When trying to explain Kid Robot to friends, they cannot understand why I am so enthralled by a toy store with smoking rabbits (I am very anti-smoking, however smoking bunnies for some reason I can condone). So, for those who find my fascination bizarre, here are the three main reasons why I love Kid Robot:

1. The store is like a museum - The “look, don’t touch” atmosphere created by the glass barrier between yourself and the cleverly designed plastic creatures worsens your natural desire to feel the smoothly textured toys. The museum feel is what elevates these creators off the toy shelf and into the category of ‘designer.’ Each piece in its case appearing more like a work of sculpture that tourists and other unworthy admirers can stare and drool at.

2. The power is in the hands of the card holder - Kid Robot is toys for adults and who ever really grows out of toys? Now that we are adults shopping for toys we are finally have the power to buy the toys we desire. No whining or begging, just card swiping!

3. Premium pricing! Truly the best strategy in play here. Putting the brand just out of reach for the common man, it creates the “Christmas-Effect.” Just as you held out all year for that one special gift (that you bought, wrapped and put under the tree for yourself) you appreciate it soo much more. Kid Robot, being as expensive as it is, makes buying one of the items a special event. Were their Dunnies or Star Wars styled creatures $20, they would get thrown aside a month after purchase. But no, if you shell out $200 for a Luke Skywalker Dunny, you will create your own museum-like atmosphere on the shelves in your office where only true fans and lovers will be privileged enough to touch the toy.

Congrats Kid Robot, you have managed to elevate your brand above any Toys R’ Us shelf. Go forth toy fans and spend $600 on a plastic toy that looks like something you’d see on a bad acid trip, after all we were all deprived of enough toys as kids.

Back in April, there was a team of very nice and gracious Japanese photographers on our 2nd floor. I knew it had something to do with a “cool offices” piece they were working on for a magazine, but I didn’t have much other information. Well, today we were sent a copy of Brutus Magazine:

You can click on the images to blow up, but unless you can read Japanese characters, all you’ll be able to understand is that they called us a World Hip Office.

We e-mailed our friends at Naked Tokyo for help in translating the article. Until then, enjoy the photography (^_^)//

just curious about what i’m carrying around with me all day…

- $136 cash
- A Receipt from Tamas Sushi of Neptune Beach Florida
- A New York State drivers license
- Two New York City MTA MetroCards (not sure how much value remains on either)
- A brochure from Chase Manhattan Bank about the new ATMs that take checks
- A Chase Visa Check Card
- An American Express Card, green
- A New York Health and Racquet member card
- A Guardian DentalGuard Preferred Network member card
- A Oxford Health Plan, Freedom Plan member card
- A $50 Chelsea Piers Golf Club card (not sure how much value remains)
- A Hong Kong MTR Octopus Card
- A Business Card from the Foreign Correspondents Club, Phnom Phen/Siem Reap Cambodia
- A Fed-ex account number card
- A HP Viera Inks card to tell me what cartridges to put in my printer
- Business Card of D.J. Puffert, proprietor Piccolo Teatro, Sausalito CA
- A Matt Umanov Guitars Member Discount Card

The wallet is Coach Water Buffalo Money Clip Card Case, which i bought in Bangkok in 2004

Last night I had the privilege of seeing Tony Award winning musical “Spring Awakening.” What truly struck me was the unique combinations of fashions. It combined German 1890s style clothing of knickerbocker pants, suspenders and stockings with 1980s punk-rock hair styles and chuck tailors. The music felt very mid-90s. The collaboration of these decade-styles created an era all it’s own, one which I will surely attempt to replicate. The costumer of this show along with that of ‘Gossip Girl’s’ are definitely a force for bringing back the stocking. Full-footed, brightly colored, even patterned. I saw a teen on her way to prom this spring wearing a full 1920s flapper dress with an eye-penciled line going up the back of her leg to complete the look. I’m thinking that the slip needs to make a come-back.

Even the new Michael Kors line is inspired by the 1960s styles showcased in HBO’s “Mad Men.” Check out the Ad Age article for more.

Classic is clearly in and the black dress is cheering. So grab your Fedora and skinny tie and head out on your own happy zeitgeist!

