Cari Vander Yacht you have way too much time on your hands at night working on experimental projects like ‘TGIMGIF’ (Thank God It’s Monday’s Graphics Interchange Format). Thank goodness for that otherwise the artistic design world would be a duller place!
These animated GIFS are surreal, clever, funny and so ‘on trend’ – we just keeping saying ‘we want one of those’! So, polaroids of the past beware we are about to have a play in the Jellyhaus sandpit.
….. and our personal favourite (below) only because when we looked at this one earlier Madness and Baggy Trousers started playing on the radio; perfect timing…..
Yes, cloud computing is here. For those of you who think you may have missed it, you probably haven’t. In short, cloud computing is reference to the internet. But not really the internet as a whole, more the applications that reside on it. If you upload pictures to Facebook, use GoogleMail/Hotmail or a web-based calendar then you’ve already got your head in the clouds.
Whilst the convenience of having all your messages/photos/files in one place excites us and increases productivity, you still have the extra step of downloading a syncing app or visiting a website to use these services. If you have 3 or 4 devices, that’s 3 or 4 setups required to get all of them to talk to each other via the cloud.
We’re getting there but we think it’s about time this moved onto the next stage – a computer/device that already IS in the cloud, not just looking up at it…
Let me explain:
We here at Jellyhaus have noticed a growing trend in websites being designed to mimick your local computer environment. Personal website for designer Paul Bennett (www.paulicio.us) demonstrates this perfectly: a website that’s a computer desktop – a computer desktop that’s a website. Surely the natural progression for OS developers now is to use our ‘always-on’ connectivity and create a system that syncs as we work… we move an icon on our desktop, it moves on our laptop; we create a file on our Smartphone, it appears on our tablet. No 3rd party connectivity apps, no web-based email, just 1 account, just 1 piece of software for ALL our devices, anywhere in the world.
Of course the Orwellians among us will have something to say about this but I for one are willing to trade information like other people knowing that I have Notts County wallpaper background or that I am anally precious when it comes to file-naming for the ease of use and productivity that the next stage of cloud computing will bring…
Left, Paul Bennett’s portfolio website. Right, a WordPress theme posted on Web Designer Wall showing just how local applications are being ported to the web.
To celebrate the launch of the new VW Polo model, people are being asked to vote for their Top 50 timeless items in the categories of Food, TV, Design, Fashion and Music.
Each category is sponsored by a market leader in that area, for example, the music category can be accessed through Heart FM’s website. By voting, the public have an opportunity to win prizes to encourage participation. In the music section, Heart are offering voters a chance to win a 16GB iPod Classic, or in design, Living Etc are giving away a £500 shopping spree at Habitat to one lucky voter… for £499 you can even buy the store (although they’re not too sure about offering free delivery on it!).
The campaign, The Top Timeless 50, actively draws upon the trends of nostalgia and thrift (which we have been following for over two years and have blogged about many times previously… oh do keep up!). The sensitivity of consumers to these trends is heightened in times of hardship and uncertainty and so VW is trying to sell the new Polo by drawing on these. However, taking this further and claiming timelessness as the inspiration behind the design of the new Polo, is quite a claim. By wanting to associate itself with the nation’s top 50 timeless items, VW have created a marketing proposition suggesting that the new Polo is so good it deserves to be up there among such classic stuff as the Little Black Dress, Fawlty Towers or Chanel No. 5: all of which have achieved both elusive quality and championing by the British consumer.
Is this going to work for VW? Well, there is likely to be a Polo in the Design Museum in 20 years time, except it will be a mint rather than the Mark V.
In addition, there is always something slightly worrying about an ad campaign when it relies upon the aspirational rather than the mundane; every ad we’ve seen for the new Polo has featured it in top-of-the-range SEL variant with added options – something unlikely to be accessible to the majority of purchasers.
Though this declaration of design intent could be respected for the sheer confident audacity it represents in the design field, it also suggests that the men in white coats at VW may have reached their peak, particularly since the recent revival of the Scirocco (a genuine automotive classic and not something that looks like a Golf that has been washed at 60‘c) shows that you can re-invent something that looks better than the original. The mind boggles at the future creative output of the lovechild born out of the merger of the VW and Porsche design teams, especially given the “challenging” appearance of the new Panamera; if they ever remake Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, guess what the Child Catcher will be driving?
