http://www.psfk.com Your Go-To Source For New Ideas And Inspiration Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:24:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.psfk.com/2011/03/unicef-fun-guide-sapientnitro-responds-to-psfk-future-of-mobile-tagging-report.html Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:18:07 +0000 PSFK challenged advertising and design agencies from around the world to react to the Future of Mobile Tagging report. They were tasked with developing concepts making use of Microsoft Tag to address one or more or the needs set forth by the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in a creative brief.]]> http://www.psfk.com/2010/09/how-technology-is-changing-retail-and-marketing.html Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:03:49 +0000 In part two of our Innovation In Fashion salon, a panel from Yelp, Fashism and FastMall discuss how to engage consumers using mobile apps. ]]> http://www.psfk.com/2010/06/wearable-drum-kit-played-by-tapping-fingers.html Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:35:12 +0000 A group of students have created an interesting virtual music tool.]]> http://www.psfk.com/2010/05/gesture-controlled-led-lamp-offers-a-simple-interface.html Tue, 18 May 2010 15:15:13 +0000 A simple touch-sensitive lamp allows users to select how much light they need.]]> http://www.psfk.com/2010/04/future-of-retail-limited-sales-inspiring-collective-consumer-action.html Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:37:52 +0000 There are a growing number of emerging member-based services, delivering heavily discounted high-end fashion in flash sales lasting anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of hours.]]> http://www.psfk.com/2010/03/an-educational-plug-and-play-sensor-system-for-the-iphone.html Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:50:55 +0000 The SPARKscience platform combined with the SPARKvue mobile app brings physical computing and sensor-driven learning to the classroom. ]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/08/pic-42-folding-bikes-in-a-car-space.html Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:27:21 +0000 A snap of 42 Brompton bikes 'parked' in a space for a car. ]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/08/monocle-looks-at-audio-not-video-to-extend-its-reach.html Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:48:42 +0000 PSFK had noticed that earlier this year that the number of the Monocle magazine video podcasts had declined and the lifestyle-meets-business-meets-travel publication had even experimented with video podcasts which had slideshows of images with accompanying narrator rather than moving image. Meanwhile the weekly and summer special podcasts had become popular and we wondered if the change had been made just because it’s easier and cheaper to produce audio than video content . In an interview in the Independent, Moncole magazine editor Tyler Brûlé shines some light on this topic as he discusses how they have taken the Monocle approach toRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/08/from-newspaper-to-experience.html Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:14:26 +0000 Image credit: Getty Images, Michael Bodge/Flickr Writing in the Guardian, journalist Simon Jenkins argues that publishers should learn from the lessons made by the music business rather than return to paywall media. He says that he viewed the evolution of the newspaper when he went to the Glastonbury music festival recently, and witnessed how people will still pay for the live experience: The key must be to learn the lesson of the most tightly competitive medium of all: popular music. It has cast off its enslavement to recording studios and recast itself, almost in Victorian mode, as a mass movementRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/07/johnnie-walkers-3000-blend.html Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:28:05 +0000 Scottish whisky makers Johnnie Walker have launched in Singapore a $3,000 blend available in the mall of the airport there. The John Walker is blended from casks from nine distilleries, including some from the company’s hoarded stocks from long-closed distilleries including malt whisky from Glen Albyn and grain whisky from Cambus (both closed in 1983). The whiskies have been blended and given a final final maturation in a 100 year-old wood cask. The product is sold in individually numbered hand-blown Baccarat decanters. Martin Moodie, who has been lucky enough to taste the product, comments on his blog: That’s not difficultRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/07/agnes-denes-wheatfield-in-dalston.html Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:29:38 +0000 American artist Agnes Denes has installed a field of wheat on unused land in the London neighborhood of Dalston. Building off iconic work she produced in New York in 1982, The artist hope it will create a conversation about the use of land, our food and each other. The piece is part of a larger exhibit held called Radical Nature at the Barbican. In the Guardian, Madeleine Bunting makes these observations in reaction to the piece: At a time of growing anxiety about how we feed a crowded earth – food security was discussed at the G8 last week –Read more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/06/five-diy-publishers-that-are-helping-print-live-long.html Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:52:39 +0000 While traditional publishers are struggling with creating revenue with print, digital publishers and other outsiders are testing the offline waters with well crafted publications that talk about subjects that audiences really want to know about. In this review, here are five examples where creative teams have decided to give it a go in a space others are failing: The New Order The New Order is published by the team behind street culture blog Slam X Hype. For their first issue entitled ‘Global Influence’ they spoke to artists, photographers, designers and other creative minds to try to understand why they standRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/04/what-is-waste.html Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:15:29 +0000 Newbury Film Series, a nonprofit in Boston, has launched a webisode series of films that take a second look at waste. They spotlight companies like Patagonia and individuals like Donald Knaack who are innovating with the wastestreams of others. About the series, the web site says: We live in a culture in which products are designed to be consumed and disposed of in volume. Rarely are consumers or manufacturers held responsible for the environmental repercussions