In 1958, designer Paul Giambarba was hired as a freelancer by polaroid, in order to revitalize and polish up polaroids brand. Giambarbas work over the next 25 years was to become some of the most important work polaroid could ever attain. As polaroids plastic fantastic wonderland invaded supermarket shelves everywhere, no eyes went unhypnotized by these delightful dazzling striped packages.
The original 5 rainbow stripes of polaroid met consumers for the first time already in 1968. Wrapping itself around, not just film packages, but also camera packaging. It was to become nothing less than a one of a kind commercial revelation beyond comparison. A simple concept of razorsharp honest appeal, that within a multifarious 1960´s and 70´s design revolution, still managed to both hug and smash consumer familiarity in its tiresome face (simultaniously).
In 1969 a 6th color/stripe was added to the Polacolor and Colorpack range of polaroid. Like seen here on the Polaroid Colorpack II camera packaging.
The sixth color also made it to the front decor of the Landcamera 1000. (1976/77).
According to Paul Giambarbas own blog (and several other sources), the golden years of Polaroid stretched from the years 1958-1977. It has not been possible for me to discover when Paul left Polaroid and where the Polaroid brand really went from there.
But none the less- As i stated in my part 3 of "Apple: Who are you?"- The Polaroid camera was indeed the ipod of the 60´s and 70´s. A statement that i cant spare reinforcing with the quote from Grafik magazines John Weich in his article on polaroid in 2005- "Like Apple today, Polaroid supplemented its superior product with superior branding. . . .". So i guess this means that polaroid and apple fairly obviously share more than just a simpler side of consumer electronics.
Remembering last weeks post on polaroid and apple packaging. Heres the deal: As Polaroid rode out its final years of "bigger" wave of godliness, late 1970´s (presumably around 1976/77). California based apple computers brought out an rather interesting new logo in about the same time, to be exact- 1976. Aside from rainbows being somewhat popular back then, what possessed a "simular" thinking company like apple to use the exact same amount of stripes, within the exact same colorrange, just a year after (or same year) Polaroid ends its official hotstreak?
Let me show you. Here ive taken the exact colors from the Giambarba polaroid logo, made them run into the first "official" brand Apple logo.
So from all of that trouble, all of that fuzz.... them doing what they do best. What am i getting at? Well, my philosophy is that Apple design appeals to us thru Deja Vu. You might not know its origin from the first moment you cast your eyes on an Apple device, but none the less- they have managed to replicate, parallel and concentrate all the greatest actions in design history and squeezed it in to one little affordable dream. A dream we all partially used to recognize fragments of growing up. A dream that today is the very pinnacle of our very society, not just as consumers but as developed consumers. The dream of being able to afford it, understand (without understanding) and live a nice and neat life (without having to pay too much for it).
Just stumpled upon this interesting observation from the Wall Street Journal. It really blew me away. I guess it is virtually impossible, to judge modern day consumerism by its cover anymore (whatever cover that might be). I wonder whats next? IKEA becoming the world´s biggest potato distributor because of their instore restaurants? Humor me. Anybody got some great suggestions?
Hello again.... Ohh so youve noticed the blog hasnt been that active lately. There are actually a couple of interesting and somewhat interesting reasons for that: foremost, of somewhat interesting nature, I myself, have been extremely busy working and attending my musical/artistic/other enterprises. Second: The blog has been undergoing a great moment of self evalution, regarding how and and when to expand in a better manor, none the less- "right way". So far im getting a couple of more contributors onto the blog joining the dream of trying to make an even more interesting (still fascinatingly quirky) blog. Beyond that, the whole blog is currently undergoing the process of getting a personalized domain, including a nice new makeover and more. I will be posting more on these developments and/or expansion claims within the month. Also i will be posting regularly again, very soon. (dont forget my last chapter of Apple: Who are you?).
Believe it or not, being minimal, and straight to the point via package designs, is a very rare thing. And being unique.... rewards. Its no secret that apple over the years have won alot of admiration (and awards) for their absolutely minimal and yet stylish packaging. Often apple packaging, especially for ipods, show the item in hiding, by a 1:1 scale around the outside of the packaging. Like seen here with the u2 5th generation Ipod.
Front. Actual product size on the outside of the box. back and side. Most significant and greatly typical for apple packaging is also, the actual size of the complete box, compared to the item inside. Especially with apples ipodline, its crucially important to underline the evermore smaller sizes of their devices, so they limit the packaging to being not much bigger than the products itself without too much glorification involved on the outside. What you see is what you get!. A very admirable "marketing strategy", that absolutely (unlike mcdonalds menus) radiates an honest image of the object in question. Isn´t that something even the dumbest consumers appreciate? honesty and trust?. And, yes! i personally agree- Apple makes trustworthy products wrapped in honest "no nonsense" packaging. So, lets conclude that all our mommies were right. Honesty does go along way.
