A Clever Way To Market Calm. BOH Camomile Tea Bags And Widget Designs.

To promote Boh brand camomile tea bags, M+C Saatchi, Malaysia created tea bags, packaging and a widget that, like camomile, bring calm to your world. The clever concept has won many awards worldwide including the Clios (Silver), Cannes Lions (Shortlist x 2), One Show (Merit), Communication Arts (2012 Design Annual), AdFest (Finalist x 4), AdStars (Finalist), Malaysian Kancils (Gold x 2, Silver, Bronze, Merit) and the 2012 Communication Arts Design Annual.



Each Boh Camomile Tea bag features a design, printed using edible tea ink, depicting the stressed person’s state of mind. Once the tea bag was immersed in a cup of boiling water, the edible tea ink dissolved, revealing a much calmer design. The Before/After effect served as a timely and memorable reminder of the calming properties found in every cup of BOH Camomile Tea.




The before and after teabags:




The Accompanying Widget:


This widget simulates the calm brought about by Boh Camomile Tea on the desktop of a harried person. Once the widget is downloaded, the user connects using Facebook. By doing this, the widget can access data and information from the user's profile, generating a compilation of their interests. When the frenetic pounding on the user's keyboard exceeds a set sound level for a certain time, the widget senses that the user is stressed, it automatically pops open on the desktop and shows the user a stressed photograph of him/her (via the user's webcam) and suggests he/she relax. It then helps calm the user by pulling entertaining content based on the user's interests from YouTube, Flickr,Twitter and other websites. Users can share the widget's calming influence with friends, thus spreading the calm.




A video that explains how the widget works:


Credits:
Title: CALM TEA BAGS
Client: BOH PLANTATION SDN BHD
Product/Service: BOH CAMOMILE TEA
Creative Directors: FARROKH MADON, HENRY YAP, MARZUKI MAANI, NEIL LESLIE
Art Directors: CHOO CHEE WEE, PAULINE ANG
Copywriters: FARROKH MADON, AHMAD FARIZ
Client Services: FARRAH HARITH, SHERINA BINTI MOHAMED ZULKIFLI
Designer: ELLIE SEE
Typographers: PAULINE ANG, ELLIE SEE
Print Producer: SEBASTIAN NG
Photographer: JESSE CHOO
Photography Studio: UNTOLD IMAGES
Print Producer: SEBASTIAN NG
Color Separation: IGNITION GRAPHIC PRODUCTION SDN BHD
Agency Producer: SEBASTIAN NG

images, descriptions and video courtesy of M+C Saatchi Malaysia Creative Director Neil Leslie

Seeing RED At The Conran Shop. Over 40 Designers Do It In RED to Mark 25 Years.

THE CONRAN SHOP UNVEILS RED, A SPECIAL EXHIBITION FOR THE LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2012, 14-23 September 2012

The Conran Shop is pleased to announce RED, a special exhibition to mark 25 years at the Michelin Building during the London Design Festival 2012. The exhibition will include works by over 40 designers including Jasper Morrison, Thomas Heatherwick, Nendo, John Pawson, Ingo Maurer, Marcel Wanders, Raw Edges and Alexander Taylor.

New Smaller Modern Saunas With Transparent Glass Fronts By EOOS For Duravit.

The Inipi sauna concept was inspired by the “sweat lodges” of the North American Lakota Indians, whose rituals included heating stones strewn with herbs in a fire. Initially introduced in 2009, this year they've come out with an even smaller one - the Inipi B, perfect for those who don't have enormous bathrooms.

Unique Storage. Maple Wood and Leather Chest Mimics Look of Interoffice Envelope.

The classic interoffice envelope inspired the look and function of the Envelope Chest by Field Day. Perfect for storing your most important things, the sleek 40" wide and 20" tall chest fastens securely with custom red leather rounds and cord. Its soft close hinges and solid maple bottom complete the sturdy piece.



Materials: Leather and Maple wood
Finish: Satin Lacquer

Dimensions:
Width: 40"
Height: 20"
Depth: 20"

Price: $1400


Buy it by contacting Field Day here

Buy This Cool Belt and Help Others Loosen Theirs. The Mission Belt Co. Donates To The Hungry.

Buy a belt, feed a family. That's the concept behind The Mission Belt, a company that donates a dollar for every one of their stylish leather belts sold, wholesale and retail, to help hungry families worldwide become self-sufficient.




