OKCupid’s recent analysis of successful dating interactions got us thinking: what can these lessons of online dating teach us about relationship-building on a larger scale?

We recently caught up with designer entrepreneur Jeff Staple (of Staple Design) to find out more about his latest creation: the Rain Chamo for Kia.

Rather than lament the passing of traditional values, beliefs and rituals, let’s invent ways to save them. Let’s examine the ‘dying’ practices we value and design new tools, strategies, and products to keep them (or the essence of them) alive.

This week, we came across the NYT Magazine article uncovering the growing subculture of “2-D Lovers“, grown adults in Japan that have found romantic love with their favorite characters from anime, manga, and video games. The article considers the possible cultural forces propelling the trend – namely, “the difficulty many young Japanese have in navigating modern romantic life”. The article reports that more than a quarter of Japanese between 30 and 34 are virgins while 50 percent of men and women don’t even have opposite sex friends. For some, it seems 2-D love may be the only way to experience [...]

Last week we came across this music video/ advertisement for Taco Bell (created by DraftFCB), a riff on Diddy’s 1990s anthem,It’s All About the Benjamins“. The commercial, entitled “It’s All About the Roosevelts”, seems to have drawn inspiration from the popular Lazy Sunday” skit featured on SNL four years ago, a self-parodizing rap video about the banal lives of Chris Parnell and Adam Samberg.
SNL’s characters rap self-seriously (but in actuality, self-deprecatingly) about the boring details of their daily lives, from visiting cupcake bakeries to finding directions on the Internet. The comedic effect is a result of a combined dissonance; it’s [...]

At PSFK Conference NYC, I had the opportunity to sit down with Edward Felsenthal, Executive Editor of The Daily Beast, to discuss his new online publication and the changes he’s seeing in the rapidly evolving world of publishing. The Daily Beast, launched in October of 2008, is a curated online news site created by Tina Brown, the former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. Felsenthal, who served as Deputy Managing Editor of the Wall Street Journal prior to taking the helm at The Daily Beast, shared his insights on launching a new brand in the ever-expanding digital news [...]

At PSFK Conference NYC, moderator David Pinter (PSFK) along with Sarah Beatty (Green Depot), Simon Collins (Parsons), Ryan Jacoby (IDEO), and Matthew Lusk (Hecho Inc.) discussed the meaning of “sustainability” today, and how economic and social conscience are driving the design of new products and services. Sustainability, explained Simon, is not just about creating eco-friendly products; it’s also about making thoughtful choices as a consumer, too (buying blue jeans that last, for example). Sarah expanded on that idea, explaining that focusing on sustainability means seeking out high-quality products and services – things that maintain value and meaning over time.
The panel [...]

In an astute move, home-taught make-up maven Lauren Luke has turned her growing internet celebrity into a new product line called By Lauren Luke. While selling beauty products on eBay, a 26-year-old Lauren started posting her homemade make-up tutorials on YouTube to help her customers understand how to use the cosmetics better. Her candid, sweet ‘n simple videos quickly became popular how-tos, and within a matter of months, Lauren become the most watched YouTube personality in the UK. By Lauren Luke is being sold through her site, and offers 5 different color palettes created under the direction of Lauren Luke, [...]

At PSFK Conference NYC, Colin Nagy (PSFK/Attention) led a discussion with Help Remedies‘ founder Richard Fine and Hello Health’s Dr. Jay Parkinson and Dr. Sean Khozin about “Building Healthy Brands With Heart”. The panel touched upon the different ways their ventures were setting out to innovate an industry resistant to change. Richard Fine talked about how Help Remedies is attempting to change the way we think about medicine and first aid. Richard’s aim with creating Help was to simplify medication, from packaging to ingredients. His range stands apart from the myriad “dual-action”/”24-hr relief”/”fast-acting” products on the market – most recognizably, [...]

We had the privilege of having Marc and Sara Schiller, founders of Wooster Collective and MEET at the Apartment, at PSFK Conference NYC sharing the story behind their esteemed street art blog and the pieces that have inspired them over the years. We caught up with them to learn more about how their new space, MEET at the Apartment, was evolving.
Since we first had the opportunity to see MEET last October, how has the space and your vision for it changed?
Our intent was not to just open up just another “meetings venue” in New York City. Our goal was for [...]

At PSFK Conference NYC, Celestine Arnold gave an eye-opening talk on the “Ghost in the Machine: Digital Multiculture.” Celestine discussed the role of race and culture in video games – and the gaming industry’s failure to address (and successfully market towards) it. While minorities make up a disproportionately large percentage of the gaming community, most games cater to an assumed mainstream (white, male) player….

At PSFK Conference NYC, Kevin Slavin gave a captivating presentation on “This Platform Called Everyday Life”, in which he discussed the evolving nature of the objects surrounding us. Kevin, Managing Director and co-founder of Area/Code, explained how pervasive technologies are changing the way we relate to our physical environment and everything in it – from playground balls, to houseplants to sneakers.

Kevin opened his talk with a story about a fascinatingly bizarre woman who had such intense feelings for the Berlin Wall that she married it. Through his talk, Kevin demonstrated how the woman’s relationship with the Wall, while extreme, parallels [...]

DesignNotes features an interesting interview with Takayuki Fukatsu, the creator of two of the most elegant iPhone apps we’ve seen,  QuadCamera and ToyCamera. QuadCamera allows iPhone users to take lomo-esque sequential photos with their phones (we used it to take the top picture). ToyCamera (used to create the ship pic) overlays effects on photos, like vintage coloring and saturation. In the discussion, Fukatsu talks about his training, creative process and the inspiration behind his apps:
Takayuki Fukatsu: … I studied both Product design, and now doing digital / interface things. I want to marge those two fields. When I got an [...]

Below are the 5 most popular posts from the last 7 days (April 20-26, 2009) on PSFK.com (based on Google Analytics):
GEELY GE: The Ultimate Chinese-Made Luxury Car / Knock-Off – Sean Leow
Frito-Lay Introduces Compostable Chip Bags – Dan Gould
What if Technology Never Shrank? – Piers Fawkes
Andrew Keen: The Demise of Web 2.0 – Scott Lachut
Dockers: The World’s First Shakeable Ad – Anjali Ramachandran

At PSFK Conference NYC, Danielle Sacks (Fast Company) led a thought-provoking discussion about the rise of the “New Idea Agencies” – companies that are thinking outside of the traditional client-agency model and creating their own products, brands, and intellectual property to launch direct to market. The panel, featuring Robbie Vitrano (Trumpet), Carl Johnson (Anomaly), Bart Haney (fuseproject), and Ben Malbon (BBH Labs), explained how their companies’ unique business models evolved and the struggles (and benefits) of agencies becoming their own clients.
Developing IP rather than just messaging is clearly an attractive idea. Why build brands that, ultimately, you have no stake [...]