http://www.psfk.com Your Go-To Source For New Ideas And Inspiration Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:15:17 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.psfk.com/2010/12/social-shopping-nuji-brings-product-curation-to-mobile.html Wed, 08 Dec 2010 22:05:10 +0000 By combining Svpply-like curation with the social barcode-scanning aspect of Stickybits, Nuji is hoping to build a "shopping mall curated by people whose taste you admire."]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/11/rent-the-runway-style-for-the-non-committal.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:00:27 +0000 A new invitation-only site called Rent the Runway lets members rock Badgley Mischka on a Banana Republic budget through an online borrowing system.]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/10/made-by-bodega-the-mapping-project.html Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:32:01 +0000 Bodega is launching its first endeavor, the “Mapping Project.” The meet-up, which takes place tomorrow at 303Grand in Williamsburg, Brooklyn aims to connect creatives, start-ups, social entrepreneurs, and small business owners with the purpose of spurring collaboration.]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/09/urballoon-interactive-digital-bonfire-in-nyc-tonight.html Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:01:56 +0000 The Urballoon is a large helium balloon with a video projector and a wireless laptop that projects user-generated content onto public spaces.]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/09/make-your-own-ralph-lauren-rugby-shirt-through-new-app-interactive-window.html Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:07:51 +0000 Yesterday, Rugby debuted its new "Make Your Own" iPhone application at their store Greenwich Village store.]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/08/44630.html Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:06:47 +0000 The problem with online shopping is that its, well, online. Until we have photorealistic 3D avatars of ourselves, it will always be better to try things on IRL. But the truth is, we dress for other people, and we often need outside opinions when deciding what to buy. So we shop with friends or, more often, end up returning half of our purchases. Though perhaps you have snapped a photo of an item with your cellphone and sent it to a friend. This is what Brooke Moreland and Joe Weisenthal noticed people doing, which gave them an idea: “Wouldn't it be cool if you got a personalized review about how something looked on you “in real life”, before you made the purchase?”]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/07/microfundo-brings-the-kiva-model-to-music.html Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:06:55 +0000 Microfunding is emerging as a compelling alternative to big banking. Popularized by Kiva and other philanthropic institutions, we’ve also seen the model applied to creative pursuits with sites like Society6 and Kickstarter. A new site called Microfundo aims to bring this model to music. Calling themselves “Kiva.org for musicians,” their mission is “to support the entrepreneurial activities of independent musicians from developing countries around the world — championing undiscovered musicians who would otherwise not have the means to develop their music careers.” Microfundo takes it concept directly from the traditional banking model–artists receive the full amount of their microfunding campaign’sRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/07/rental-car-rally-revs-up-once-again.html Tue, 28 Jul 2009 07:05:46 +0000 On August 21, the third invocation of the Rental Car Rally will be rolling from NYC to Detroit. The brainchild of  StreetWars‘ “Supreme Commander” and Steve Bryant of Wiimbledon, the rally is more Mermaid Parade than NASCAR–check out our post and some photos from their San Francisco to Yuma expedition. There is no set route, but each team must hit pre-defined checkpoints, which include an abandoned ghost town in Pennsylvania with a mine fire burning beneath the streets and a drive thru strip club. The motley crew will then spend the night partying in a downtown Detroit hotel casino beforeRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/07/the-flavorpill-50.html Mon, 27 Jul 2009 07:10:32 +0000 Culture site Flavorpill has always hung its hat on curation—culling cool urban to-dos and telling people about them. Last week, they relaunched their site with a new invite-only listings hub—the Flavorpill 50—that reinforces this tack and adds a new twist.]