Recently we spoke of the popular Instagram photo sharing application and how its online presence is rapidly expanding. Whilst Instagram is essentially an online venture currently, design and communication company ADR Studio has recently released its latest concept to the design community – a real life camera based on the app.

Called the ‘Instagram Socialmatic’ the camera pays homage to its retro roots featuring identical styling to its digital icon. Aimed to be a ‘real life digital instant camera’ the concept features two main lenses (first for main capture, the second for 3D filters, webcam applications or QR code capturing) as well as an Optical zoom, Led Flash and 16GB of storage for all of the users snaps.

Interestingly along with its Wifi capabilities and full touch screen navigation the camera features an internal printer enabling users to make their Instagram photos real. This is achieved through using 4 separate colour ink tanks and paper cartridge sheets.

Whilst currently just a concept do we feel there is a gap in the market for this? Personally I feel many a ‘hipster’ will be champing at the bit to get this product put into production but does the camera really offer a proper purpose other than a ‘must have’ gadget? Other than its printing capabilities, which could be seen as not aligning with the Applications online aims the camera doesn’t really offer anything that a smartphone can not do. Perhaps its charm or appeal lies solely in its retro ‘cool’ factor placing it firmly in the domains of current trends. An excellent aesthetic charm to this product regardless.

What are your thoughts?

*Images courtesy of ADR Studios

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Paper Boat Creative

Good examples of branding stretch beyond a logo or a typeface. Sure, these have their place in the branding wheel but it’s the personality of a brand which really makes it memorable. When done successfully it’s something that is hard to pinpoint, but it speaks volumes to its target audience. One such brand who excels at personality is Virgin Atlantic who’s recently extended its visual grip. Let’s take a look…

To start with there is the Virgin Atlantic’s global HQ; an environment that just simply oozes the trademarks that the Virgin brand wants to portray. Effortlessly cool, the ‘race car red’ colour scheme makes the most impact on first impression. Minimal and clean, yet packed to the rafters with clever detailed touches and technology hidden behind the scenes. A reflection of CO Richard Branson’s quirky personality is the easy going hand drawn illustrations that decorate the walls. Each depict subtle areas of the brand and its worldwide destinations utilising a style which would perhaps seem inappropriate for corporate, prestige air travel; but… it undeniably works. Without a logo, flyer, business card or corporate placement in sight, Virgin’s personality booms.

The same story is told throughout its recently refurbished upper class plane cabins. Virgin extends its extravagant yet effortless nature through a sea of red interior and mood lighting, claiming to have ‘longest bar in the sky’. Similar to the illustrations from the HQ, in contrast one small novel detail is it’s beverage ice cubes, a built to scale ice sculpture of Branson’s head crafted in such a way every his beard is distinguishable. Ostentatious? Perhaps but I bet receiving one in your drink would bring a smile to your face.

Virgin is a prime example of what helps to make a brand successful. It juxtapositions its core values of professional, efficient and luxurious travel against the fun, entertaining personality of its founder instantly warming clients to its charms. Crucially the brand doesn’t forget to remember its heritage, has a certain life or injection behind it that’s relatable and that to me is a winning formula.

If you want to build a unique brand image, brief the Exchange now!

Paper Boat Creative

Instagram has been in the headlines recently after being bought out by Facebook in a high profile deal before Facebooks imminent flotation on the stock market. But what does the photography app supposedly worth $1 billion actually do?

For those who don’t already know, Instagram is an image making app that allows users to add a series of different filters to their photographs to give that oh so sought after vintage/retro/rose tinted look. This is a fun little tool that actually does make the most ordinary of photographs look that bit more interesting, but at the same time shortens the gap between the average joe smartphone user, and the professional. This kind of photo-manipulation doesn’t require using complex Photoshop curves for creating the desired effect, rather the click of a button (or the swipe of a finger as the case may be). There are of course similar apps on the market (Hipstamatic, Lightbox, PicPlz to name but a few) but Instagram has the current advantage of a social buzz and the effect does not seem to be slowing.

The app goes further with the added advantage of its own rapidly expanding photo sharing community, where the edited pics can be uploaded to ones stream and commented on by other users. Users can follow one another in what is perhaps seen as a slightly more cool and creative community than the likes of Facebook itself.

Apps like Instagram and the ever popular image collecting site Pinterest, are rapidly expanding and perhaps demonstrating a shift in the fast moving world of social networking. These communities not only engage with the creative and emotional sides of human interaction, but also effortlessly tie them with one another. Only time will tell if this particular deal will benefit all parties.

What are your thoughts?

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Paper Boat Creative

There are many an innovative format for selling music and it has to be said Clown and Sunset, a small Brooklyn-based record company fronted by Nicolas Jaar have recently released something rather intriguing. Not your typical CD or MP3 download, but a small aluminium cube.

Titled ‘The Prism’, the cube shaped object is palm sized and contains pre loaded tracks from Jaar and his collaborators offering a stand alone music player and storage device for its audience.

Two small holes allow headphones to be plugged into the socket (handy for sharing the listening experience on which the concept is based) whilst the four buttons on the side allow users to play, pause and skip tracks.

