Exceptional experiences
Cloudy with a chance of music videos
Singer/song-writer Lissie has release a new music video on her web site that is controlled by the current weather conditions in your location. When you get to her site it will determine your current position or you can choose yourself and the background of the video will change according to the current weather outside. If you select a new location while the video is playing a TV weatherman will provide a new forecast as an intermission while the video transitions to the new location’s weather. I think creating this type of unique digital experience is a smart investment for artists trying to break into the main stream media consciousness and you only have to look at OK GO’s YouTube sensation ‘Here It Goes Again’ to see the possibilities.
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Architecture + digital technology = N Building Tokyo
In tokyo near the Tachikawa station amidst a shopping district you will find the N Building. It is unique because if you have ever been to Asia you know that most ever building in these commercial districts has signs and billboards covering almost ever inch of the facade but not in this case. The facade of the N Building is one giant QR code that triggers up to date shop information, Tweets from building residents and even AR decorations for different seasons and events. Check out the video above for all the details but I think this is a fascinating direction for new retail experiences that can go far beyond the traditional store windows and branding.
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Salt 101 with Alton Brown
Because of it’s ability to seamlessly combine Mr. Wizard, The Muppets and Julia Child in one package, Good Eats with host Alton Brown has been my favorite cooking show for years. Recently Alton has taken to advertising pitchman for brand like Welches Juices and now Salt. This is part of a recent trend where many different vilified ingredients like high fructose corn syrup and salt have turned to advertising to try and salvage their image.
In this case Diamond Crystal Salt has launched a new site called Salt101.com which is a modern homage to a 1960′s educational film. You start off in the lobby of the Diamond Crystal Salt Education and Experimentation Center for the Betterment of Flavor Enhancement where Alton directs you to the two halves of the site – the kitchen and the lab. In the kitchen where you can learn how use salt properly and the lab where you learn how Diamond Salt is different from convention table salt. Both areas are a mix of large, high quality video done with a nice infusion of Good Eat’s style props and humor. Both areas of the site also feature interactive games that do a nice job of turning the passive viewing experience into a fun, interactive learning experience. So while it doesn’t make me want to run out and hike up my blood pressure it is by far the best food site I have seen in a long time.
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Hello Moto
If you have seen me speak at a conference or have read this blog for any length of time you know that I am motivated by my fellow designers but I am truly inspired by chefs and avant garde cuisine. I have sought out conversations with modern day culinary visionaries like Ferran Adria and Heston Blumenthal to discuss their food but mostly find out about their creative process. So this year when I had the chance to speak at FUSE I was excited for the opportunity to talk to an audience of that caliber but also because I would finally have me the time to fulfill a dream and visit two of the counties most progressive restaurants on two consecutive nights – Alinea and Moto. Of the two restaurants I had a lot more knowledge of Alinea after having a conversation with the chef Grant Achatz at an AdAge event last year and I have cooked a number of recipes from his cookbook. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Moto because I had only seen one episode of their new show Future Food and had read a few articles about chefs Homaro Cantu and Ben Roche. All of that aside I went into it knowing no matter what happened it was going to be a lot of fun and a great experience.
So last Friday after I was done speaking at FUSE we ran back to the hotel to change and then headed over to Moto. The restaurant is located in a slightly industrial area north west of downtown with an unassuming facade and simple sign. We had originally planned on getting their smaller 10 course tasting menu but once the waiter presented us with the menu that was served with artichokes and s sauce because it is actually edible, my wife and I looked at each other and then simultaneously informed the waiter we had changed our minds and would be having the full tasting menu. We started with a candle bring brought to the table to help with the dim lighting and we were off and running. A few courses in a bowl of re-imagined loaded french fries was brought to the table and the waiter extinguished the aforementioned candle and poured over the potatoes. Like an great and memorable experience it is about surprise and delight. In this case I was surprised that they poured the candle on our food and delighted that it was actually a beef fat candle. From there the meal went on to dishes like a cuban cigar served in a real ash tray that was actually pulled pork wrapped in collard greens with an edible cigar band and powered sesame seeds for the ash. A cherry bomb dessert that is brought to the table and lit on fire only to find out that it was a chocolate shell filled a graham cracker liquid and a marshmallow fuse to make a re-imagined smore. And the 20+ courses just kept coming finally ending after around 3 1/2 hours. At the end of the meal I could only think of one meal I had in my life that tasted better and I couldn’t remember any meal where the creativity and fun made smile and laugh more than this one.
After any great dinner I always ask the waiter if it would be possible to get a tour of the kitchen because my creative and curious nature kicks back in and I want to see how it is set up and how the team works. In this case they were happy to oblige me and we were taken down a stairway at the front of the restaurant to the small private dining room and lab where the team concepts their amazing dishes. We then went through two sets of doors and into the kitchen. Executive Sous Chef Darrell Nemeth immediately jumped out from behind the line to high-fived both of us with a huge smile on his face. It was by far the most unique and exuberant reception I have ever had in any kitchen . Then sous chef Richard Farina introduced us to the whole team, talked about how the kitchen is run and after mentioning how much I loved their version of a Funion from their french onion soup course I found myself with a of them to take home. Then it was up the stairs for a demonstration of their liquid Nitrogen tank and a speech from my wife about how I don’t need one for my kitchen at home.