Oddly enough another trustworthy yet fashionable company had a simular concept during the 70´s and 80´s. The Ipod of cameras- Polaroid. Like seen here on the box of a Polaroid lightmixer 630.
Front. Actual product size on the outside of the box. Back. Same thing. Side. Hey wait a minute....... what am i getting at?.
To be honest theres absolutely nothing wrong with being one of the few companies that like and adore polaroid cameras. Everyone loves polaroid cameras. So lets just leave it at that. But have in mind for part 4, that Apples Senior Vice President of Industrial Design- Johnathan Ive was born in 1967. So he was a teenager in the late 70´s into the 80´s. Wouldnt it be plausible that he (and/or his co-workers) had a big crush on polaroid already back then?........................ Well, more about that very soon, so dont miss out of the final chapter of "Apple: Who are you?". The chapter where i will take one last big bite at the apple of ive. (let me give you a hint. "North west" ).
1970´s was the beginning of the consumer electronics ecosystem . The remnants of revolution along a "healthy" appetite for a new decade, left alot of artists ( not just rockmusicians), designers and engineers hungry for more than just the popular shapes and colors of the 1960´s. With the first home video tape recorder coming out mid 60´s, public color TV transmitions hitting Europe in 1967, and personal computers like ataris claiming livingroom space globally from 1973. The foundation was set for alot new creative influences aiming to retrace design inside the home. With mentors like danish furniture designers Verner Panton, Arne Jacobsen and last but not least finish Eero Aarnio setting the pace. Alot of consumer design evolved into more than just a comfortable vision of the future.
Eero Aarnio´s Ball chair, also known as the "Pod chair". The Ball chair was exhibited in 1966 and became a huge commercial hit thru the 70´s. Together with Arne Jacobsens "Egg chair", the ball chair is one of the most popular and desired objects in design history.
Companies like German Telefunken, which in the beginning of the 60´s engineered the standards for European analogue televison PAL* ( *Phase alternating Line), quickly became one of the more popular affordable tv set fabricators, adapting fractions of the very same bold shapes and rich contrasts of Scandinavian furniture design. Even down to the trumpet feet details.
(ads courtesy of Gizmodo) Another significant detail about Telefunken tv´s, which tech site Gizmodo also pointed out two weeks ago, are the black trimmings around the tube on telefunkens Pal series tv´s. These trimmings are not a just a one time design fluke, no...
The very same type of black trimmings, also assisted this classic Brionvega Doney win the Compasso d'Oro (Italian industry design award) aldready in 1962.
"Thee black trimmings"- A fascinating phenomenon which ever since, strangely enough have become a semi-must within the more luxurious television design communities. A simple search on the phrase "design tv" on google images will emphasize my point, by showing not just retro noname italian travel tv´s, telefunken highlights onto newer Jvc 2005/2006 series, but also point out german Loewe (who are quite known for their know how) with their "black trimmings". Like on this late 2006 Xelos series.
What your search on google wont show, is computers (mostly because you searched on tv ofcourse), or computers that look like fashionable tv´s (both of the past and present). Computers like the 2007 Imac creature. A creature that just like all other creatures in its brand family, had its edges shaved off.
Yes, Inspiration (and trendy design) is a constant fleeting moment. In times like the late 60´s and 70´s where global consumerism got its very first technologically enhancements like cheap synthetics (for mass production) and television marketing, designers and companies faught each other greatly with loads of fun games such as: "impersonate this, impersonate that" and "I did this...Oh, me too". Both vast games of great corporate stamina, that obviously reaches far into the predetermined freedoms of the very simular future which is today. A today where quality design, originality and modifications there off, dominates discount outlets of every streetcorner, of every city, in every country. At very affordable prices. So.... Yeah baby, cheap shiny fascinating white plastic, black trimming remnants, retro design and globalization, can co-exist together in eternal harmony. Its just a matter of.....eh.... inspiration?
Part 3 of "Apple: Who are you?" (and 4), coming sooner. Believe me.... You aint seen nothing yet.
"Silent Bob here's an electrical genius. He won the science fair in eighth grade by turning his mom's vibrator into a CD player using some chicken wire and shit.The mother fucker's like MacGyver. No, the mother fucker's *better than* MacGyver." (Quote from the movie "Mallrats" by Kevin Smith).