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/05/psfk-interview-hugh-dornbush-of-omgicu.html Thu, 21 May 2009 14:34:54 +0000 At the NY Tech Meetup in February, we got a peek at a new mobile service called omgicu. After its launch a few weeks back, there has been a lot of buzz–and debate–about it. omgicu can be described as a real-time version of Gawker Stawker, enabling anyone to “spot” celebs and blast it out Gossip Girl-style to anyone who has opted in for area alerts. We recently sat down with Hugh Dornbush, the company’s founder, to talk about the evolution of celebrity media, our genetic drive to gossip, and birdwatching. What inspired you to create the service? I was inRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/05/society6-brings-microfinance-to-the-art-world.html Mon, 18 May 2009 14:06:28 +0000 Looking to democratize the grant process, Society6 has launched a new patronage system based on micropayments. “When one of our artist friends was invited to show her work at a prestigious art show, but wasn’t able to secure the funds to go, we knew there was a very real problem to solve”, said co-founder, Justin Wills. To do this, “we started to look at the existing support infrastructure for artists and other creative people,” said co-founder Lucas Tirigall-Caste, and “realized that it was particularly bureaucratic, exclusive and wasn’t designed for scale.” So they re-imagined the process as a meritocracy—one whereRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/04/rental-car-rally-2009.html Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:32:48 +0000 Last year, 200 some-odd people set off on a 36-hour road trip competition from New York City to Montreal. Now entering its second year, the so-called “Rental Car Rally” is back, this time from San Francisco to Yuma, AZ. Embarking on June 14th will be about 100 “crazily-festooned” teams competing for a few thousand dollars and a “gold gas pump” (a gas pump handle that’s been spray-painted gold). If you’re envisioning a road race with cars tearing down the highway, go see The Fast and the Furious 4. This will be more slapstick comedy; winners are judged not by speed,Read more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/04/psfk-interview-michael-romanowicz-on-twenty4tv.html Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:57:01 +0000 “Twenty4 Hours of Perfect Content” (www.twenty4.tv) is a new digital art project that aims to turns your browser into a TV set using crowd-sourced content. The brainchild of Michael Romanowicz (right), Twenty4.tv creates a channel-surfing experience by streaming a slideshow of preexisting websites. Next he’s asking you, “the crowd,” to help him populate a database of sites like these. When he has more than enough to work with, Romanowicz will attempt to curate 24 Hours of Perfect Content contextual to time of day and a number of other themes. We caught up with Romanowicz to talk about his inspiration andRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/01/streaming-tweeting-and-facebooking-the-inauguration.html Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:07:32 +0000 For most Americans, the question yesterday wasn’t whether you should watch the inauguration, it was where. Aside from every TV channel, you could watch live streams online from CBS (on Joost), ABC, CNN, Fox News (on Hulu). Katie Couric covered the post-inaugural events in a web-only cast (sponsored by Audi). There was an official feed from the Presidential Inauguration Committee, an amateur one from Obama Girl on Stickam.com, and everything in between. You could even join a virtual celebration as an avatar of WeeWorld. One of the most popular places to watch was CNN.com, who did a virtual viewing partyRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/01/nokias-less-is-more-eco-strategy.html Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:10:45 +0000 We’ve been thinking about ways handsets could be more sustainable, and it turns out that Nokia has too. Their latest idea: Make less stuff. As part of its new “we:” strategy to save energy and reduce waste, Nokia’s N79 Eco will ship sans charger (the idea is to use your old one) and come in a smaller box. According to AllAboutSymbian: The smaller box may not sound terribly significant, but when you operate on the scale of Nokia the little things really do add up. For example between February 2006 and the end of 2007, Nokia shipped 250 million phonesRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/01/from-ces-watch-out-curves-ahead.html Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:12:36 +0000 Gadget designers rarely get to think outside the box. Sure, they may get to give things rounded edges or the like, just to spice things up. But it’s the square that fundamentally shapes our technology–from TVs to Kindles. That is all about to change. In the near future, technology will take on the same twists and curves as our own bodies. Fast Company saw several products from CES as harbingers of the trend, including: Samsung’s flexible screen/display points the way towards scroll-shaped cellphones–just unroll the screen. Apple’s new 17-inch MacBook Pro has a lithium battery specially shaped to fit theRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/01/nokia-n79-active-tracks-heart-rate.html Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:52:09 +0000 There’s a lot of potential for digital self-measurement–pedometers, calorie counters, and heart monitors all promise to make our workouts more efficient. We’ve noted that the best way to do this would be through the mobile phone, but this does present limitations. For example, the iPhone Heart Monitor requires that you hold the phone (or headphone mic) up to your pulse. Perhaps not so