October 28th, 2009
Big black block, silver lining, rounded edges, a line for an earhole and a central button at the bottom. No I’m not talking about the iPhone. I’m talking about the new Nokia N97 mini.
Why innovate when you can just copy a surefire winner? Well because in the world of design and branding for products copycats are seen in a derisive light- especially for something as blatant as this.
If Nokia copied any other phone it wouldn’t have been as bad. In this case the iPhone is so distinct from other mobile devices that even mimicking slight features are noticed. Adding a pull-out keyboard doesn’t make it different.
Mobile devices like Microsoft’s Zune HD and Verizon’s DROID aren’t being pulled into the ’rounded rectangle’ trap and are still able to produce high quality, beautiful, buzzworthy devices. The next major cool-kid device won’t look like the iPhone. Apple already did that. Remember, nothing looked like the iPhone or the Sidekick or the StarTac when they came out.
Look for something completely different in style and functionality. I guarantee the next great mobile device won’t look like anything you’ve ever seen. You’ll be happy it doesn’t.
Posted via web from db’s digital branding database
Tags: anything, Apple, Big, big black, block, bottom, button, buzzworthy, case, clone, com, cool kid, copycats, database, design, device, disaster, droid, earhole, engadget, functionality, hd, iphone, iphone clone, keyboard, light, line, lining, Microsoft, mini, mobile, mobile device, mobile devices, nokia, nokia n97, nothing, phone, pull-out, quality, rectangle, rounded rectangle, sidekick, silver, something, startac, style, surefire, surefire winner, the, trap, verizon, web, winner, world, zune
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October 23rd, 2009
Facebook recently released a touchscreen optimized interface for phones such as the iPhone and android models. It’s interesting that even though Facebook is one of the most downloaded social networking iPhone apps that Facebook is still continuing to optimize the mobile web on many different fronts.
Considering they just launched their newly redesigned homepage in a more streamlined newsfeed focused way it makes me wonder if this addition is within their overall brand vision for their user interface and user experience.
One thing I DO like about the new Touch interface is the Phone section (Also notice the new notifications red icon in the upper left corner). It focuses on who you can call, as opposed to the mobile interface which focuses on all your friends and pointing out who has their phone number listed with a phone icon.
What do you think about the differences? Not enough? Too much? What other changes should be made?
Posted via email from db’s digital branding database
Tags: android, brand, branding, email, Facebook, iphone, iphone apps, mobile interface, mobile web, models, network, networking, notifications, phone icon, phone number, social, social media, social network, social networking, social web, touch interface, touchscreen interface, user experience, user interface, Web 2.0
Posted in branding, social media | No Comments »
October 15th, 2009
Appeared originally as a comment on MJ Newham’s wonderful blog at http://martin.newham.ws on a post called Future Of Print.
There are two types of readers: situational and experiential.
I happen to be both so I understand why dead archives are needed as well as digital files. My solution: bamboo. Bamboo is stronger than tree paper, only takes 2 years (give or take) to grow to maturity, and still retains the tactile sensibilities that tree paper does.
I feel that Kindle is the wrong direction. What Kindle is trying to do is recreate a book experience in digital format. The digital format is something separate and needs to be treated as so. The whole point of a digital library is to be able to take many “books” with you at once. Kindle doesn’t make this easy. Plus, it’s not aesthetically pleasing. That’s aim number one with a bookjacket.
The iPhone trumps the Kindle in many ways with the Stanza app. This app isn’t trying to recreate a book reading experience in digital. It makes your reading experience as easy as possible for the medium that you are using. It’s size makes it easy for me to read on the go, which speaks to the whole issue of portability. If you’re concerned with text size, don’t be- there is a feature where you can increase the text size to whatever suits you. I personally would rather read less on a “page” to gain more space in the physical world. I am a man and do not always carry a bag. I don’t want to be seen carrying some unfortunately huge thing when I’m going out, yet I always want to read AND listen to music on my way to some place.