Pretty impressive. So... in that case, what came first?- Silent bob the original thinker, or Silent bob "the guy who got inspired by the right thing, in the right place, at the right time" and then... Cdplayer!. Its a tough one. The movie makes it seem like, that even the most common pothead (as Silent Bob) can modify/engineer cool things, with a little inspiration. Well ofcourse, Kevin Smiths character in the movie Mallrats, is just as fictional as a 20$ Hummer. But the essence of the situation comedy film quote in the beginning of my post, is absolutely relevant when it comes to me attempting de-bunk the grey areas between infinite layers of corporate inspiration, original thinking and re-invention. Again, theres a long walk from a sexual device (such as a vibrator) to a real functioning cdplayer. But having that walk in mind and putting fiction aside. I wonder..... How easy would it be for a reasonably intelligent well travelled designer (or company), to convert a basic, but wellknown shiny "pictureframe" design into an "original" mobile phone design? Well...
First of all lets focus on fx. Milan, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Oslo, Chile, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Malmö... and the many more cities, that Jcdecaux, a world wide outdoor advertizing company are present with their products (and have been for years). To narrow it down, lets lock on to the french town of Plaisir, a city not far from Versaille. Here you will find the Jcdecaux designers who are responsible for the neat worldknown looks of the "Paris 3".
Yes, it is indeed an outdoor display with very smooth looks. A simple square, with nice rounded corners, cool chrome finish... all of it together, almost too classy, for being a passive display. I really wonder how this french design would look if it was to be the size of a hand. "A tiny billboard in your hand" (or pocket). A tiny chrome square, with oh so cute and shiny corners. That would be kinda cool. Hmmmmmm... (thinking).
Part 2 of "Apple: Who are you?" (plus 3 and 4), coming soon.
A dedicated user over at richard-kelly.net named Gunji, took a closer look at the yahoo high definition version of the Southland Tales trailer. He kindly spent his latenight going thru the trailer with keener eyes and... posted his findings in the forum (in 1024x768 resolution). "I watched it frame-by-frame and was even more impressed by all the stuff they put in. Now it's almost 2 o'clock at night here and I gotta work tomorrow, but here are some hidden stills I found!" - Gunji. Here are some of the Eerie stills he found burried in the faster transitions of the trailer. Click the images to see bigger versions (in new window).
If you wanna see, hear and discuss more about this film, i can definently recommend heading over to richard-kelly.net (signup required). Lot of nice people over there, and Richard Kelly himself drops by and says hi once in a while. Great work Gunji. Nice stills.
After a good... hmmm... weeks, months, well.. almost a year. Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly finally got his ultimate doomsday movie thru what apparently was channels, heaps, and furthermore, a bit more than just months of re-editing and bargaining with the man and his bright red tape. Sci-fi weirdness, massive blimps and Atomic bombs, along side: Justin Timberlake, The Rock, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sean William Scott, Kevin Smith and more. Not to mention wonderkid Moby doing the official soundtrack. Who wouldnt wanna see that?. Yes, there you have it- A genuine preview of what to expect in cinemas everywhere the 9th of november. The official Southland Tales trailer is finally among us.
You can also watch the trailer in HD at yahoo. Click here
This post have been removed - since i was encouraged to take it down. Fair enough. I was a bit to fast on the trigger there, sorry. Anyhow, it was a pic given to me by a friend, who claimed that it was a live zune 2 in the wild at a Copenhagen party (at some office). To describe the pic: A guy and a girl was posing together, with some people in the background. The guy was showing of a videoplaying zune (i presume) in his hand, towards the camera. Though the pic was very small and not that good. I could not quite determine if it was real or not. But i was encouraged to take the picture down, so i did. The reason why i think it was a zune, was because the concept of it, very much looked like the zune 2 i posted about last week. That zune i recently discovered was a genuine fake, because it was entered as a part of the "design a zune" competition on engadget last year. Hopefully another "real" pic will manifest itself soon.
Be sure to come back this week and check out the posts on apple, the iphone and where apple get "their" ideas. I tell you, it is gonna be good/serious fun.
