One neighborhood in Lima, Peru has found an ingenious solution to their water shortage.

The Velocity Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan recently brought together a collection of experts to discuss the future of cities. We’ve highlighted a selection of the most inspiring ideas.

GOOD Magazine’s Transparency section, the folks who make the swanky infographics we regularly admire, were recently interviewed by The Bygone Bureau. The infographics are known for taking staggering and complex chunks of statistical data and converting them into digestible and often beautiful visual representations.
GOOD Magazine brings in different designers to work on the graphics and tackle issues from immigration to fuel efficiency, often putting a new perspective on a current predicament. Phil Lubliner, a Brooklyn-based designer, discussed his experience working on a Transparency graphic:
“We’ve always admired the way other designers had solved the challenges the Transparencies presented,” Lubliner said. “There’s [...]

Google
Experiment rapidly, embrace failure.
Apple
Every aspect of your brand should be as good as the product.
Zipcar
Stop selling products, start selling services.
GOOD Magazine
Set the agenda and let your customers spread the conversation.
Amazon
Identify parts of our business that could be offered as additional services.
Facebook
Create the playground and let your customers define your offering.
Virgin
Think big , think small. Amaze customers with your audacity, please them with your attention to detail and customer service.
Twitter
Stay flexible, allow your audience to dictate how your services or products are used.
IKEA
Take a wider view of the shopping experience, making each step along the path to purchase simpler and, more [...]

GOOD Magazine represents the new face of publishing. Its business is not about making a magazine, or even a website—it’s about galvanizing a community that shares common interests and values. With its knack for being able to present complex issues through simple, engaging design, it can share ideas through its readers to expand its mission (and brand) beyond its immediate base.
In addition, GOOD Magazine is not afraid of the brand relationship and works with partners to create branded content that benefits the reader, the advertisers and the business.
Lesson for Business:
Set the agenda, let your customers spread the conversation.

“I find what [...]

A new website called AltUse compiles alternative uses for everyday things, utilizing crowd-sourcing to build some engaging ideas to save money or recycle aging products.  The site allows you to search for items like vinegar and pull together dozens of possible uses for an extra stockpile you may have.
The retooling of household items are a great idea, but many of the suggestions fall short due to a lack of an efficient rating system, one top tip was to add ice to a pet’s water bowl to keep them cool, which honestly is neither an alternative use or a surprising tip.  [...]

We’ve envied past collaborations Good Magazine have made with Starbucks and Lexus – and this one follows a similar theme: that they create a special Good Magazine content to create an inspirational experience for the reader and also helps sell a few cars.

The folks over at Good Magazine created an unsurprisingly clean and clear graph to put the recent bankruptcy of GM in perspective over the past two decades.  The design is a collaboration with Always With Honor and a full sized version can be found here.
[via Good Magazine]

GOOD Magazine has made an archive of its wonderfully designed ‘Transparencies’ series of infographics available on Flickr. The images span myriad graphic styles and cover compelling, disparate topics, from global sugar consumption to public transit.
[via Kottke]

Someone was telling us just the other day how much they were inspired by the talk that Max Schorr of Good magazine gave at our PSFK Conference San Francisco in 2008. We thought we’d dig it out for your to watch and review. In the talk Max Schorr discusses the importance of aligning interests and his inspirations and learnings from the beginning of GOOD Magazine.

Click to play
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We haven’t received our latest copy of Good Magazine yet… but Consumerist has and they noticed a slight reduction in size. There has been a lot of discussion about the reduction in the number of pages in magazines like Wired and now we see Good Magazine reduce in size – which we assume is a little tongue-in-cheek.
Good Magazine