Exasperated by releasing music on ‘boring’ formats Jarr is using this experimental format to make his releases more special, the cube and double headphone jack points being a symbol of collaboration between artists.

In essence it could be considered good to see artists pushing the boundaries of product design and innovative ways of releasing music to its audience. Unfortunately I can’t help but feel the format of this piece lets it down slightly – it’s not portable, rather expensive and limited to how the audio can be played. A favoured aspect of a new music release amongst many is the album artwork for which for this piece is non existence bar the title text. Perhaps having this limiting format is a way of making the user take the time to sit and enjoy the music contained within rather than being distracted by other daily tasks?

The jury is out on this one. For me I think the format is a little far out there and off target for its listeners. An interesting concept none the less though. Are you a Jarr fan? What do you think of the format and idea?

Find out more on the Prism here!

*Images courtesy of csa.fm/theprism

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Paper Boat Creative

When people think of merchandise they generally think of toys. They think of limited edition action figures or gaudy plastic lunchboxes with logos slapped on them. Generally they are thought of as something that is only available to the big names. This is simply not true.

There are a lot of independent producers out there that can help you create merchandise for your project. What you need to do is get out there and get in contact with them. The best ones are ones that will make samples for you so you can decide if their work is most suitable for you.

Some merchandise is simple to make and get hold of. There are numerous sites that can print T-shirts, badges, pens and so forth. When looking at websites always check to see if they have a minimum order as it is your responsibility to ensure that anything you purchase will be something you can sell.

There are also practical elements to consider. For example if you are at a convention it is a good idea to have at least one other person with you to help with the heavy lifting! If possible try and find people that can make things themselves. One example we had recently (there is footage on Youtube) was a local coffee house who very kindly made cupcakes based on one of our covers.

Away from conventions you also need to look at delivery costs, both in terms of getting the goods yourself and getting them out to people who could potentially purchase them. Having items with you in person is often a good idea as then you are only really paying what you would pay to go to an event anyway.

For your project it is worth considering what item you could create that will stand out amongst all the others. This then helps people to remember your particular work as it will be distinct from other things. For Reynard City one that has done well is fox ears on headbands. They are a fun, cute item that people often enjoy and often get people talking.

One thing that we have found people enjoy are keyrings and fridge magnets. Little things that are relatively inexpensive are often easy sellers. You might be able to sell them reasonably cheaply at a convention, or just have them as your promotional giveaway. If you do decide to sell your branded merchandise – you can knock prices down a bit towards the end to reduce stock, especially if you can sense that the crowds are starting to die down!

Most of all make sure what you are getting is the best possible quality. Try to use high resolution images as much as possible for any printed designs and look around for the best producers. If you can make them yourself even better!

If you want to create merchandise for your project, brief the Exchange now!

Rob

Visiting an art gallery is an interesting experience for many. Artists and designers alike showcase the best they have to offer for scrutineering, discussion, and the general public to get a taste of a variety of cultures. Whilst art for the masses, one hurdle the gallery experience has to overcome is accessibility. It’s not so easy to just jump on a plane and visit a gallery the other side of the world whenever you feel like it… However, could a new update to a project from Google set to change that?

The Google Art Project has been running for just over a year now, offering a virtual, online experience tour of some of the most famous galleries in the world. No longer are you at a disadvantage if you lack the time, money or resources to actually travel the world; it’s all available at the click of a mouse. The latest update to the Art Project takes the gallery total to over 30,000 works of art from 151 museums in 40 countries and extends to a more inclusive worldwide audience rather than just Western influences.

Using the familiar format to many of Google earth, the Arts Project uses a simple navigation interface to walk the user around their chosen gallery and impressively allows the exploration of the physical and contextual information on each piece. Where the real art galleries have restrictions on your proximity to the painting the Arts Project allows you to zoom right in and view up to 300 per cent; all of which allows incredible examination of every minute detail and fine brush stroke.

Want to explore what the art world has to offer but lack the time and budget? Feel the need to view the National Gallery of Modern Art in Deli and the White House in Washington, D.C. all in your lunch break? This could be your answer. Whilst an online experience may not be to everyone’s taste and by no means replace a real visit to some of the wonders of the world completely, it does offer a new viewing perspective and get pretty close in my opinion.

Find out more here and watch the latest launch video here!

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Paper Boat Creative

A few weeks ago we spoke of hand lettered type and how the craft of printed media is declining. We live in a digitalised world today and I for one absolutely love it when older technologies are combined with contemporary, fresh ideas from the modern day. Drum roll please for Studio On Fire…

A Minnesota-based team, Studio On Fire is at the cutting edge of the current letterpress movement – rediscovering old printing machines, techniques and processes by a new generation of young designers. With a mission statement of ‘Marrying design with art and craft’, the studio aims to combine ‘design sensitivity with production knowledge’ to all of its projects.

Crafting some of the most beautiful, jaw dropping letterpress and screen print masterpieces in the design industry, the in-house printed designs have an overwhelming charm and it’s clear founder Ben Levitz’s passion for tactile creations dominates the studios work. Whilst the process may be labour intensive, from letterpress to hot foil stamping, it can not be denied the results are spectacular and thoroughly worthy of the case for keeping printing techniques alive.

