We’ve decided that as colour is so important to us as a design agency that one day every week should be dedicated to a different colour. Today is pink day, purely as a nod to our colleague in Boxer Chicago, Claire Wightman, who just loves all things pink.

A couple of weeks ago I popped into a Waitrose Supermarket, which I don’t often have the pleasure of doing as there isn’t one really near me. As I wondered round fawning over all their lovely packaging a came across this innovative packaging for a Polish Vodka, Zubrowka. Obviously really stands out on the shelf. Check there website out also, takes a little while to load, but has nice little features and ideas such as a bartender showing you how to mix cocktails (could have been done a little better, but still a nice idea). Check it out here

A nice typographic packaging solution for a new retail concept - The Kitchen by Design Friendship, a UK based agency. More info & pics at…

Here are some retro designs for coke cans,  I think some of these cans would make for a nice re-release by coke. See more at…

Thinking outside of the box… maybe the box is the problem?

All of a sudden our digital cameras have no film. So why on earth do we have the same shape we have?

Why do we feel like we need to keep revisiting the archetype over and over and over again? Digital cameras for example, in which their format, proportion, the fact that they’re horizontal rectangles,  are modeled off the original silver film camera. So, in turn it’s the film that defines the shape of the camera.

- Karim Rashid from Objectified

Found at…

“The Woolworths brand has begun trading as an online business, more than six months after the ex-High Street giant went into administration. Shop Direct Home Shopping reportedly paid administrators between £5m ($8.24m) and £10m for the brand name. Goods on woolworths.co.uk include toys, Ladybird clothing and the firms iconic pick n’ mix confectionery. In December, Woolworths’ 807 stores and distribution arm, EUK, went into administration, with £385m of debt.”

I hope this works out for them, however I do feel that this is about five years too late. Why didn’t Woolworths embrace the Internet and online music / video  earlier to take on the likes of Amazon, iTunes, play.com, e-buyer etc. Does this point to under educated leadership within an establishment on new technology and media channels? Are they too late again (regarding CD / DVD sales) with the increasing selection of free music streaming sites, on-demand TV shows and movie rentals etc?

Pick and Mix is very nice, but I cannot see it paying the bills. Only time will tell I guess, but I think they are going to struggle against the well established and more boutique / quirky online stores. (And even more so against the people who embrace technology, offer it to a worldwide audience and do it quickly.)

Woolworths.co.uk

Heard on BBC Radio 1 and Found at BBC News…

A cure for our UK recession blues?

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro, as Hunter S Thompson said. Times don’t get much weirder than these, so, just who are the real professionals, and what kind of weirdness are they up to?

The left coast US state of California isn’t a surprising place to find an outrageous outlaw brimming with weirdness, but finding him in the relaxing, rolling hills of the Sonoma Wine Country, tucked alongside the hallowed vines of new world wine growers, certainly surprised this San Francisco-born wine drinker.

I was drawn to Kaz winery by name alone (that’s what we affectionately call “Chairman Castledine” here in the Boxer studio… “Cas”).  The winery, the wine, and the winemaker himself, called “Kaz”, were one big surprise indeed!

We arrived at Kaz (the winery) after a long morning of tasting “oaky, blackberry, cedar and eucalyptus tannins with a Scooby-Doo finish.”  We found Kaz’s  approach simple, uncomplicated, and thankfully abundant. “What you taste, is what you taste” Kaz reminded us. No fuss, no frills. The Kaz approach definitely stands out from the crowd in a very big way.

The real special sauce in the wine, however, is Kaz’s personality.  He believes there is “no harm in experimenting”, and his quirky, nutty, playful personality comes to life in every experiment he touches: table wine, jug wine, vinegar…the light-sabre fight in the wine tasting room.  Where there’s a brand story to tell, Kaz is telling it.  With vats of personality.

Way before this recession thing started, Kaz was a commercial photographer.  Now “president-for-life” of the two-acre commonwealth of Kazzystan, Richard Kasmier operates the smallest family winery open to the public in Sonoma Valley.  Kaz said he left the rat race because he wanted to do something on his own, something he could run out of a garage.  It started as a passion, and now it’s a mission.  Kaz has built a brand, in an established market place, fuelled by imagination, independent thinking and good wine.

Somewhat depressed by the current state of retail on the high street here in the UK, and spurred by watching “Mary Portas: Save Our Shops” on BBC last night, I wondered (inspired by a glass of wine of course) if Kaz could help us here in the UK.

Why does every high street look the same? Why have the chains taken over? Why is the independent spirit of Columbia Road, Borough Market and Camden restricted to certain days of the week and specific streets?  How much of our waning spend is based not on less pocket money, but waning interest driven by a sea of sameness.

I wonder what lessons we could learn from light-sabre wielding Kaz?  What harm is there in experimenting?  What could independent, creative people do if they left the rat race for their garages, followed their passions and battled the evil empire?

Retail is a pillar of the UK economy that generates almost £900 billion a year, and employs one in six workers.  I don’t mean to over simplify a very complex issue, but given its importance, shouldn’t we start to experiment just a little?

Does life imitate art? Or art imitate life?

Jake and Dinos Chapman’s installation, entitled Chapman Family Collection (2002), features 34 wooden carvings, all with references to the McDonalds restaurant chain. A cross cultural fusion of totems, story telling and crispy fries. mmmmn. At the Tate, London, until August 23rd.

Tate Britain…

Olympus Pen reloaded

It’s not a compact. It’s not an SLR. It’s a Pen.

When Olympus launched the legendary Pen series of cameras in 1959, this bold and revolutionary achievement rewrote the history of photography. Designed by renowned style guru Yoshihisa Maitani, the Pen represented the perfect marriage of simplicity, style and performance. Five decades later the Olympus passion for innovation is still setting the pace.

With the release of the E-P1, the digital era’s next generation Olympus Pen has arrived: mirrors are no longer a necessary component for digital cameras with interchangeable lenses. The first groundbreaking Olympus Micro Four Thirds model impresses with its incredibly small size, retro style, and ease of use – without giving up any of the benefits of D-SLR quality. This new ultra-compact hybrid device can even record HD quality movies with depth of field and Art Filter effects familiar from still photography. Naturally, the E-P1 packs all the advantages of Olympus imaging technology e.g. image stabilisation, a dust reduction system, and bright interchangeable lenses. It will be available for purchase in July 2009.

Olympus are even giving us the opportunity to test drive one of these fabulous cameras, all they ask is what motives you have for wanting to try one out, the more creative the reason the more likely you are to be sent one. You can apply for this on the Olympus website, just follow the links.

More here…

and here…