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/2007/12/bureau-of-workplace-interactive-art.html Wed, 05 Dec 2007 16:23:58 +0000 Rarely any of us can focus on one task at a time; we are constantly in a flux of workplace motion, stealing seconds here to save time somewhere else. The Bureau of Workplace Interruption is a time-stealing agency that sees these seconds as an opportunity. Artist Chris Barr promises to create interruptions that challenge the needs of employees and stimulate creative flow.  ”The ruptures we create are temporary spaces for open dialogue, invisible resistance, and general amusement. In short, we hope to invigorate some of the time you spend at work in order to create new experiences and possibilities outsideRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/11/red-good-with-steak.html Thu, 29 Nov 2007 03:08:02 +0000 Enter this into Snooth and get yourself a good wine to go with dinner. Launched in June of this year, Snooth features 1.8 million reviews for over 300,000 wines complete with wine recommendations, ratings and reviews. Users are encouraged to post information about wines they try; and once a user rates five wines, they will start to get personalized recommendations from the social database. The more information a user gives on wines they enjoy, the more personalized and detailed the recommendations become. The “My Wines” feature allows users to build and manage their personal wine collection, maintain wish lists, trackRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/09/gawker-get-a-facebooklift.html Mon, 17 Sep 2007 16:20:36 +0000 Ever wonder when commenting on somebody’s blog will pay off? Wonder no more! Gawker Media, publisher of such popular blogs as Gizmodo, Lifehacker, and Kotaku is taking the next step. Nick Denton, owner of Gawker Media, let Wired News know all about it on Friday. Gawker blog readers can now specify which commentators are their favorites and will be notified when these favs contribute to the site OR when they add someone to their list of favorites. It’s one big, happy-I like you, you like them, now I like them-feedback system. It’s also one of the next moves in buzzfeed-likeRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/09/order-your-next-pizza-via-text.html Tue, 11 Sep 2007 02:18:46 +0000 For all you convenience fans and text messaging enthusiasts, get ready for text messaging to take convenience to the next level! GoMobo now lets you order food-to-go via text message. That’s right! Skip the line and even pick up your food or drink at a pre-scheduled time with the service. Users get to build their favorite orders from online restaurant menus. Save each order with a “GoCode” and simply text the code to your chosen restaurant, then schedule a time for pickup at your convenience. PSFK got the scoop: Following the success of the New York City beta launch thatRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/09/the-new-bling-for-hennessy-taste.html Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:10:17 +0000 Challenged by brands such as Belvedere and Grey Goose, and perhaps losing ground with the “bling” market, an upgrade is in order. “Taste is the new bling,” says Ewen Cameron, CEO and ecd at Berlin Cameron United in New York, the agency responsible for the new Hennessy campaign. Hennessy has long been adopted by rappers as a favorite with shout-outs and even entire songs dedicated to the expensive after-dinner cognac. In “Lost Weekend,” a 90-second spot that is set to debut on flauntyourtaste.com, a matriarch invites a group of young musicians to spend the weekend at her luxury mansion. WhatRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/09/post-purchase-product-alteration.html Fri, 07 Sep 2007 18:59:37 +0000 It’s a phenomenon that Ikea took to the retail world, and now it’s coming full-circle. A growing collective of global “hackers” as they’re called are dismantling products and re-aligning the parts as they see fit. Take Winnie Lam, who created a Sundae Toppings footstool, fashioned from a few bags of cotton pompoms hot-glued to an Ikea stool. Or Christine Domanic who built a new bench from an Ikea sidetable. An article from the NYTimes explores this growing subset a bit further: Do-it-yourselfers and technogeeks, tinkerers, artists, crafters and product and furniture designers, the hackers are united only by their perspective,Read more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/09/evolution-of-the-ebook.html Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:56:11 +0000 Have you ever seen a unicorn? How about a dragon or the LochNess Monster? An eBook has, for the longest time, they’ve been as elusive as the former three, but now, Amazon.com would like to make your dreams come true, almost. In an evolutionary move from the first-sight of one last year with Sony’s Reader (image at right), a $300 gadget with enough memory to hold 80 books, the Kindle enters the market in October of this year. Amazon.com has created an electronic book reader that has been the subject of industry speculation for a year. The Kindle will beRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/09/laptop-users-get-starbucks-customer-service.html Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:50:54 +0000 Starbucks now has a reminder to wifi users that they are in fact in the capital of customer-service. Want a mocha or Cappuccino while you surf the web? Don’t want to leave your laptop on the table while you wait in line