I had heard about Lemonade when it came out and recently watched it on Hulu, a 35 min movie about laid off advertising professionals, who turned the bad news into an opportunity: “It’s not a pink slip, it’s a blank page.”
What do people who were once paid to be creative for a living do when they’re laid off? They get creative with their own lives. Lemonade is an inspirational film about 16 advertising professionals who lost their jobs and found their calling, encouraging people to listen to that little voice inside their head that asks, “What if?”
The over-riding theme here seems to be passion…we continue to hear that passion is often key to success and to just get up and do something. I’m preaching to myself, of course…haha. Definite inspiration to get up and do something
Jan Chipchase writes a short entry about the failure and successes of color-changing diapers that alert parents of a wet diaper (or nappy):
Yellow nappy stripes – a familiar, comforting sight for parents indicating that the contents of the container/nappy are dry – with a few drops of liquid the stripes turn blue. Whilst it would be disputed by the marketing departments of FMCGs its rare to see (what most people consider to be) genuine leap-forward innovation in mass-market consumer goods such as nappies and razors – but genuine innovation this is. This nappy design is an absolute time saver – parents/carers no longer need check inside the nappy/feel the groin area for moisture/hold-baby-up-to-nose before heading to the changing table. The yellow/blue stripes provide parental confidence; reduce the risk of baby miscomfort; save time; and reduce the risk of erroneously changing a nappy.
But the feature is far from perfect: there appear to be false positives (where the blue stripes appears with no apparent dampness) – it will be interesting to see how motivated manufacturers are to ‘fix’ this issue given the (if 1 in 20, then ~5%?) bump it provides to the bottom line.
Design helps people in big and little ways, but design is also about business; it’s very insightful knowing that as much as Mr. Chipchase does research and design, he also reminds us that we have to consider the bottom line of the new innovative products we develop.