The Mission Belt is simple, clean and unisex. Made of supple and smooth top grain double-stitched leather, they are available in three colors and with three sizes, provide a perfect fit for everyone. With no holes to stretch or wear over time (the belt buckle functions much like a seatbelt on an airplane) it always looks great on either men or women. It can be dressed up or dressed down. Not only is it the best belt ever manufactured, it's comfortably priced at $34.99 as well.





The tip of the belt inserts into the buckle, where a locking mechanism holds the belt in place from the back. To remove the belt, just press the small metal lever on the bottom of the buckle, and the belt slides out of the buckle.



On the back of the belt is a series of small, hard rubber wedges that have been carefully sewn into the leather of the belt:


There’s a metal piece on the back of the belt buckle that lodges against the wedges as you pull the belt to the correct fit. Then, it locks into place.

Black:

Alpine White:

Chocolate:


From their site:
The Philosophy: If you give a man a fish he eats for a day. If you teach a man to fish he can eat everyday. That sums up our philosophy and it works. Some of the core concepts behind our fight against global hunger and poverty are;

Sustainability & Self-reliance: That is the goal behind every dollar deployed. Our “Mission” is for families to continue to thrive after support ends.

Nutrition & Income: We work with organizations that help families reap the rewards of their animals and crops through consumption and sale of excess production.

Improved Management: This means that the projects we invest in focus on teaching families how to better manage their livestock and crops to keep them safe and productive.


Order your Mission Belt here.

The Supercar To Run Laps Around All Other Supercars. The McLaren P1 Is Unveiled.

When in the concept phase, this 200mph supercar was called the P12. Now renamed the P1 and unveiled to the public next week at the Paris Auto Show, the new flagship two-seater from McLaren goes from 0 to 62 mph in under three seconds. When it goes into production later next year, it will sit above the existing 12C and 12C Spider, in terms of both price and performance with a price of around $1.3 Million (£800,000).



press release, September 18, 2012:
McLaren Automotive will use its first ever international motor show appearance to preview its next generation ultimate supercar – the McLaren P1 – which takes much of its technological and spiritual inspiration from the company’s Racing division. The McLaren P1 has one simple goal: to be the best driver’s car in the world on road and track.



At the Paris Motor Show, Mondial de l'Automobile 2012, the McLaren P1 is previewed as a design study. Next year a production version, which the company aims to put on sale within 12 months, will be revealed.



‘The McLaren P1 will be the result of 50 years of racing and road car heritage,’ says McLaren Automotive Executive Chairman Ron Dennis. ‘Twenty years ago we raised the supercar performance bar with the McLaren F1 and our goal with the McLaren P1 is to redefine it once again.’



‘Our aim is not necessarily to be the fastest in absolute top speed but to be the quickest and most rewarding series production road car on a circuit,’ says McLaren Automotive Managing Director Antony Sheriff. ‘It is the true test of a supercar’s all round ability and a much more important technical statement. Our goal is to make the McLaren P1 the most exciting, most capable, most technologically advanced and most dynamically accomplished supercar ever made.’



When the McLaren P1 goes into production later next year, it will sit above the 12C and 12C Spider, in terms of both price and performance.

McLaren Automotive heritage:
McLaren Automotive has a 20 year heritage in producing landmark sports cars for the road: the McLaren F1 road car, which was launched in 1992, set the world land speed record for a production car, and is regarded as one of the iconic sports cars of the modern age. The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren (2003 – 2009) is the most successful supercar ever in its price bracket, having sold twice as many cars as its nearest carbon-based rival.

McLaren Automotive has now moved from these successful automotive projects to launching a new car company that will design, develop, and distribute a range of high performance, highly efficient and technologically innovative sports cars through a global network of highly respected premium car retailers in every major automotive market.

Around 4,000 sports cars will be built annually by the middle of the decade in the advanced new manufacturing facility, the McLaren Production Centre. McLaren Automotive’s debut model is the 12C. Drawing on the company’s long-standing Formula 1 experience in its concept and development, the 12C is lighter, faster, more powerful, more fuel efficient and more exclusive than its key competition. It supports its performance benchmarks by introducing a unique one-piece moulded carbon chassis into the ‘core’ sports car segment in a new production method that brings the performance of £500,000 cars to market at a third of the price. All future McLarens will continue the themes presented by the 12C: innovation, integration of Formula 1 technology, and ultimate performance.