to order? Don’t worry, a friendly barista will be out with your order. Baristas have always been a behind-the-bar service, but in order to keep customers happy, Starbucks realizes sometimes the coffee needs to come to them. We’re not quite sure if the customer raises a hand or shouts the order across to the barista, but we nowRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/09/northrop-grummans-touchtable.html Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:49:31 +0000 If you’ve seen the movie Minority Report, you were probably as jealous as we were about the touchscreen technology they used to graphically display their plan. Be jealous no more! You can get your own touchable technology with Northrop Grumman’s TouchTable. The device, something that has been used in the defense sector for several years now is what they call an “integrated collaboration environment.” The display lets you move your hand across the table, shift images sideways, zoom out and zoom in. [via rbTrends]]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/09/high-end-meets-non-profit-in-art-gallery.html Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:14:08 +0000 In October, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles will make a move unprecedented in museum history. It will feature the work of artist Takashi Murakami alongside a pop-up version of a Louis Vuitton store selling luxury leather goods in the middle of the exhibition. Murakami has specifically designed bags and accessories for this exhibit. As an artist, he has sought to break the barriers between low and high art. Housing a luxury brand within a non-profit gallery accomplishes this task. In a USAToday article, the museum’s Chief Curator says, “People have touched base with the play between theRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/09/differentiation-beats-revenue-in-cinema.html Thu, 06 Sep 2007 16:12:32 +0000 Either you’ve got stadium seating or you don’t; Movie theaters don’t change much from one to the next. But if you want a new option for your movie-night out, get yourself to Bangalore for a ‘Gold Class’ screen experience. Luxury halls with recliner seats and in-seat service complete with a lounge await your arrival. Brand building in a very competitive market seems to be the underlying theme for luxury halls with revenue not a prime consideration, at least for now. Increasing brand recall is driving this innovation trend where the main goal is for moviegoers to remember their time moreRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/09/waitlist-for-underground-dining-experience-is-one-year.html Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:44:21 +0000 The “gypsy kitchen” has no fixed location and their menu changes each week. If you book a reservation now, you will be on a waiting list of 4000. If you do get in, only the night before will you get the email or text message telling you exactly where you’ll be eating. Still interested? Zingara Cucina, Melbourne’s biggest culinary mystery, is a fine-dining experience housed in obscure locations that has won the kind of word-of-mouth accolades most legitimate establishments only dream about. It began almost three years ago when dinner parties held for friends by the operator and chef developedRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/09/ringtones-unite-free-the-ringtone.html Tue, 04 Sep 2007 21:01:49 +0000 From land-line to cellphone, the sound of a ringing phone didn’t make as huge a leap as the technology did. Sure the digital world gave us a few more choices for the standard “bwwwrriingggh!” but they still sounded like a “bwwwrriingggh.” Lucky for us, we have a mute function and the vibrate option. The Ringtone Society, a platform initiated in the Netherlands by Muzieklab for the artistic development of the ringtone, would like to introduce ringtones people actually like into the world. Partnering with composers and musicians from all over the world, the Society intends to transform the cellphone environmentRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/08/new-magazine-for-the-un-organized.html Tue, 28 Aug 2007 11:51:55 +0000 In a chaotic, pressed-for-time world, things can pile up anywhere: home, office, car, mind, etc. That’s where Organize Magazeine comes in. Their inaugural issue hit shelves this summer with the goal to provide doable organization projects for real people with real lives (as opposed to the un-real kind with organized lives). According to the National Association of Professional Organizers 80% of the clutter in most homes is a result of disorganization, not lack of space. 50% of homeowners rate the garage as the most disorganized place in the house. 80% of what we file never gets looked at again. 