See the full-size version here.
This piece by Shahee Ilyas tickles me in all the right ways: the sweet spot between minimalism and infoporn. Smart.
The New York Times serves up this list of rules about eating collected by food-scholar Michael Pollan. I appreciate not only the wisdom, but the presentation (albeit Flash-enabled).
A camera with a display in the front? That’s so 2009.
In 2010, we have cameras that can project pictures from the front. A recent post on Click Opera describes the Nikon Coolpix S1000pj which not only takes photos, but throws them. This awesome video by the Helicopter Boys showcases the artistic possibilities.
We close with an extensive collection of hand washing sign designs compiled by RightBrainTerrain.
Until next time.
Threadless is a popular t-shirt company who crowdsources its designs from user submissions. Chosen designs are awarded $2,500 with bonuses for reprints and a shot at a larger prize in a yearly “best-of” competition. But of course, the company might make a hundred times that in sales, which has led some to accuse it of basing its business on spec work.
Jake Nickell, CEO of Threadless, doesn’t argue that he uses spec work, but he disagrees that what his company does is a bad thing. His argument is that Threadless submissions 1. Allow designers to keep their copyrights 2. Are an open process with no specifications (no brief) 3. Pay quite a bit. Most importantly, he says, people who submit to Threadless do it for enjoyment and not for the money.
I’m torn. On one hand, it doesn’t answer the critics of spec work which argue for professional engagement– that design is serious business which is not something to be farmed out on the cheap to amateurs. On the other, people who aren’t designers like to make things and Threadless actually seems to give them a fair shake. I’m not sure what the breakdown is ethically. But if you’re going to solicit spec work, I suppose there’s a sea of people out there doing worse.
For their 1 year anniversary, 2D Boy, makers of DLB-favorite World of Goo, allowed customers to name their price for the game.
The sale seems to have been successful, resulting in 57,000 copies sold at an average price of $2.03. While most paid a dollar or less, more than 3,000 spent $10 or more.
2D Boy posted an analysis of their data from the sale, along with a qualitative survey. While the largest percentage of respondents said they bought the game because it was affordable, an almost equal number said they purchased it in support of the pay-what-you-want pricing model.
More ammunition to reject DRM? If it’s a quality product, priced low enough (or flexibly priced), and free of restrictions, there’s profit to be made.
David McCandless (Information is Beautiful) is unstoppable. Here he is, in his third Four Design Links mention with this smart-looking infographic charting the ideology of the left and right in the US.
Smashing Magazine has a great post full of usability tips, with links to many more. Of course, some of them are intuitive, but it’s nice to have the research citations. Time to study up!
Last week, Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry’s was in Ann Arbor at the Ross Net Impact conference to talk about social enterprise and distribute little cups of ice cream to the MBAs in attendance. Jerry discussed starting and growing a business while prioritizing social responsibility, and the difficult experience of selling to Unilever (if you’re unfamiliar, a summary). I think a number of Jerry’s points are worth repeating and relevant to DLB as we continue to think about how to grow business at our little design firm. Here’s what Jerry thinks:
Businesses should be responsible to society.
Since business is one of the most powerful forces in society, business should look out for the general welfare of society. Most firms, Jerry reminded us, operate with themselves as the major focus, which is unhealthy and even dangerous to society. In the traditional business sphere, making money is the focus, and doing good is something separate: the prevailing wisdom is that you can’t be successful and help society as well. Jerry’s belief is that there is value in integrating the two and that business strategies can - and should - be used for good.
Align your mission, metrics for success, and your values.
When Ben and Jerry initially decided to grow their business, they insisted on “growing the business in a reasonable way.” This meant that they added value to the company by doing business that was aligned with their values. At one point, they saw a need to redefine the bottom line and how to measure success, so they decided to report not just financials, but to also create a social report to maintain accountability around social and environmental performance (see recent examples here).
Do what you do well, and be yourself.
This sounds a lot like awesomeness. Instead of aiming to attain 100% market share (which isn’t normally attainable anyway) Jerry argues for “doing what you do well.” In his mind, it’s better to have a smaller number of core fanatics that are using a product/service because they believe in it rather than those who have been tricked by false advertising or false promises. Ben & Jerry’s made the decision that having customers with the same worldview and values was more important than having the most customers possible; connecting with customers who agree with what they stand for leads to a much deeper engagement with their supporters.
Jerry went on to define “true marketing,” something I like to call unmarketing. He says “true marketing is not really marketing at all”; rather, it’s putting forth your values in an attempt to meet customers’ needs. In Ben & Jerry’s case, Jerry says they were attempting to reach a segment of customers that sought businesses with responsible values because that’s what they believed in.
I’m not sure what the future looks like for Ben & Jerry’s (as we’ve discussed, it may be progressively more difficult for the company’s values to be protected in the hands of a large corporation) but Jerry’s hope is that Ben & Jerry’s won’t be just a “social conscience” for Unilever, but rather that companies will recognize that the way Ben & Jerry’s has operated – with a focus on doing good – has been successful.
More Jerry here.