Dead plant books will still be around, just like cds & dvds will still be around. They will all exist in a special limited edition collectors format for those who really need to have a physical copy of something to cherish. Remember, we like having physical copies of stuff. It adds to our definition of who we are. Not everything that we consume should make the cut though.
Digitization is the implementation of zen Buddhism in our physical lives.
*addendum: vook.tv along with the mythical Apple iTablet will most likely bring us a more truer digital ‘book’.
Tags: book, book experience, book reading, books, business, collectibles, collectors item, design, digital books, digital library, digitization, ebook, ebooks, edition collectors, ereader, ereaders, functionality, iphone, kindle, limited edition, paper books, physical copies, portability, reading experience, sensibilities, stanza, technology, wrong direction
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April 22nd, 2009
© Sydney A
Syndicated as a guest post originally from Lisa Hickey’s The Hurricane Inside My Brain
The title of the article is meant to invoke a sense of what is to come, not to just talk about advertising but branding and marketing.
In this article I’ll take a look at what I feel is coming down the pipeline for these areas. The future isn’t set in stone and neither are these predictions. Companies are already starting to track your habits. In the future it will just get more intuitive. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: advantage, aggregation, benefit, brain, brand, branding, breadth, business, communicating, communication, communications, communications companies, consumer, consumers, desire, evange experiment, exact moment, experiences, feelings, functionality, grouping, habit, hurricane, integrity, interaction, interactions, iphone, life, life profiles, lists, marketing, mobile, mobile providers, mobile technologies, nuances, pipeline, plans, point of purchase, privacy, productivity, promotions, set in stone, signs, technology, thoughtfulness, Value, video
Posted in featured, technology | No Comments »
April 16th, 2009
© SeenyaRita
I was 10 on April 2, 1993, the day that the brand died.
On that day, Phillip Morris dealt a 20 percent slash to the price of its cigarettes in an effort to take on bargain brands, which were seriously pwning Marlboro’s market share. The slash had serious repercussions. If Marlboro’s carefully groomed brand wasn’t enough to take on the generic brands, then there no longer was truth to the brand equity mania that had rocked the eighties.
That is, if the brand was not powerful enough to sway sales on its own, if a marketing icon like Phillip Morris had to give in to the utterly lowbrow price war being waged against it, then the brand was as good as dead. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Apple, billboard space, brand, brand equity, branding, business, buzz, consumer, consumers, conversation, eighties, evangelism, evangelists, generic brands, ilife, information destination, integrity, interaction, interactions, iphone, iPod, lists, marketing, marlboro, media, nike swoosh, nineties, pepsico, philip morris, phillip morris, plans, price war, productivity, quaker oats, repercussions, social, tides, transparency, Value, wikipedia, words
Posted in branding, featured | 4 Comments »
April 1st, 2009
© KRAPPS
Each and every company has a different way of doing business. This results in their brand message being received in a unique way apart from any of their competitors. The following is an interview with Alex from KRAPPS.com, the website that takes a look at the “anti-brilliant apps – slacker apps – not amazing apps” that have shown up in the iTunes app store. And according to their tagline “not all apps are created equal”. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: advice, app, Apple, blog, brand, branding, business, chat, communicating, communication, communications, conversation, DM, downloading, friends, functionality, goals, Google, growth, iphone, iTunes, knowledge, KRAPPS, life, lists, marketing, media, plans, productivity, responsibility, reviews, social, twitter, Value, words
Posted in branding, featured | 2 Comments »
November 14th, 2008
This application solves that annoying problem of not being able to text message others photos.
Instead of sending the photo straight to your friend’s phone, it sends a link to a web page to see the photo.? This may not be the most ideal answer iPhone users have been looking for but it is a necessary workaround for now. Just remember that you have to check your friend’s photos on a webpage just as well, so now they’ll know exactly what you do to view their photos.
One caveat: Make sure to only have one phone number saved for a contact you intend to use and that it is a mobile phone number or the app will crash.
Tags: app, functionality, iphone, iphone applications, iphone apps, mobile, productivity
Posted in technology | 1 Comment »