So... there it was. Not one, not two... but three new ipods (3 and a half if you count the new shuffle). Am i impressed? Well, to be honest im having a hard time figuring out what the big news is. Apple relatives always inherit the looks of their socalled parents, meaning... the classic ipod white on their computers got dropped for silver. So, was it unlikely to expect anything less than silver on the ipod series (instead of white)? Apple recently launched a touchscreen device (iphone). Would one not assume that this technology would be transferred to atleast one of their new devices? Anyhow, enough biggering..... what im trying to say is- From a technological standpoint, i am so far, not that impressed with apples "newest" ongoing beatsaga. From a design standpoint... i simply cannot contain myself regarding the new nano. It is directly hideous. Too fat for its own good, an epic eyesore of wellproportioned dimensions. Sometimes apples obvious visions for "music lovers" remind me of washingpowder commercials and cleaning product promises over time. Because the powers or "technologies" for washing things whiter, is so much better today, than 20 years ago. Havent you noticed? Our clothes are so white today that its beyond white, because... washing powder just keeps getting better. Right? Or perhaps i could even stretch it so far and say that apple is the new gillette... they just keep adding blades on those damn razors, and everytime you sit there...infront of your screen, suckerpunched and amazed... thinking- How the hell do they keep having room for all those blades? Right? Well you shouldnt be. Ofcourse a 5 blade gillette razor will, without a doubt, always outperform a 1 blade bic razor (the yellow ones from the same company that also makes pens... yeah). But is it fair to compare the same simple razor to a nice new pimped out philips shaver? Well......... my general question is? Has the ipod really become that much better?
Ipod touch notes - 8/16gb: Yeah its thinner and absolutely begging to be bent the wrong way one day or another. The ipod touch appeals to customers who insist on using both hands operating, while proudly attempting to impress everybody else in their school/work lunchbreaks with its wauvfactor.... and since it appeals to mostly "i dont know much about gadgets or music, and i dont care, but i want one too" and their ways of encountering everyday life. The thin ipod touch is most definently to become a fragile sucker in the wrong (apple=right) hands. Design wise, the touch is sleek and clean... apples patented circles on squares. Simple to the core, but perhaps a little bit too blingy for its own good. An all matt black ipod touch would have been nicer. Who knows, an "a chemical romance" ipod might be lurking soon enough.
Ipod classic notes - 80-160gb: Not many changes here. The screen is as always, brighter. Always good. Design has been tweeked a bit with some slopes up and over, into the ipod front itself. Acceptable, but not an actual inprovement that really ads more to the simpler design. I guess they were aiming for a "thinner" look. The big news- was 160gb of room for the biggest ipod classic. Ok? Somebody humour me- Who the hell needs 160gb space for apple related content?
Ipod nano notes - 4/8gb: So the rumours were right. Apple brought a fatty into the camp. Looks as if though, they tried really hard to squeeze everything into place. Probably the most obnoxious of apple devices ever. Be pleased that it fits in almost every pocket. Keep it there please.
Yep. alot words in one chop.... anyhoo, be sure to come back within the week and watch me track down, uncover, and document where apple found their inspirations. Yes, it will all be there... Soon enough.
Within the last month or so, a whole heap of interesting Cowon/Iaudio designs/mockups flooded the net here and there. I figured i would post the ones that wasnt shown too much. Apparently these pics tell the mythical tales of a new, smaller "colored" version of the x5, which Cowon fans over the years so proudly enjoyed to worship (for a good reason aswell). It pleases me very much to keep seeing consistent Cowon supporters (which i assume it is) creating a stir with their own designs. Good ones too if i may add. So no complaints here. Ufortunantly credible rumours of a future sibling to the x5, the x7 (or x8) are sofar non existent. So, youre gonna have to settle for these fake mugshots. Notice that the black design has X8 on its back, where the red and brown have X7.
Ok. Im kinda on hiatus... and along that preparing a few somewhat bigger controversial posts for next week. So far my cool detective skills have presented me some trails and brought me places i didnt even imagined existed... and besides that, it has demanded quite a bit of vast agressive research. But, im really enjoying this quest of tracking down the inspirations of last weeks "legend" and its infamous master (hint= "not pear"). Wanna know more? Yeah. Stick around, and i´ll toy with your senses soon enough. In the meanwhile, for you, who havent gotten around to it yet.... Click the pic. (and then..... shake some pics).
...And while all desperate eyes and ears are on the Apple event tomorrow, i have decided to switch camps (not that i ever was in "one" camp) and post this new fascinating (and plausible) 2nd generation Zune mock by an unknown designer, that i discovered on a german Zune site. Very interesting design. I especially like the double edges of the device. Which would make room for both the neat "double-shot" finish on the outside, without it interferring with the solid frame inside surrounding the actual screen. Also it makes it easier to keep your fingers curled along side to the front of the device without having to be forced resting you fingertips on the edge of the screen. (source: www.zune-info.de/forum)
As mentioned some days ago, the IFA consumer eletronics fair in Berlin has been a busy week for alot of manufacturers. Plenty of companies presented somewhat interesting devices. Korean Cowon on the other hand presented this little thing, which im not really sure about how to react upon - The Iaudio U5. A smaller device, with a 1.8" tft lcd screen at 128x160. Capacity wise ranging from 2-8 gb along the skills of doing voice recordings, FM radio and recording. How they will manage to unveil this device further, is a mystery i guess. Is it sofar, inferior in comparison to its other Cowon Iaudio family members? It seems so. Am i a bit dissapointed? Havent decided yet. Hopefully the U5 is just a teaser or a prototype of sorts. The design itself is interesting, yet generic and very much not even near as consequently executed as i thought they would vision their future designs. Check it out.
