PSFK Author:
Nicko Margolies

On last night’s episode of The Simpsons, Springfield was graced with the appearance of a fake Apple store, known as Mapple.  The iconic cube store appeared in cartoon form complete with MyPods, MyPhones, MyCubes and an appearance by Steve Mobs reminiscent of the 1984 commercial.  Should Apple take offense or is satire is the sincerest form of flattery?

[via Laughing Squid]

A while back, we wrote a short post about the Engaging Ideas Card Pack and mentioned, “We haven’t gotten our hands on the full set, but it looks like a neat package for a broad range of ideas.”  Well, now (thanks to Rob Fox) we’ve gotten our grubs on the entire pack and sifted through the stack of colorful cards.

The first impression is that they look like a deck of large novelty sized playing cards printed on thick stock cardboard.  The front side of each card is an image meant to invoke the message or activity presented on the back.  For the most part, the full card formatted images are stellar, ranging from iconic art and expressive photography down to some painfully low resolution and pixelated images.  However, given the goals of the cards to engage employees through practical exercises, this is a rather minor point.

The 52-card deck (not including two jokers) is meant to stimulate positive discussion through identification of business goals and ideals.  The cards are divided into three general categories: Discover, Design and Deliver.  In this hierarchy of inspiration the cards build on each other by slowly introducing more complex activities, interspersed with straightforward tips.

The themes that appeared the most were honing the effectiveness of leadership, identifying core values and honing the business environment to suit the challenges ahead.  Here are two sample cards that we think embody the entire project:

21.  Distributed Leadership

We tend to think that leadership is something that happens at the top.  True, but what is perhaps more true is that acts of leadership happen across and throughout business, day in, day out.  Identify these acts of leadership, encourage them and communicate them widely.  Doing so helps to demonstrate that all people can offer leadership and will also help acts of leadership to flourish.  This exercise also begs an answer to a fundamentally important question necessary to achieve higher levels of engagement: what does your business recognize as leadership?

48.  Heartstorming
A success factor for any engagement effort is to discover, design and deliver better ways to connect emotionally with people to inspire their commitment and action.  To help accomplish this make “heartstorming” rather than just brainstorming, a core aspect of your business’ problem solving and change practices.  Demonstrating difference, “heartstorming” will help to uncover and build stronger emotional connections by focusing groups on questions like:

• I love it when…
• I get a kick out of it when…
• My heart beats faster when…
• I’m energized when…
• It frustrates me when…
• I feel undermined when…
• I’m intimidated when…
• I feel powerless when…

The Engaging Ideas pack is clearly based on solid business research and extensive experience in the corporate environment.  Stagnation of ideas is the clear hurdle targeted by the collection and we applaud the stepping-stones proved for those slow to innovate.  Overall, the package is a collection of ideas that won’t be revolutionary to those knowledgeable, but gives a beautifully formatted package of ideas to those hoping to give the friendly push to coworkers or employees.  Engaging ideas is a careful and successful balance between professional business pursuits and playful corporate connections.

Thanks again to Rob for taking the time and money to ship a sample pack across the pond.

This is the latest work by Robert Burden, an artist most known for his beautiful (and huge) paintings of toys. Previous themes include Mattel’s BattleCat and a Foot Soldier from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This particular work is called “Defensor Mundi” (Defender of the Earth in Latin) and depicts a triumphant Voltron, standing 11 by 7 feet tall. Burden spent a year working on it and we’re truly impressive to see an artist that can pursue a vision with such dedication. The entire process of this oil-on-canvas piece was captured with this time lapse video:

[via Make]

The folks at innocent drinks, makers of tasty smoothies, have revamped their site to include a rating and review section. Hoping to foster a more robust brand culture and connection with their audience, innocent is trying out a consumer-centric website. The new feedback area provides simple ratings along with more detailed reviews. A built-in feature promises to randomly select comments to be highlighted on the homepage and further entices visitors by awarding funky prizes each month. The site layout was designed by Soup with a goal of pushing the playful nature of the company into the digital arena.

[via Ellie @ Soup]

A visually stunning new advert from Nike has come to our attention.  The ad was created by Darbotz, an Indonesian artist best known for his monochromatic and intricate style.  Though it may not come across in the video, it’s a promotion for a new version of the classic Air Force Ones.  The video is supposed to reflect the evolution of the brand and give a taste of the reinterpretation and remixing in the Sportswear division.  It was animated by Randy Rais with music by Arianjie.  Here’s the video:

[via Limité Magazine]

There’s a new concept in the seemingly exhausted world of online advertising. Some Swedish advertising students designed a project for Doritos based around removing online banner ads. The group, known as Papercut, designed a browser plugin that detects banner ads and replaces them with content you choose. It would be taking the anti-advertising principle we wrote about recently and move it into the mainstream. From their presentation video they speculate that ads can be replaced with anything from news or mail to family photos. Their project is still just in prototype phase, so we’re curious to see a similarly inventive concept of customizable ad space make it to the production phase. In the meantime, we’ll have to enjoy the free (and unsponsored) Adblock Plus.

[via Social Hallucinations]

Fuel-Design recently published a collection of classic British football programs, entitled “Match Day.”  The collection, compiled by Bob Stanley and Paul Kelly, includes more than 450 programs spanning the lifetime of the league from 1945 to the inception of the Premiership in 1992.  Though the comprehensive history and ability to relive the sport’s glory days may be the book’s main selling points, there is a wealth of design knowledge to be gained as well.  Particularly where the layouts are concerned.

People often complain that modern, glossy programs lack the spirit and culture shown in these original prints.  Citing the corporate atmosphere of today’s sports as the main culprit in devaluing the beauty and vigor on display in the games of yesteryear.  Not so in this book, where the most successful covers are simplistic, colorful and to the point.  In addition to the stunning visual record, ”Match Day” also includes an introductory essay by Brian Glanville and is now available in a “Pocket Edition” for £15.

[via Creative Review]

Nothing ruins an outdoor concert or film screening quite like sitting on the grass for hours, hunched over like a barely opened mollusk shell.  But with the GreenSeat, sore backs are now a thing of the past.  Made from corrugated cardboard, the chair is a cheap, recyclable way to alleviate long episodes of sitting.  At this point, it’s been pitched primarily to eco-friendly audiences, but considering that the chair’s construction offers great potential for advertising placement, we can only hope it will be popping up in venues worldwide.  The simple all-in-one design incorporates a seat cover and handle and when not in use, lies completely flat.  It’s one of those ideas that are so innovative it begs the question, why didn’t we think of that?

[via TrendOriginal]

Amazon.com has quietly released a beta version of a new web-browsing interface for its massive online shop.  The site is aptly named “WindowShop” as it allows visitors to survey popular items that might have been showcased if Amazon ever launched a physical storefront.  Users can either browse individual items and preview them or step back and view multiple items in a column display.  Not only is this an efficient way to find new products you may be interested in, but it’s also an effective way to get lost in a vast amount of material.

It is common knowledge on the internet that the more generous or innovative a product’s preview is, the more likely it is to attract paying customers.  As a result, new books share sample chapters or audio excerpts, movies include trailers, while video games and albums showcase brief clips.  Think of it as Cooliris for shopping.   That being said, the new interface’s dazzling full screen grid needs to be seen to truly appreciate the experience, but you might want to hide your credit card first.