of Carpe Diem! as a great place to take the family as both a fun treat, and a break from all the hustle and traffic.

What can you do at your business from the things you already have, how can a small twist make an impact?

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DO GOOD (the project)

by aileen on November 30, 2011

Welcome to the DO GOOD project.

This is what I know so far:

The DO GOOD project has been in my head for a couple of years, but I only put it on Facebook yesterday, and today we are ready to reveal it to the world because of our wonderful title sponsor, Home Bank. We love you Home Bank. A lot.

This is Lafayette, Louisiana based this year – if you want to do this in your town I am happy to share whatever I know. The idea is this. We give 15-20 creative / businessy / interesting people $50 each to go and DO GOOD. It’s that simple. They can give it away to a stranger, use it as seed money to raise more for a non-profit of their choice, use it to buy stuff and give that away, use it to buy stuff and raise money, anything.

We will probably launch sometime next week (yes we are moving quickly on this) and run until the first week of January. It will be great to start the year with some wonderful stories of DOing GOOD.

There will be prizes (but more for fun and bragging rights) – everyone wins here! – At the moment the categories are: Person who raises the most money for their chosen cause, Person who helps the most people, Person who makes the biggest impact on one person. We will have others, and they will probably be silly.

We still need:

1. Sponsorships/donations of $50 and up. These people will be thanked profusely, their name put on materials we hand out and we will remember them in our prayers.

2. Creative People from all walks of life to play – this is a tough one as ALL of my friends are creative, so we have a group of people who will choose from those nominated. (You can nominate someone by email here) , some will be hand-picked, and some will be thrown into a hat and picked at random. That way we can make sure we have a diverse range of people, and some picked by fate.

3. Prizes – these should be nice things that people want.

This is where I start thanking you, I will have a lot of that to do. My phone number is in the footer if you want more info/ have something to offer or you can email me , or tweet me @aileenbe. Please be patient, we will try and include everyone!

UPDATE: The first ten players are in place – and boy are they a great group of people! – I am finalizing the last 10. If you would like to take part please let me know. We kick off on Tuesday (yes, it’s all very fast). I’m overwhelmed by the response and trying to keep it all together at the moment. More details soon.

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The ideas just got bigger… (and better)..

by aileen on November 30, 2011

I must admit I have been a fan of idea paint since I heard the name. Now I have tested it I’m a fan for life.

One day, when I have my giant ‘thinking space’ – oh yes, there are plans in my head – everything will be painted with this magical stuff. This weekend I got sent my first actual swatch painted onto some dry wall and in person, it’s whiter, harder and more durable than I imagined. It seems as though all dry erase markers wipe off easily (with none of that typical whiteboard shadowing). I even wrote on it with a Sharpie (yes a permanent one) and it came off (it took a little gentle scrubbing) – I wouldn’t recommend trying it.

I have a wall waiting for this stuff, it’s not cheap by any means so I have to save up. But look out 2012 – this is your first project.

If I could I would paint EVERY surface in my office with this stuff.. I really don’t have anything bad to say about it. The guys who invented this took 10 years to get it perfect, and it shows.

Start with a small can, paint a table, a board, the back of your front door, a square on the wall. Paint something. This stuff is genius. Find out more here

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Tattly…temporary tattoos for cool kids (and older)

by aileen on November 29, 2011

If you don’t know about Tattly yet, it’s probably about time.

Created by Tina Roth Eisenburg (known to all of her fans, including me, as Swiss Miss) when she couldn’t find nice temporary tattoos for her daughter it has become one of the must visit temporary tattoo sites on the web. Ok so there aren’t many of them – but trust me, this is the one! (I have a secret crush the skin, and the “I love New York more than Milton Glaser” ones)

And now (fanfare played by Santa’s Elves)..we have snowmen. Can you imagine what fun your kids will have with these at Christmas. They rock! – and to add even more clever to creative – the new gift box packaging made me grin from ear to ear… Clever just makes me so happy.