In addition, publishing group Gestalten have captured Studio On Fire’s craft beautifully in recent publication ‘Iron Beasts Make Great Beauty’, showcasing the finest of printing techniques and what the studio has to offer such as posters, book covers, wedding invitations and many more.

I thoroughly recommend you check the studio out , but here’s a taster of the studios vision and processes.

*Images courtesy of Gestalten / Studio on Fire

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Paper Boat Creative

The upcoming events of summer 2012 are inescapable for most British people, and with national pride beginning to take hold already, we will be seeing more and more red, white and blue as jubilee and olympic fever set in. The union Jack, of course features heavily in any themed product, as well as crowns and anything London related, but what else can we expect to see?

With the Jubilee only weeks away, manufacturers have been gracing shop shelves with all sorts of merchandise ready for the big event. Party packs are big business, as well as the usual commemorative mugs, plates, tea towels and biscuit tins; but what of the more unusual tokens? Quirky products include a Jelly mould of the queen’s head, and temporary tattoos by Royal wedding sick bag designer Lydia Leith. Even special edition oyster cards will be available for all those monarchy hungry tourists soon to be pounding London’s streets.

In a nostalgic and patriotic move that is sure to see many others follow suit, British heritage food brands such as Tate & Lyle, Heinz and Marmite have put out limited edition packaging for their most iconic products. And while big brands carry their own weight in the design stakes, many products simply carry the Jubilee emblem, designed by Katherine Dewar, a ten year old Blue Peter competition winner. What do you think of the quirky hand drawn emblem, sure to be gaining even more recognition in the upcoming weeks?

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Paper Boat Creative

‘The City of London has wrecked the world economy, it’s time for a debrand!’

A brief for the 2012 D&AD student awards has met with much controversy in the design community recently. It’s that time of year again and many a student will have recently been delving deep into the many briefs on offer. In the Branding category, and perhaps one of the most interesting briefs on offer is to rebrand the City Of London. A project set by London based but global branding studio Venture Three, the studio stated that the brief was especially valid due to students being one of the groups who has suffered the most as a result of the banking crisis; namely due to higher education funding and massively increased tuition fees.

Whilst it seems a great opportunity for students to use their talent to create a concept on a rather large scale many a criticism has been passed especially by Occupy Design questioning the morality of issues involved with design. Should we work for a pay cheque or for what we believe in?

Considered a controversial brief, Occupy Design has launched its own counter competition for ‘those who believe this type of rebranding is against everything designers stand for’. Winners to be announced on the 26th June, the same day as D&AD.

What do you think? Is rebranding the financial district of London a good thing or just feeding the fire of corporations? This could be a very interesting debate indeed to watch unfold.

Make up your own mind and see what Occupy Design has to say with its breif here!

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Paper Boat Creative

The good thing about freelance work is that you can do it at any time. The bad thing about freelance work is also that you can do it at any time. In this article we will look at ways that you can maintain productivity without depriving yourself of sleep but equally making sure that what needs to be done gets done.

In many ways freelance work is like exam revision but getting paid for it. You don’t have to revise for an exam. You could turn up on the day and see what you remembered in class. However this is not something that I would advise and nor would I suspect a lot of people would advise.

Cramming is equally not advisable with freelance work. Deadlines will vary depending on the client and it is up to you to establish how much time you have. This then means you have to plan your day effectively in order to achieve everything that you set out to achieve. There are various ways you can do this.

One way is to have a to do list. This can let you list everything that you need to do in a day. You can then cross it off as and when each task is finished. The problem is this can often be an opportunity for procrastination as people come up with elaborate colour codes and map out their activities for the week.

The best approach is to keep it simple. Buy a cheap shopping jotter from a supermarket and a packet of pens. That way you simply write out what needs to be done. Make sure you underline the most important tasks so that washing the car or taking books back to the library don’t take precedence over your clients!

Another way of doing this is to ease yourself into the working day. Some people say you shouldn’t look at social networking sites or personal emails before 11am to get work done. I personally work differently by doing these tasks and running errands before working during the day. Once the work is done I can then go back to relaxing and doing what I want to do.

Scheduling breaks is important as well. People may think they are being more productive if they work solidly through lunch. The problem with this is that you can end up running yourself down, especially as the week continues. It is often more productive to give yourself a lunch and a coffee break in the afternoon to help break up the day and make it easier.

It is also important to find ways of making the daily routine more efficient. For example in recent times I have found it is easier to do research for all the articles you have to do at once before writing them up. This then makes the process a lot quicker. Some people wear work clothes during the day and get changed when work is finished to more clearly differentiate between work at home and being at home.

As stated before freelancing is a lot like revision. What this also means is that you have to find the routine that best suits you. If you don’t want to work weekends then don’t schedule work for the weekend. If you work best in the evening then this is also fine. In short you need to find the routine that works best for you.

If you need expert designers to deliver outstanding graphic design, brief the Exchange now!

Rob