The reason why this meal was so transcendent for me wasn’t simply because of the food. It was because after having that meal and seeing that kitchen in action I could clearly see that when it comes to creativity and creating a culture where original ideas can flourish these guys have it down cold. I could see that because I watched a kitchen that brought to life every one of the concepts I had talked about earlier that same day for running a world class design studio. They have hired incredibly passionate artists and had the confidence and culture that gave them all, from the chef who and been there 2 days to one of the founders, an equal say in the creative process. That trust inspires confidence and has created created that critical culture of failure where everyone knows it’s a safe environment where taking risks, questioning conventions and having ideas completely fail is a critical part of the creative process you have to go through to create big new ideas. If you pay attention you can see that culture and those concepts expressed through something as simple as the celebratory exuberance of the high five from Darrell Nemeth who knew we loved the food to the conversations we had with the other chefs who wanted to know what we loved and what we hated. They have embraced the fact that some ideas are home runs, some are on the road to greatness and some need to be completely re-worked and they are fine with all of it. So if you are challenged with running any type of creative and/or idea driven group get to Moto as fast as you can to have this experience, to talk to this these chefs and see how a team with that type of focus should be run. I am already booked to speak at another conference in Chicago in the end of September and I’ll give you two guesses where I will be that night with a big smile on my face.
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Burger King gives Digg.com results tiny hands
Burger King and Crispin Porter have launched a great new digital element to support their “Small hands” TV commercials where they are branding the error message on Digg.com. If you type in anything that yields no search results you will see:
Looks like your search had a typo. Maybe you’ve got tiny hands?
The $1 BURGER KING® Double Cheeseburger is so big and beefy it’s not for the tiny handed.
Click here to see why it might be too much for you to handle. Mr. Tiny Hands.
Like Whopper Sacrifice I think this new work shows a lot of really smart insight into the digital world by putting messaging in places where people do not expect it, where people will actually pay attention and where it will create a meaningful brand impression.
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Zoology – beautiful simplicity of poetry and design
Born Magazine is dedicated to collaboration between art and literature and their latest creation called Zoology is a collaboration between of the poet Sasha West and designer Ernesto Lavandera. The visual storytelling style has beautiful simplicity of design and motion with dots reforming into multiple images to match the language of the poem. It is refreshing to see something simple and beautiful that was created to just be a pure experience devoid of call to actions and sponsorships.
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Virtual Homeless
I was walking through the city the other night and came across a really interesting interactive installation that was a projection being shown on the side of a building of a homeless man laying on the ground. After a little while a message pops up asking you to move the virtual homeless person via a text message. Intrigued I sent the text message, a door appeared and the man got up and went through it. I then got a text message to my iPhone with a code I could use to donate to Pathways to Housing.
A little research revealed that it was created by Sarkissian Mason for Pathways to Housing in response to the fact that they saw a growing number of charitable donations were being made via mobile text codes after they redesigned their web site.The projections will appear on New York buildings through March and you can get location details on Pathway to Housing’s Facebook page.
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Nikon moves one step closer to Minority Report
I don’t know anyone who didn’t want Tom Cruise’s virtual desk in movie Minority Report and the new Nikon Cool Pix web site has us one step closer to that dream. The site uses your web cam to let you explore and manipulate your photo libraries on the site with gestures like what you would use on their Cool Pix camera which amazing just like the ones you use on your iPhone. You can experience the demo with some sample photos here. The element that isn’t pictured here and is probably the coolest executions are that in addition to the Web site they also put the technology into ad units and for use on other sites like Flickr through a simple bookmark. It’s a really nice tie-in from the product to the interactive experience that lets you experience something on the camera without ever having one.
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MySpace U.K. Makes Music with Facebook
Johnathan Hills and the guys over at Domani Studio have not been resting on their shiny new FWA of the year win and have been busy with the recently launched site for MySpace U.K.. The site turns to either Facebook Connect, you read that right, or the new MySpace version of Connect called MySpaceID to allow users to create personalized videos with major music stars like 50 cent, Alicia Keys and Lostprophets. It’s honestly one of the best external uses of Facebook content I have ever seen as your profile photo is seamlessly integrated into the videos that were all shot specifically for the site to be able to create the effect. It os funny to login, choose some of the video clips and then call a friend over to see their reaction. Now is MySpace could just figure out a way to make their actual site as cool as this experience…
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JimCarrey.com – more Eternal Sunshine than Living Color
The rubber faced comedian Jim Carrey has just launched JimCarrey.com, a new personal web site documenting his career and based on his slapstick comedy stylings it’s an experience that is nothing like what I expected. The visual design is at times like something out of a Salvador Dali painting with elements of a Tim Burton movie sprinkled in. It is extremely visual with minimal navigation and a lot hidden content and interactions sprinkled throughout the extensive video and animation. One example of this is the Ace Ventura headed bird that is his Twitter link found on every page that spouts his latest Tweets one word at a time. I have to honestly say that this is the first celebrity site I have ever wanted to spend any time with and I applaud him for actually creating something that gives some credit to his fans for being able to enjoy something more challenging that the usual headshot laden celebrity dribble.
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