convenient mid-workout. So we like the Polar Bluetooth WearLink heart rate monitor; it can measure your heart rate while you run without you doing a thing. Nokia likes it too. It has announced a partnership with PolarRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/01/crafty-qr-code-makes-political-statement.html Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:35:10 +0000 QR codes, which create physical world hyperlinks or hardlinks, have sparked the imaginations of designers and artists. They’ve been used to make public statements (QR code fences and Invader’s QR Code murals) as well as fashion statements (QR code scarves). Now they are being used to make a political statement. Knitted QR codes have become the preferred medium for Rayna Fahey aka Kakariki from Radical Cross Stitch and a large one called “QRacks in the Land” was recently featured at the Streets of Melbourne Festival this past weekend. Fahey says they are “a way of exploring non-corporate alternatives to thisRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/01/john-maedas-design-life-in-five-photos.html Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:53:47 +0000 John Maeda wears a lot of hats: graphic designer, computer scientist, mathematician, sneaker designer, university professor, author, and now President of Rhode Island School of Design. His work on the intersection of technology and design landed him on Esquire‘s list of the 21 most important people in the 21st century. In this episode of Dezeen Magazine’s Design Miami Chat Shows, the endlessly-interesting Maeda presents his “design life in five photos.” Here’s the recap: Taken when he curated Ars Electronica in Austria. He was walking along the water and saw this lone blooming bush and wondered why. “I think a lotRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/01/license-plate-texting.html Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:18:26 +0000 In a press release detailing the perils of texting at the wheel, SayType just announced their speech-to-text service that enables hands-free texting, email and internet search. What really caught our eye, though, was a service called “license plate messaging”. Here’s how it works: Say “Plate” then begin with the license plate number. e.g. 7k66665, then continue with your message, you left your car door open and your lights on. To add a license plate number, or add/modify/remove contact information, visit www.whyhonk.com. WhyHonk marks the emergence of a truly “mobile” social network. You can send a voice message to any carRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2008/12/a-sustainable-cellphone-its-in-our-hands.html Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:06:44 +0000 In 2009 and beyond, many of us are hoping for greener gadgets that add a “con” to their science. As one of the most pervasive modern technologies, mobile phones are a great place to start. How can they be—and help us be—more eco-friendly? Treehugger recently posted a sustainability wish list, which is more attainable than you might have thought. Powered Efficiently and Entirely by Renewable Energy Be it solar, talking, bouncing or anything else, we wish our smart phones could collect the energy needed to run them by utilizing the energy resources around them. While we can somewhat accomplish this,Read more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2008/12/good-idea-designing-for-multiple-screens.html Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:57:45 +0000 Content has changed. It’s no longer the passive programming of years past. Thanks to new-and rapidly fragmenting–media channels, today’s audiences demand interactive, personal and customized experiences. I’m not just talking about websites, social networks, user-generated content-so 2007. I’m talking about screens-cell phones, digital billboards, web-enabled TVs, projectors. It can be argued that 2008 marked the year that these truly became viable, widespread, and mass-adopted technologies. Finally, it seems, people are realizing that these aren’t siloed platforms. They are all interconnected and can be used to leverage and play off of one another. The new media triad has emerged. Perhaps the numbers convinced us:Read more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2008/12/itp-winter-show-part-2.html Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:22:17 +0000 Picking up where we left off earlier, here are some more of our favorites from this week’s ITP Winter Show: Membrain Stand in front of a globe, representing a “collective brain,” and your photo is taken. However the “pixels” that comprise your photo are actually tiny images of other people that were there before you. Scroll your hand down the globe, and it zooms out to show all the previous images in full view, as well as your own. Imagine this as a public artwork that can remember all its visitors. Breath Note Designed to capture the fleeting canvas ofRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2008/12/itp-winter-show-part-1.html Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:54:03 +0000 We visited ITP’s annual Winter Show to check out some of the ingenious art/tech mashups