HT DESIGNS_ BE INSPIRED

Stamps... for the collectors!

I'm not a stamp collector by any means, but I found these to be pretty cool. Sometimes we forget how much work and detail goes into designing a stamp. It could simply be because it is so small and to some, an insignificant proof of purchase tag or an outdated form of transfer of information when we have grown on computers, emails and such. 

The end of Life's small dilemmas

By way of an industrial designer's unique way of thinking comes solutions to a couple of life's small dilemma's.

I saw these on MOCHA.

Never have the dilemma again of where to put the spoon:

The Dual purpose mug -  DUNK MUG. Where else to keep those OREOS:

At the heart of every bowl is the goodness of vegetables.

I saw this Campbell's Soup ad ad recently in the recent Applied Arts annual. I just like how simple yet creative and effective it is.

Hand puppets! pretty genius!

Using competition promos to increase your sales?

Wow, this is a first. Maybe so in my books! Country Style has officially been marketing (since March 3, 2008) a promotion that offers consumers who play "roll up the rim" from competitors to trade in their "Sorry, Please Try Again" cups for a FREE medium Coffee!

This is clever! Very clever! Use your competitors promotional flaws to increase your sales. How many of you have played Tim Horton's roll up the rim to just find another "Please Try Again" cup? I have. In fact I have yet to win anything! It seems to only be getting worse every year! The richer Tim Horton's gets, the harder it is to win.

Now, Country Style, a struggling competitor of Tim Horton's has used their promos as an advantage to attract new consumers to their stores. If you haven't noticed, they recently revamped their look (IMO, VERY NICE and CLASSY), but I will say this. Their coffee could use some revamping of it self as well.

But what I love about Country Style over Tim Horton's any day of the week is their Donuts! So, is this a win-win situation? I think so! Take your losing cup in and get a free coffee - even if you don't like the taste, you have the chance to win something like a donut or better. So it's a double win for me!

Now, lets talk design terms. Their website has the new promotion up on its page with a mini card game. Kinda cute, gets the message across. It's sub par in its concept creativity, even say so in its design execution. But I am a fan of their logo and color scheme. Very modern and hits their audience age target very well.

But Quick! Get your free coffee now, offer ends March 9!

Make your handwriting a font!

Fontifier, a program that simply creates a font out of your handwriting. This isn't a new technology, but it's something interesting that I ran across recently.

In about 5 minutes yesterday, I printed out Fontifier's template, scratched in my own versions of all the letters and symbols in a typical font, then scanned and uploaded the sheet. I expected that once I uploaded my alphabet, I'd have to wait a few minutes, hours, or even days to get my True Type font back. But after I paid $9 via credit card--ding!--there it was. I downloaded the file, dragged it to the Fonts folder in my Control Panel, opened Microsoft Word and started typing.

The result (below) doesn't exactly mimic my handwriting. I don't usually write with such a thick pen and I typically keep my hand a little straighter. (The vertical unevenness comes from writing my scanned letters at different heights in the template boxes, so I can only blame myself.) Typing with my font in Word, text looks nice at 18 points, but below that, my letters look a little jagged.

Tank Goodness

I love this packaging for a family run bake-and-delivery service Tank Goodness in Minneapolis.

The colours give a very warm feeling, but the imagery gives it a very organic and gourmet feeling. Too bad I don't live in Minneapolis! 

Louis Vuitton TV ads???

It would seem that Ultra Luxury brand Louis Vuitton has branched out and is about to undergo an unconventional way of advertising in their market.

They have created a 90 second TV commercial.

To most companies this is the norm. For a luxury accessories brand this is big news.

I can't think of seeing any other big name taking this approach.

I always like to see companies stretching out a bit to hit a larger market.

I'm just hoping that they select the right time spot to show it when it finally goes live. Seeing the commercial in reruns of Married with Childern or even a nascar event may not be a great idea to hit up new customers.

Coca-Cola, Pepsi Designer Cans!

Okay I love these, even though I don't drink either.