Like millions of other jingoists (USA! USA! USA!), I’ve intensely (and tensely) watched the Olympics these past few days. I’ve marveled at the precision of siamese diving, gasped at the flailing flesh of water polo, and oohed at the total domination of Brazil’s national soccer team and Michael Phelps, the Brazil of swimming. Whether it’s been in the pool or on the pitch, I’ve also found myself somewhat drawn to the familiarness of the Beijing 2008 logo. With its thick, black, curvy lines and handwritten/calligraphy-like style, I can’t help being reminded of some other typeface. Luckily, the Beijing logo has been visible from almost every camera angle seen during the games so I’ve had plenty of opportunities to jog my declining memory.

Finally, it struck me.

Upon closer examination, I realize they’re far from identical — at least apart from the thick, black, curvy lines… In fact, the “e”, “i”, and “n” available for comparison are quite dissimilar, but that doesn’t stop me from making an association with the Happiest Celebration on Earth. It could be due to some all-good childhood memory of a trip to Disneyland (or was it Disneyworld? the one in Orlando at any rate) and a desire to recreate that feeling. Or, it could be because the Beijing 2008 identity is in some way derivative of Disney’s logo. Let’s ignore Freud for the moment and assume it’s the latter, which leads me to a thought - and one I leave with you - about the power of being derivative. Is it a power even worth harnessing, or is the risk of being seen as unoriginal too great? Or, to mince the words of my esteemed colleague, is it sometimes more genius to imitate than to steal?

I was in a store today buying a blender, and I walked by the washing machine section, when I saw this:

At first I sort of laughed, because they even used the Apple font, but then I started thinking about the way they were using “i”, and realized I had no clue what the eff it even meant anymore. The washing machine people are using it to mean “intelligent”, but is that what it really means to people?

Wikipedia told me that when the first iMac debuted, Apple used “i” to stand for “internet”. During his introduction of the first iMac in 1998, Steve Jobs does say that the iMac was created as “a marriage of the excitement of the internet and the simplicity of Apple”, but he notes that “i” not only stands for “internet”, but also for “individual”, “instruct”, “inform” and “inspire”. (click the pic to watch it).

What’s interesting here is that all of these things are focused on the individual consumer - what the iMac could do FOR them. Given that Apple’s brand proposition is “Tools for Creative Minds”, it seems appropriate that they would use “i” to convey action and meaning on the part of the consumer, whatever the specific words were.

But now that we see “i” everywhere - random washing machines, iRobot ( the company that makes Roomba, not the Will Smith movie), even iRiver, a competitor product to the iPod - do people even know what the “i” is supposed to mean when they see it?

No. Not really. Well I guess “i” is certainly open for interpretation, as evidenced above, but brands that have co-opted “i” to mean something particular to consumers aren’t really getting what they bargained for (meaning…whatever they thought “i” meant…?).

But even if we can’t all agree on what exactly “i” means to us now, I guess one thing that remains true (aside from “i” being interpreted as branding nonsense) is that “i” generally implies that something is good, smart, and modern.* So even though people may be confused, they probably still come away with the notion that a product with “i” as a prefix is better than one without. I usually fall for it - do you?

*( this is actually the second time I wrote this post, because after getting most of the way through it the first time, my MacBook Pro crashed. So right now, I would say that “i” stands for irritating, ill-performing, and ironic).

Can I write headlines for the Post, or what?

Spend an hour anywhere in New York City, and it seems like every gainfully employed Tom, Dick, and Harry is carrying a Jack Spade bag. Yet despite their J.Crew-like omnipresence, Jack Spade somehow continues to maintain a reasonably cool image.  You can chalk that up to their still mostly excellent product designs, one of the best retail stores in New York, and some small touches that make them still feel a little bit local.

For instance, swing past their Greene Street store, and you’ll find their book rack.  It’s like a library, except you just take the damn book; no signing out, no $0.10/day late fees.  Yeah sure, the vintage, hardcover selection is a bit affected.  But despite the physical rack being stolen several times (I was told this a few years back), they clearly believe in the concept and continue to do it

And speaking of Jack Spade getting ripped off, evidently it happens quite often.  Often enough to inspire a new product.