In 2011 McLaren Automotive announced the launch of McLaren GT; a new race car manufacturer combining the expertise of McLaren Automotive, McLaren Racing, McLaren Electronic Systems, McLaren Applied Technologies and CRS Racing. McLaren GT is responsible for developing the first racing derivative of the 12C sports car, the MP4-12C GT3. Twenty-five examples of the MP4-12C GT3 are now racing with private teams in Europe in 2012.

More information will be released following the McLaren Automotive press conference scheduled for 17.45 CEST (16.45 BST), on Thursday 27 September 2012.

McLaren Automotive

Shoes With A Built-In GPS System. There's No Place Like Home by Dominic Wilcox.

Designer Dominic Wilcox has created a fully functional prototype pair of shoes that will guide you home no matter where you are in the world.

"I was commissioned by the Global Footprint project in Northamptonshire*, a place famous for shoe making, to create some shoes. I decided to make a pair of shoes that can navigate you to anywhere you wish to travel to. I thought about the Wizard of Oz and how Dorothy could click her shoes together to go home. After uploading your required destination to the shoes via a piece of custom made mapping software and a USB cable, the GPS, which is embedded in the heal, is activated by a heal click. It then communicates to the wearer via a ring of LED lights to point in the required direction. The shoe with the GPS wirelessly communicates with the right shoe that has a progress bar of lights to show how close you are to the destination." - Dominic Wilcox

Wilcox etched little illustrations onto the sole and chose a red calf leather for the inside as a small reference to Dorothy's red shoes in the Wizard of Oz:



The progress bar starts with one red light at the beginning of the journey and ends on the green light when you arrive.



The correct direction to walk is shown by the illumination of one of the LED's on the circle:


A little piece of software was created to plot your preferred destination on a map. This is then uploaded via USB to the shoe. The GPS is powered by a battery similar to those found in mobile phones. The data from the GPS in the left shoe wirelessly communicates with the right shoe which shows the progress made on a row of lights:


The perforated arrow detail is a nice touch:


The red tag at the back contains the GPS antenna which is positioned to point upwards. The shoes are built around two microcontrollers called Arduinos:


A magnet in the right shoe and sensor in the left shoe detects when the magnet is near and tells the microcontroller in the left shoe when the heels have been clicked to start the GPS.



In order to create the fully functioning prototype shoes Wilcox worked with interactive arts and technology expert Becky Stewart and local Northampton shoe maker Stamp Shoes to create the bespoke leather shoes.



The bespoke made GPS prototype shoes are currently on display at Dominic Wilcox's solo exhibition at KK Outlet, 42 Hoxton Square, London, until the 26th September.

*Global Footprint delivers an innovative and ambitious countywide programme of contemporary ‘living heritage’ events and exhibitions, using visual and digital arts to showcase and celebrate Northamptonshire’s defining cultural heritage and identity: its boot and shoe industry.

The industry will be brought to life by a series of special commissions, exhibitions, events, trails, projections and talks that utilise a range of new digital technologies to explore the boot- and shoe-making’s continued importance to the national and international economic, creative and cultural profile of the county.

Key partners include Northamptonshire County Council, Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, the University of Northampton, Fishmarket Gallery and numerous independent museums and heritage organisations.

images courtesy of Dominic Wilcox and inhabitat

Focallength. Colorful Camera-Shaped Cement Candle Holders by Herr Mandel for Designspray.

Herr Mandel's Focallength candle holder for Designspray will delight both photographers and design lovers.

The "camera" functions as a candle holder and is made from poured and dyed concrete. Available in 6 fun colours with a colored candle. It even has small protective feet on the bottom so as not to scratch any surface!








material: dyed concrete
size: 13 x 7 x 4,5 cm, candle ø 60 cm
price: 20 € (shipping not included)
Shipping can be done to: Germany (without charge), EU countries, worldwide

buy them here.

Passionate, Poignant and Personal - The Portrait Photography of Heward Jue.

Heward Jue began his career as an advertising art director, creating campaigns for some of the most visible brands in the country. He developed a keen interest in photography while working with photographers on commercial productions. “It became clear to me that the camera was a very powerful tool for not only bringing my advertising ideas to life, but for expressing my personal view of the world.” Eager to define that vision, Heward developed a love affair with travel and a passion for travel portraiture. His favorite subjects are children. “They are always the most generous in spirit, and remind me of the beauty of simplicity.”