Navigations/tactile closeup. Cowons IFA 2007 booth. (pic by Steven@cowonboards)
More IFA 2007 booth pics at the Korean Cowonboards. Enjoy.
After quite some searching for the origin of the Ipod nano pic sent to me by a friend of mine (claiming not knowing the source). After several hours of searching, i finally found a bunch of pics claiming to be nano g3´s. Also being the source of my pic i assume. Let me just state one thing. THEY ARE ALL FAKES. I looked closer at the real pics and pointed out the photoshop mistakes. Just in case you got youre hopes up.
pic 1: The shadow line on the top right side is photoshopped. The line is pixelated and has a too strong contrast compared to a realistic photo. Hence its added. Also the screen is a tad more to the right side of the player, crossing into the curves of the actual device.
pic 2:: The surrounding textures of the clickwheel is too blurred compared to the texture of the normal surface on the device. Which also screams PHOTOSHOP, apparently he either couldnt find a matching color good enough or he used a bad click wheel copied from another pic. Besides these flaws, MacFranky´s flickr page reeks of "i love mocks".
These 2 pics along more fake nano pics can be found at MacFranky´s Flickr page. Check it out.
Alot of talk have been roaming the corners of the Ipod communities lately. Mostly regarding some suspicious Widescreen Ipod nano photos posted on Gizmodo, Engadget and other bigger gadget and consumer electronics sites. The 5th of september apple is having a major apple event and many fans/sources assume that this new Ipod breed will be making its appearance this day. My question is - Is this the Ipod we will be seeing on Wednesday?
Just like Creative and many others, french company Archos whom are extremely wellknown for their exceptional build quality, unveiled a few of their new devices at the IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin last week. Amongst these, this very cute Archos 105, which for now only packs either 1 or 2gb of memory. Fantastic about this device is the price. A 1gb device will go for around 80euro, the 2gb for around 100euro (according to Pixmania whom are launching the sale the 6th of september). The Archos 105 measures 45mm wide, 85mm high and is only 7mm deep, packing a 1.8" screen and comes in white, silver and a blazing nice red. Hopefully a bigger capacity will turn up soon. But, are you looking for a nice new skinny companion to take hostage your sweet sweet music... and would you settle for 2gb of storage (or 1). Then you will definently not go wrong with one of these.
Over at archoslounge.net they fundled, studied and forced a silver 105 to pose for some nice shots. Go take a look.
About an hour ago the folks over at french Generationmp3 did a nice video walkthru of the new Creative Zen. Check it out. Very tiny player i say, tiny.... indeed.
This week at the IFA Consumer electronics fair in Berlin, Creative launched their new supersmall creditcard sized media player, the Zen. With a width of 8.3 cm, 5.5cm high and measly 1.13cm thickness, it still manages to pack from 4/8/16gb internal memory and an SD card slot, making it upgradable to a total of whopping 32gb (counting the new Toshiba 16gb cards coming out soon). As if this wasnt enough, it packs a 2.5", 16.7 million color capable 320x240 bright tft screen..... and the real news is.... not only does it do Radio, voicerecordings, a calendar, but it is Itunes compatible my friends. Yes, the Zen does Aac4. Heres the list of formats it supports : Audio- MP3, WMA, AAC4 (.m4A), WAV (ADPCM), Audible 2,3,4. Video- MJPEG, WMV9, MPED4-SP3, DivX3 4/5 and XviD3. Wauv... thats what i call every Indiekids dream. Get it everywhere soon. 149$ for the 4gb, 199$ for 8gb and 299$ for 16gb, aint bad.
It seems (obviously) that the original Sony Bravia ad (with the colorful bouncing balls) over the years has inspired quite a bit of commercial progress when it comes to Tv-ads. Doing things, in a bit more imaginative, childish and hands on way (adding special effects ofcourse). I can only state, that from my personal point of view, its a delite to see more and more groundbreaking and not to forget lovely ways of making tv more exciting. Take a Ford..... some balloons.... and some music from the movie Donnie Darko..... and you instantly have a succesful tv ad.....right? Im not even into new cars (or cars in general for that matter)... but this commercial just like the latest Nissan Qashqai ad, is nothing less than fantastic.
