To follow up my writing about editorials compared to word-of-mouth activities (in David Report issue 5) I read an article in our local newspaper Sydsvenska Dagbladet the other week about a new reaction to all the free magazines that are popping up around us. If you feel like reading, you read something. But you probably would like to decide it yourself. When I was in London some ten days ago it was nearly impossible to walk two minutes without being attacked by the free magazine hand-overs. According to me, the experience was not very differentiated from all the guys offering girls with different skills at the back streets of Roppongi, Tokyo. How credible is the content in the free magazines when it is related with an irritating feeling that it has been inflicted on you?

In Denmark more than 73000 people have bought a sticker for their post box saying “Please, NO free magazines”. And this in a time when we all thought that at least the magazines were still credible. But, even the editorials are surrounded with advertising. It looks like we are back to the basic word-of-mouth storytelling again…

Andra bloggar om: media, tidningar, word-of-mouth, marknadsföring, trend

Influxinsights produces some great Thought packs where they are putting together their best posts from the last three years on different brand related topics. And best of all, they share them for free. The four available packs are called Design, Innovation and creativity, Ideas fr C21st branding and Social responsibility. Just follow this link to download them to your desktop. Enjoy the reading.

Andra bloggar om: design, innovation, varumärkesutveckling, trend, marknadsföring

As reported elsewhere, Tyler Brule, founder of Wallpaper, will launch a new magazine called Monocle early next year. According to Tyler Brule it will be a mix between the Economist and Vanity Fair. Tyler Brule is also impressed by the BBC in North America. The goal is to have 150,000 in circulation worldwide. The Observer reports that private investors have put £5m behind the project.

We have two thoughts about this. First, is there a future for glossy luxury magazines? Is it smart to launch something print-based during these increasingly digital times? A lot of people seems to think that the glossy magazines will stay forever. But there are other voices as well. The blog “Print is dead” reports about this issue here. Mediabistro is discussing the same issue with a slightly different angle here. Maybe the “web-based broadcast component” that will walk alongside with the print version in the end will be the most vital part of the complete Monocle pack?

Secondly, will Tyler Brule be able to distance himself far enough from Wallpaper magazine? Piers Fawkes from psfk has a second thought on this issue. He says “sounds like a magazine we used to read…”.

Let’s see in February…

By the way, according to me Tyler Brule did a good job as moderator at Future Design Days in Stockholm some weeks ago. Seems like he was very confident behind the desk (at the image together with Malcolm McLaren). Read the list of Tyler Brule’s 10 hottest picks at the moment (in Swedish) from the blog Researcher here.

Ping Intressant.se

Andra bloggar om: tyler brule, monocle, media, trend, tidningar, design

I have been reflecting lately on 20 years ago or so, when a major discussion amongst designers was something like this; ‘design must reach into every aspect of life, everything must be designed, design must be everywhere’……..
But now that ‘Design Is Everywhere, For Everybody, All The Time’, i would like to ask if our condition is better or worse than 20 years ago? Are there examples or regions in the world where ‘design’ has produced a better society, and others where ‘design’ has done little more than polluting the social or eco-system? What role has design played in where humanity is today?
I’ve got a few thoughts to share, and would love to hear yours…..

Andra bloggar om: design, hållbart samhälle

Swedish business magazine Dagens Industri reports that the Swedish fashion brand Acne Jeans has a 75% mark-up in turnover from the last year. It is interesting to see that you can grow fast like this without doing any traditional advertising at all. Instead Acne Jeans concentrates on building credentials by design, innovation and creativity. “We are absolutely design driven in every respect” as Acne Jeans tells us in our fresh David Report bulletin interview here.

Andra bloggar om: acne jeans, mode, affärsliv, marknadsföring

David R. Butcher recently wrote an interesting text about design and innovation in the Industrial Market Trends newsletter that goes very well in line with the thinking on our last issue of David Report, Communication Through Product. “As noted, design — closely aligned with innovation — is the key to standing out and maintaining competitiveness. That applies to any size business, no matter how large or small. Design helps businesses connect strongly with customers by anticipating their needs. That in turn gives companies the ability to set themselves apart in increasingly tough markets, and allows them to set the pace rather than simply respond to the competition.” Well worth reading.

Andra bloggar om: design, innovation

For the last couple of years I have closely followed the product and design development between China and US/EC.
In growing numbers retailers and producers turn to China as the country of choice for manufacturing and purchasing of products.
So far its all good and fine.
The worrying part is that design studios located in China is rapidly becoming a resource that provides a by-the-machine-design based on the limited manufacturing capabilities the country has to offer. This design is executed by local ID designers (which in the Chinese industry means Imitation Designer not Industrial Designer) and are now setting the standards for what is possible (or rather say impossible) to manufacture.
Add to that the influence of Asian sourcing conglomerates that practically over-night can make and ship products to a fraction of the price compared to a western world process…this means that many companies utilize the services from Chinese resources as they cut the time to market and retailers can sell a design that is “almost real” and echoes something that we all have seen before…

So how can design development in its pure sense of being a convergence of visionary thinking fueled by the quest to expand the borders of manufacturing survive in this soon-to-be-everywhere scenario…?

I am interested to hear thoughts on how designers will remain in the industry without being physically present in Asia, where Shanghai now is designated to be the “new world of design”…and what the consequences of the growing “conventionalism” will be
going forward…

Fredrik Wass from Bisonblog listed some memorable moments from this years Future Design Days in Stockholm some ten days ago. I would like to add my personal quotation. The French designer Jean-Marie Massaud explained it very simple: “The purpose of life is to cook and receive friends at home” . Nest pas?

Welcome! I’m David and I’m the founder of David Report. I’m happy that you stopped by. My intention and hope is that this blog will be a creative meeting point for people with interest in trends concerning design, innovation and brand communication. With a humanistic approach, ethical thinking and a wish for a sustainable future. I have invited some friends to share their thoughts every now and then. You will find posts from John-Michael Ekeblad, Monica Förster, Eero Koivisto, Björn Jeffery, Inga Sempe and Tim Power to mention a few. Please comment and join the inspiring discussions. Here we go!

The new issue of David Report bulletin has arrived. It is called “Communication Through Product”. You can read it here. Do you agree about what we say, or do you think we are totally out in the blue…? We would love to get feedback from you!