Health & Beauty

The fine people at Blurb have offered free gorund shipping within the US for our book Good Ideas In 2009. All you have to do is add ‘freeshipping’ in to the promo-code box on the product page here before Dec 9 (and read the small print below*).

Want to know more about the book? Well, at this time of year we’re supposed to produce a trends report for 2009. When we all sat down and chatted about it, we thought such a report would be so gloomy and rather depressing. We didn’t want to write about things like ‘trading down’ or ‘discreet consumption’! We wanted to talk about all the inspirational ideas we read and write about every day, we wanted to spread the positivity, we wanted to encourage you to re-ignite the world. Honestly.

So we created Good Ideas In 2009. The 80 page click-to-print book features nine Good Ideas and manifestations of them. We write about design, mobile, collaboration, digital, social media, the long term and much more. Click through to the Blurb site and you can get a sneak peek.

The books are $50 for the softback and $60 for the beautiful hardback. If you’re considering buying reports for your company or just books for your coffee table, we ask you to consider Good Ideas In 2009. We’re rather proud of it. We hope it inspires you yo make things better.

Good Ideas In 2009

* To qualify for free shipping (up to $10), you must enter the promotion code in the shopping cart at time of purchase and complete your purchase in USD. Offer is good for free shipping up to $10.00 in value. Offer expires 11:59 PM PST December 5, 2008. Limit one-time use per user and cannot be combined with other offers. Not valid towards purchase of gift cards.

Team PSFK are pleased to announce our second book! At this time of year we’re supposed to produce a trends report for 2009. When we all sat down and chatted about it, we thought such a report would be so gloomy and rather depressing. We didn’t want to write about things like ‘trading down’ or ‘discreet consumption’! We wanted to talk about all the inspirational ideas we read and write about every day, we wanted to spread the positivity, we wanted to encourage you to re-ignite the world. Honestly.

So we created Good Ideas In 2009. The 80 page click-to-print book features nine Good Ideas and manifestations of them. We write about design, mobile, collaboration, digital, social media, the long term and much more. Click through to the Blurb site and you can get a sneak peek.

The books are $50 for the softback and $60 for the beautiful hardback. If you’re considering buying reports for your company or just books for your coffee table, we ask you to consider Good Ideas In 2009. We’re rather proud of it. We hope it inspires you yo make things better.

Good Ideas In 2009

We like Hello Health, Dr Jay Parkinson’s subscription-based healthcare system that gives patients access to doctor’s virtually anytime, anywhere - via IM, phone, videochat, or home consultation (for an extra fee). We’re excited to see the company is very much alive and well, as a new set of print ads for the service were recently released:

The Onion has an article about a fictional line of baby products meant to hasten the maturity of your newborns with a tough love approach. Given the surge of happy, fun and clean products, who knows if we’ll actually see this thing on the shelf. It seems laughable, but The Onion has been right before.

After decades of coddling young children, Johnson & Johnson unveiled its new “Nothing But Tears” shampoo this week, an aggressive bath-time product the company says will help to prepare meek and fragile newborns for the real world.

A radical departure for the health goods manufacturer, the new shampoo features an all-alcohol-based formula, has never once been approved by leading dermatologists, and is as gentle on a baby’s skin as “having to grow up and fend for your goddamn self.”

[via AdFreak]

To create a buzz around its new fragrance for men, Infusion d’Homme, Prada has commissioned nine young directors from across the world (Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, France, India, Italy, Korea, Spain and the USA) to create films inspired by their individual interpretations of the scent. The only caveat to the directors was that the films should be visual representations of the sensory images triggered by the perfume, and not straightforward commercials - they were otherwise given a free rein. The nine works are going to be edited into one long piece by Pietro Scalia, two-time Oscar-winning film editor. The complete film will be a synthesis of Prada’s vision of Infusion d’Homme.

You can watch all the short films on Prada’s website.

In case you weren’t getting enough pressure about looking better, now Nintendo has made a lovable piece of software to give you pointers on improving your face. In a partnership with Shiseido, a massive Japanese cosmetics company, Nintendo hopes this little DS title will give people an incentive to become uniformly attractive. The full title of this portable “game” is Shiseido Beauty Solution Supervised Exploration Center Project Beauty and will likely stay within the insular Japanese market.