of this model. As a result, individuals have lost touch with product origins and the impact of their consumption. However, Waste? is not a doomsdayRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/04/creativesourced-nelson-beer.html Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:18:13 +0000 Fosters in Australia teamed up with the Taboo Group to create a beer based on the tastes of thousands of creative minds (and their tongues). Nelson beer has been brewed in Melbourne and is the product of user feedback. They held gatherings and parties and then gathered feedback from almost a thousand “creative types” regarding the look, taste, and possible names for the beer. An article by one of the project team on Lost At E Minor describes the process more: For the past few months, our Newcastle office has been getting stuck into the goodness that was the aptlyRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/03/vintage-beer-cans.html Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:05:14 +0000 Dieline points us to a photo shoot by Lance Wilson and Dan Becker of over 160 beer cans. They say that they actually have a collection of 2,000 cans but there’s no news about when they’ll release the other shots.]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/03/iphone-accounts-for-66-of-mobile-web-traffic.html Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:39:56 +0000 AppleInsider reports that reported stats on mobile web use show the iPhone operating system being used over nine times the usage of its next smartphone competitor, Windows Mobile. Relatively mobile web usage still remains low – browsing the web with an iPhone only accounts for 0.48 percent of the web (so far). Apple Insider]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/02/lessons-from-japan-uk-the-impact-of-frugality.html Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:23:17 +0000 The New York Times recently ran two stories that provide hints at the potential impact of the recession on the consumer mindset and their purchasing behavior. In Japan, the paper reports that the “economic malaise” of the 1990s changed Japanese relationship with brands when they changed their habits to make everything stretch that little bit further: To better compete, companies slashed jobs and wages, replacing much of their work force with temporary workers who had no job security and fewer benefits. Nontraditional workers now make up more than a third of Japan’s labor force. Younger people are feeling the bruntRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/01/4-recommended-new-york-art-shows.html Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:45:17 +0000 For a while, it has seemed like there wasn’t much in the New York art scene to really go and experience. Now a few shows have come along at the same time and our blog friends have been making recommendations. Here are four New York shows that have been highlighted. Make Believe Maple Leaves by Chris Rubino at Heist Gallery The blurb: For his solo exhibition at Heist titled Make Believe Maple Leaves Rubino incorporates the written word into a complex world of iconic lexicon, drawing from process-oriented sketchbook drawings created over the course of one year. Rubino infuses hisRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2009/01/tesco-tweets-the-us.html Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:52:20 +0000 Fresh & Easy, the US arm of international grocer Tesco, has launched a Twitter feed in order to “stay closer in contact” with its customers. Through tweets, they not only hope to let customers know the latest news, deals, new products, and meal ideas – they also hope to chat with customers too. In fact a recent tweet responds to a customer query about product availability. Here’s a recent exchange with a customer: songrytr: @Fresh_and_Easy I go out of my way to shop at your store but the stock has seemed a little sparse the last couple of visits. fresh_and_easy:Read more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2008/12/is-local-really-local-or-just-about-me.html Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:32:03 +0000 Ged Carroll has a post with some interesting thinking about the concept of local at the intersection of digital. While more and more news and information we receive via social and other digital media is becoming locally relevant, Carroll argues that we may need to take a moment to check what local really means. For example, how many of us know more about the neighborhood we work or play in than the one we live in? More: One of the big things about social media is that it provides useful content at an ever more granular ‘local’ basis than wouldRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2008/12/routemaster-20.html Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:53:55 +0000 The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, recently ran a design competition to help bring London’s famous old double-decker Routemaster buses back onto the streets. The original buses got replaced by long bendy single decker ones that fit the UK’s overt health, safety and access guidelines better. Update: Designs for the New Bus announced (May 2010) The competition was won with this design from a collaboration between Foster + Partners and Aston Martin. The companies worked together to create a vehicle that was environmentally sensitive and accessible, reinventing a “much-loved symbol of London for the modern era.” The press release givesRead more...]]> http://www.psfk.com/2008/12/pic-localwashing-at-wholefoods.html Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:58:17 +0000 We thought this call out in the NYC Union Square Whole Foods felt a little like ‘localwashing’. Sure, these signs point to local brands – but not locally sourced products. We’re sure Brooklyn’s Gorilla Coffee people are psyched that the retailer is carrying their coffee but it’s not like they’re actually growing the stuff in the middle of Prospect Park.]]> http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/inspiraton-stood-on-a-wire-looking-down-14-of-a-mile.html Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:39:36 +0000 Jen Carlson over at Gothamist has an inspiring interview with Philippe Petit – a guy who spent his life walking high wires. In this interview his words transport you to the wire between the two World Trade towers in 1974 and just as the reader gets a sense of vertigo he holds your hand and explains that every step wasn’t a move closer to fear but to joy and elation. That first step was a giant moment for me: I was finally stepping in to my dream. So I remember that vividly. And at some point I stopped on theRead more...]]>