40%Read more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/08/burning-man-goes-green.html Mon, 27 Aug 2007 19:33:35 +0000 People from all over the world began partying last night in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. Burning Man is a week-long event that inspires people from all over the world to come and celebrate creativity and self-expression. The Desert floor or “playa” is converted into a city of sorts with a theme. This year, Burning Man seeks to raise awareness about the environment with a theme of green: “I’ve heard people say, `It’s Burning Man, not Composting Dude,’” admits Tom Price, an environmental journalist and 11-year Burner who is the environmental manager for this year’s event. Many efforts atRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/08/veggie-bus-travels-usa.html Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:00:53 +0000 The Conscious Goods Alliance stopped in Union Square last Friday, the halfway point for a year-long, nationwide tour. The CGA is an alliance made up of companies that believe in a “triple-bottom-line,” a social-conscious version of the more conventional, financial-only bottom line. Their mode of transportation is a reconditioned 1984 Van Hool Tour Coach converted to run on recycled vegetable oil. Its redesigned interior includes green and recycled materials such as bamboo siding, palm wood flooring and hemp cushions. A large skylight provides solar energy. Companies like Kopali Organics, CSRWire, Delicious Living and New Chapter Organics believe in the powerRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/08/newspapers-lose-some-weight.html Mon, 20 Aug 2007 16:02:55 +0000 In an industry-wide effort to maintain ad revenue and cut costs, newspapers are downsizing to a new 12-inch width. Decreased circulation, declining ad revenue and increased competitiveness from the internet-as-news-source has required that the industry evolve. On Friday, the Chicago Tribune followed the big dogs: Wall Street Journal (lost three inches) and New York Times (lost an inch and a half). In a Forbes article, industry spokespeople assure us that a new design will not make the compromise too drastic: “The change will result in the space for news being reduced by about 10 percent, but the paper will makeRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/08/china-the-new-scapegoat-for-bad-corporate-judgement.html Fri, 17 Aug 2007 02:33:42 +0000 Mattel, the world’s largest toy manufacturer, made its second recall within a month’s time and made a lot of noise about the fact that their supplier in China had used lead paint in 436,000 toys. Enough noise to try to hide the fact that it had to recall 18 million toys whose faults were nothing to do with China – it was the American design. The NY Times : In a double-barreled announcement, the company said it was recalling 436,000 Chinese-made die-cast toy cars depicting the character Sarge from the animated film “Cars” because they are covered with lead paint.Read more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/08/is-the-web-really-prints-friend.html Mon, 13 Aug 2007 21:52:55 +0000 Only recently PSFK asked Can Paper Survive? But what about the magazine market? While the web seems to be knocking newspapers, niche publications from the UK to Japan are thriving – or at least appear to be. Maybe the web is a friend of print, not it’s killer? A few points to consider: In the UK, a magazine targeted (by subscription only in a direct mail fashion) to the super-affluent, is perpetuating the growth of a luxury brands market. The Spear’s Wealth Management Survey has a database of 30,000 high-net wealth (HNW) readers, an attractive crowd for the brands whoRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/08/diy-movement-continues-working.html Sat, 11 Aug 2007 02:11:33 +0000 Do-it-yourselfers, technogeeks, tinkerers, artists, crafters, product and furniture designers, these so-called hackers are united only by their perspective: to not accept something as is. Winnie Lam was thinking about food when she made her Chocolate Sundae Toppings footstool, fashioned from a few bags of cotton pompoms hot-glued to an Ikea stool. “It came from staring into a bowl of ice cream one day,” said Ms. Lam, 31, who lives in Mountain View, Calif., and is a product manager at Google. “I’m a chocolate lover, but I’d rather look at it than eat it.” Lam and otheres like her make aRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/08/30ft-bunny-hops-sony-into-ring-with-nike-and-coca-cola.html Fri, 10 Aug 2007 19:16:40 +0000 Branding is a process. It’s not a formula made up with numbers and impressions. It is a more organic process with a little bit of magic that happens when the right groups of people get together and have ideas. Right now, that right group is Sony, Fallon London, Passion Pictures and Gorgeous Enterprises. What’s the idea? Color. Add some Playdoh and you’ve got Clay: the much anticipated third installment in the impressive Sony Bravia “like.no.other.” campaign. Few brands have reached the point where consumers eagerly await the next piece of advertising. And only a few brands can say they parallelRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/08/place-performance-game-working.html Thu, 09 Aug 2007 20:12:53 +0000 This workshop is designed for professionals and non-professionals alike who help plan towns and cities — from highway engineers and real estate developers to community garden advocates and housing specialists. Based on PPS’s 30 years of experience in placemaking, and inspired by our popular book, How to Turn a Place Around, the course shows participants our unique approach to revitalization.Enrollment is limited to 40 participants, in order to promote a close-knit environment that fosters a deep understanding of what makes public spaces function and of PPS’s innovative methods for analyzing them. During the course, participants work in small teams toRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/08/consumer-review-freaks-business-out.html Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:37:49 +0000 Yelp is a consumer review site (amazon, consumerreports, or epinions) that provides a social networking function (myspace & facebook). Why is this helpful? CNN says, “When we discover something wonderful )(or horrible), we love to tell our friends about it. We also turn to people we trust when we need a good recommendation. Yelp is enabling those conversations to happen on a massive scale.” “I’m making a ton of money from Yelp, and it’s freaking me out,” says the owner of an Orange County hair salon. What happened? Anita Lau wrote about the salon at Yelp.com. Lau has posted 2,036Read more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/08/im-not-a-plastic-bag.html Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:10:46 +0000 Sometimes your efforts to help the Earth or conserve energy aren’t noticed by others for what they are. Anya Hindmarch has taken care of this problem with fashion, think of it as Trader Joe’s meets Louis Vuitton. The bags are a re-usable alternative to the plastic bags supermarkets want to double-up on for your safety and convenience. Hindmarch’s FAQ page says more: To date this project has raised a great deal of awareness over the wasted use of plastic bags around the world. It has also contributed to Sainsbury’s (UK) banning plastic bags from their stores on two days andRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/08/want-a-dog-share-one-with-flexpetz-2.html Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:04:19 +0000 FlexPetz is a unique concept for dog lovers who can’t take care of a dog full-time but would enjoy taking one for a walk every once in a while. Complete with obedience training, dogs are available in varied breeds and sizes to accommodate an individual’s lifestyle and circumstances. Through the FlexPetz shared dog concept, members can spend from just a few hours to a number of days with an available dog. It is also a great opportunity to provide rescue dogs or dogs that need a new home with a carefree, loving environment. [via AdAge]]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/08/baby-boomer-health-craze.html Wed, 01 Aug 2007 18:23:48 +0000 For the last decade, the 78 million Americans in this popular demographic group are representing the fastest growing segment of the health-nut crowd. Some statistics from CNN: 37% of health club members are 55 and older. The average age of personal training clients is now 42.4 years. 9 out of 10 builders across the country are currently working on communities for the active adult. Fitness takes many forms nowadays, no longer is it just aerobics on TV led by Suzanne Somers or Jane Fonda (both Boomers). Today, the Boomers have their choices: yoga, pilates, nia, tai chi, bike, treadmill, resistance,Read more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/07/take-the-subway-to-google-myspace-or-wikipedia.html Tue, 31 Jul 2007 21:54:41 +0000 If you haven’t had enough maps, then here’s another one! The Information Architects have taken a map of the Tokyo Subway line and put in popular websites linked by category, proximity, success, popularity and perspective. The websites are all in association with Japanese cities, so if you know what Shimbashi & Ueno are like, you’ll have a better idea. But it’s still fun to look at, there’s a lot more information than meets the eye. [via Channel 8000]]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/07/whats-a-crowd-farm.html Mon, 30 Jul 2007 22:17:03 +0000 If solar power needs some competition, let it be people. A plan that would harvest energy from human movement is hatching from the minds of two grad students at the Architecture and Planning School at MIT. Both students were impressed enough by recent experiences in large crowds – for James Graham, the 2003 New York City blackout; for Tad Juscyzk, Boston’s World Cup celebration in City Hall Plaza – to start work on the Farm. A Crowd Farm in Boston’s South Station railway terminal would work like this: A responsive sub-flooring system made up of blocks that depress slightly underRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/07/world-map-of-social-networks.html Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:44:07 +0000 Let’s take a drive around the international digital-sphere. Social networking is quickly emerging as the horse in front for brand planning online. Social media  is a catch-all term to describe websites where users or members share content, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and media themselves. Valleywag has mapped out the world according to which social network a country is using the most: Orkut leads in the Indian subcontinent, as well as Brazil. Facebook is stronger, internationally, than Myspace, with surprising strongholds in the Middle East. hi5.com is the most international of all the social networks, leading in Peru, Colombia, Central America,Read more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2007/07/can-paper-survive.html Tue, 24 Jul 2007 14:21:55 +0000 In a digital age, paper is losing its weight. WMMNA recently asked: How do we survive the paper industry? This discussed kicked off the “Paper & Pixel,” a week of discussions surrounding the development of technology and how it’s influencing the publishing industry. Ask yourself: what was the last document you printed and why? Now compare it to how many things you’ve read online – emails, blogs, articles, news headlines, the thesaurus, etc. Why do people need to print anymore? Or better yet, where does the information have more significance: online or offline? This is a question tackled by HelmetRead more...]]>