[via DVICE]

For young ‘trendsetting’ Americans, green is more about style then substance, a recent study by Outlaw Consulting suggests. Outlaw surveyed 100 “forward trendsetters” in NY, SF, LA, and Miami to create their 2008 Favorite Green Brands Index, asking the group to give their opinions on what makes a brand green and who they thought were today’s most environmentally conscious companies. The survey found that their trendsetter’s made a (sometimes false) correlation between brands that favored minimalist design - like Apple and Method - with green practices. At the top of their list of 15 were two brands whose eco-consciousness have been widely debated: Whole Foods (#1) and Trader Joe’s (#2). Sustainable Life Media comments:

…A large number of survey respondents put Apple in the “green” category due to the company’s simple, streamlined design approach - even though respondents weren’t sure of Apple’s specific environmental policies. (Other companies known for a minimal, clean aesthetic include Method, Google, American Apparel, The Container Store, IKEA, and Kiehls.)

…Regardless of design or messaging, the bottom line for young, environmentally conscious trendsetters still comes down to style, the report suggests. For example, trendsetters claimed that they would be more likely to consider sustainably produced clothing if the current offerings weren’t largely unfashionable or overpriced.

“[These young consumers] aren’t willing to spend top dollar on an environmental product, and they won’t compromise quality or style,” says Barbara Bylenga, founder and chief strategist of Outlaw Consulting. “Therefore, the brands they listed are not only those they merely see as green, but also those they see as relevant to their lifestyle and self-image.”

And yet, the study also points to the young influencers’ passion for the eco-movement and commending brands that have pushed the green movement forward in their industries, like Toyota (#3 on the list).

“Overall, we were struck by how passionate these consumers were about the topic,” says Bylenga. “To them, being green does not mean fringe or hippie or new-age - today it’s actually part of being hip and modern. The brands that made our list are being green in a way that resonates with this generation.”

Sustainable Life Media: Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Toyota Top Leading Green Brands for Gen Y

We concluded our PSFK Conference SF with a bang, creative leads of Method Josh Handy and Nate Pence sharing their rules on how to design the Method way. JoshSpear.com offers some more insight from the Method folks with his great interview with Danny Alexander, one of their industrial designers. Danny focuses on creating sustainable and healthy products, all while keeping an unparalleled level of design simplicity. Here is a short excerpt from their interview:

JS: As our store shelves have become increasingly cramped with more and more of the same stuff, it seems like it’s the products that are either exceptionally different or exceptionally well branded that are finding success. Do you think Method will lose its sparkle once all the tag-along products start popping up?

DA: We try not to dwell too much on the competition — it only stifles the creative process. But, to answer your question more specifically, we have seen and will continue to see competition on many fronts. To date, nobody has been able to recreate the unique blend of style and substance that makes Method so special. We’re selling more than a bottle of soap; we’re offering a philosophy and a culture, which is inimitable. We’re confident that if we continue to focus on delighting our consumers in new and innovative ways, and letting our culture drive our products, we’ll continue to stay ahead of the competition.

JS: So, you’ve got this environmentally conscious, design-savvy creative class, and they’re all obsessed with the idea of sexy cleaning products — words that up until very recently, could hardly exist side-by-side. What are some new product areas that you are hoping to take your currently captive audience into?

DA: Our goal, which is ambitious but achievable, is to create a healthy, happy home revolution. We’ve already blurred the lines between personal care, home cleaning and air care, and while continuing to revolutionize these categories, we hope to expand our offerings so we can lead our advocates further in the fight against dirty. Squeaky Green, the Method guide to detoxing your home (co-written by our founders, Adam and Eric), is one example of how we’re helping our advocates create healthier, happier homes in new ways.

[via JoshSpear]

Taschen have created an ‘encyclopedic’ resource on contemporary design for packaging worldwide. Brands in the publication include Coca-Cola, Apple and De Beers. The site reads:

No other book on the market explores global contemporary packaging to the extent and detail that Package Design Now! does. Practically everything you buy comes in some sort of package—some are just functional, while others strive to be as innovative, elegant, and eye-catching as possible. This book features eye-catching package icons from Apple iPhone to De Beers diamonds, that reveal the hard work dedicated to deliver these products with intense appeal, including in-depth case studies about package design developments, giving readers a peek at the way packaging is made and designed.

This encyclopedic resource, divided into chapters by type (beverages, electronics, food, health & beauty, homecare & hygiene, luxury, pharmaceutical, and store & retail) explores the work of top design and branding offices from all around the world. Also included are chapters on material and processes. This unique tome is indispensable for design and marketing professionals, as well as anyone who wants to know more about what makes a great package.

TASCHEN Books: Package Design Now!