If the new Polo is a runaway success then VW’s claim to timelessness will have paid off. If not, then no doubt it will join that other Top 50… of timeless catastrophes, joining the ranks of Big Brother, Jodie Marsh or Black Lace.
If you’re near a computer on Wednesday, be prepared as it marks the global deployment of Bing; Microsoft’s new search engine. Global deployment as in the style & ambitions of Blofeld, Drax and Stromberg? Let’s hope not. Bing was unveiled last week, although quite how you unveil a search engine is anyone’s guess; some canapés, a drum roll and then you pull off the sheet to reveal….an invisible computer program?!
Apparently, Microsoft wants to attract a few more computer users to its latest search engine (did anyone actually use Live Search…come on, own up, it’s OK) and away from Google (other search engines are available). On the basis that googling has become an accepted phrase, synonymous with ‘to search for on the internet’ you have to say that Microsoft has its work cut out, although you have to admire their ambition; not only is Bing a ‘decision engine’ but it is – and we quote – “a search experience and consumer brand”.
Is that like driving around the M25, anti-clockwise from junctions 16 to 10 on a Friday afternoon, is an experience? As for consumer brand, we’d suggest that Microsoft is already a pretty dominant consumer brand and that adding Bing as a sub-brand could perhaps be more brand dilutive than accretive. Is the name en hommage to Bing Crosby or a marketing ploy to the yoof market, who want to ‘pimp up’ their PC but don’t know how to spell bling?!
What we think is interesting about Bing is its functionality as a decision engine and its move into the world of the semantic web and artificial intelligence. Many of you will have heard of WolframAlpha, another search engine (or more accurately an answer engine) that uses intuitive processes to pick up upon linguistics and human emotions in search requests. Granted, it is still in its infancy as “Wolfram|Alpha isn’t sure what to do with your input” does seem to be the answer to many questions posed; although I thought that typing ‘Spacemonkey cadet’ was a perfectly simple question.
The semantic web is interesting as it is an evolution of existing technology and an attempt to lift the internet from pure functionality to a level that is more aligned with the characteristics, emotions and value of the user. We think that it also demonstrates the need for the internet to evolve, as the expectations and demands of users increase.
Last week, a Russian group bought a 2% stake in Facebook for $200million, which makes it worth about $10billion. That’s down around 50% from its value when Microsoft bought a 1.6% stake back in 2007. Presumably at some point Facebook will a) make a profit and b) have a purpose but perhaps it’s a hint that the ‘social networking’ phase of the internet is starting to evolve into the ‘semantic web’ phase.
Philips Electronics recently premiered the world’s first OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diodes) – based interactive lighting concepts, created for both consumer as well as professional use, during the Euroluce International Lighting Fair in Milan.
The concepts are intuitive and interactive in use, boast ultra flat shapes, soft light-effects and design possibilities never before seen in lighting products. The result is lighting that goes beyond mere illumination – it becomes an experience in itself. (All links open in a new window.)
In February 2006, a start-up called Terrafugia unveiled plans to build an aviation novelty – a flying car. Earlier this month, the company got its Transition vehicle off the ground for its maiden flight. The Transition, which looks a bit like a Volkswagen Beetle swallowed by a carp, is accompanied by its chase aircraft. It’s still a proof of concept; Terrafugia says that the vehicle will be subjected to additional flight and drive testing and that a preproduction prototype still needs to be built and certified. Link to read more on Jaunted! (opens in a new window)
It’s the latest trend in dining out – get a text and go to a one-off event. You never know who you’ll meet. A TEXT message arrives with an address, a dress code and a request to be prompt. Dinner will be served at 10pm. Welcome to the world of underground dining. Transient Diner is the brainchild of an apprentice chef who felt stifled working in five-star kitchens. Realising many of his colleagues felt the same, he developed the dining concept to give third- and fourth-year apprentice chefs the opportunity to run a virtual restaurant for an evening. From finding the location and creating the menu to curating a theme and employing staff, the experience gives young chefs the freedom to experiment without the commitments and responsibilities of opening a real restaurant.