from this year’s students. From bartending pianos to paparazzi purses, there was wall-to-wall ingenuity on display. We had so many favorites that we couldn’t fit them in ten posts, let alone one, but we’ll try it in two. Here’s the first round-up: Pianocktial This is a piano that mixes drinks–seriously. The keys correspond to certain liquors, which are dispensed when they are played. So what does Chopsticks taste like? We can’t tell you. But whatever it was we played tasted like grape juice. Awesome project,Read more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2008/12/whats-your-inspiration-psfk-talks-to-christiane-celle.html Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:31:35 +0000 Like fellow Frenchwoman Colette Roussaux, Christiane Celle has mastered the art of curation. Each piece in her Calypso boutiques is an instant classic–easy, chic, and versatile. Her latest project, Clic Gallery, marks a shift from fashion to photography. This Noho store, opened in October 2008, has already earned a reputation for its careful selections and eclectic taste. You can find photography books from publishers such as Verlag Schaden, Rizzoli, Phaidon, Taschen, TeNeues, and Steidl, as well as small independent publishers,  signed trade titles, limited editions and artists editions with signed prints. Last month, Clic St Barth opened near the banksRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2008/12/why-clunky-is-ok-a-look-at-the-building-blocks-of-adoption.html Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:35:35 +0000 As most of you reading this blog know, more people in the world own mobile phones than computers, and this becomes more and more true every day. They are becoming absolutely critical for everyday life, in developing countries especially, as phones bring new found freedom and possibilities. This is especially true with it comes to banking and finance, and we’re seeing a lot of innovation in this sector. For instance, a new pilot study in Mumbai by a start up called Eko and the Centurion Bank of Punjab offers a simple saving account that can all be managed through aRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2008/12/clamp-fitbit-sends-your-fitness-data-to-the-web.html Tue, 09 Dec 2008 21:07:24 +0000 People are becoming much more interested in self-monitoring and gathering personal informatics. You can see this as exhibitionist (“what’s left to share? raw data!”) or as purely selfish (“I hope to make better decisions and learn more about myself”). Clamp Fitbit ($99) is a new device that keeps tabs on your fitness, even when you’re asleep. It has a motion sensor that records your steps and distance covered, as well as calories burned, even how well you slept based on your tosses and turns. This data is wirelessly transmitted to FitBit’s site when you get near its base station (hookedRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2008/12/snooth-puts-a-sommelier-in-your-pocket.html Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:35:20 +0000 Snooth, now the world’s largest social wine database, has added a mobile component just in time for the boozy holiday season. The new iPhone app uses location data to help you find prices and specific wines of interest (WOI?). Type in what you are looking for (i.e., “full-bodied white”, “red under $20,” Beaujolais for a light salad with raspberry vinaigrette”) plus your zip code, then Snooth will return matching wines are both in-stock and in your neighborhood. This could be especially handy en route to a holiday party if you find yourself empty-handed. It has a one-click feature either callRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2008/11/demogirl-instruction-manuals-for-the-visual-generation.html Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:37:15 +0000 Drop.io is like Twitter–you don’t grasp its usefulness (or even really get it) until you see it. So this week, they announced their first redesign and included a helpful video explanation with the help of demogirl.com. Demogirl is Molly McDonald, who does the site with her two brothers. They saw the need for short demos for new digital services, so they stepped in for the camera shy. It’s great for those who prefer something a little more polished (and it doesn’t hurt that she sounds hot). As we’ve previously noted, video is the new instruction manual. Every tech release (especiallyRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2008/11/att-text-jumbli-many-screens-one-experience-2.html Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:04:58 +0000 Screens are everywhere—in bars, taxis, movie theaters, living rooms, city streets, in your hand, in front of you right now—and it’s making media increasingly fragmented. Yesterday we talked about how the ad business is being affected by this proliferation of media channels. “We have a story we want to tell, and we use different media channels and different touch points to tell it. We have to rely on the consumer to pull the story together,” said Robert Rasmussen. However, the mark of a good campaign is not just narrative cohesion between these channels, but truly connecting them in an interactive,Read more...]]>