After a series of burglaries this year, Jack Spade could’ve simply ordered a better alarm system.  Instead (or in addition), they put out a comic book to celebrate the guy (recorded on security video) who did it.  Yeah, you read that right: the uncaught thief was the inspiration for a new product, and in turn, a bunch of positive, and semi-positive press for Jack Spade.

The obvious lessons here, amongst others I’m sure: 1) It’s cool to make big businesses feel small.  And 2) A little creativity is all you need to spin something bad into something good.

It was rad. And some celebs showed up as well. There was Chris Brown and Rhianna. Let me set the scene, there were lots of little girls screaming “I love you Chris” and adult men saying “I’m the one for you Rhianna”…

Then there was David Banner. Who’s David Banner? I don’t know either but in the moment, I thought it was funny to get him to sign my shirt.

There was Michael Bivins from Bel Biv DeVoe… and “now you know, ha, ha, ha” (that’s old school for you old schoolers).

Speaking of old school, OMM was representing too. No picture because he’s big time. Who’s OMM? According to Piz’s nickname, it’s old man Manger. Kids don’t think for a moment that he doesn’t know bball. He was all into it. The first thing he said when he got to the cage was “I want to see some ballers yo.”

So, here are the ballers yo…

Guess what! It’s National Underwear Day! Ahh yes, we all love when marketers create arbitrary holidays. After all, making your brand a hero is a sure-fire strategy fall-back. Therefore, a whole-day dedicated to your brand/category is just above and beyond. Imagine thousands of calendar readers worshiping your brand for an entire day… Add the word “international” to the front and holy-cow, monumental. Amongst my personal favorites are: “International Talk Like a Pirate Day (Sept. 19),” “Ninja Day (Dec. 5),” and “No Pants Day (first Friday of May).”

Today being National Underwear Day, it is only appropriate that underwear be celebrated and handed out for free in the streets. The lovely pair that James Woods was graciously given is designed in such a way as to amaze. Check out the pouch and no hole look. Clearly the next trend. Someone tell Calvin before he falls behind (no pun intended).

Happy celebrating folks!

Thanks, Faris. He’s the one who came up with that word just now upon reading the column. My title was originally The Journey is the Destination, not The Journey’s the Thing. Don’t really know what happened there. In any case, here it is.

At the beginning of the summer, the third annual Come Out & Play Festival hit New York with a bang – people blanketed the city, turning themselves into game pieces and using space in a creative way to have a good time. From a New York City vs. London photo scavenger hunt to a multiplayer game in which GPS triggers from mobile devices reward teams with tools to help them win, Come Out & Play capitalizes on “city-size fun” by making a city the game board.

Games aren’t the only things that have made places the center of focus: over a year ago, we talked about Dodgeball and Helio’s Buddy Beacon as location-themed examples of real time documentation. We’ve come a long way since then: combining geography with technology has progressed exponentially. And yet, our prediction is that it’s only a hint of what’s still to come.

Location-based services are nothing new to us: from package tracking to looking up driving directions, we’ve been using geographic information to help us do things for years. But the current wave of geographically aware technology that has the ability to literally know where we are adds a completely new dimension to our things.

Find a place
Mobile handsets like the iPhone and Nokia Nseries devices seem to be causing the biggest splash in mobile mapping, heightening services and behaviors that we are already familiar with. We use Yelp.com to find new restaurants, bars and boutiques, for example. Now when you’re in a new neighborhood and away from your computer, you can find out which restaurants are blocks away from where you’re standing, and how to get there (you can even add photos taken with your mobile device and write reviews while you’re still there).

Find your friends
Remember Twitter, the micro-blogging platform that let’s you know what your friends are doing? What about Dodgeball, where all of your friends registered on the site are notified on your whereabouts every time you text message? Picture these two services together and on steroids. A new Twitter client for the iPhone (and, probably by the time you read this, for other handsets as well) lets you to see all other users that are close by, so you can know what they’re doing and where they’re doing it.

Tag your photos
Geo-tagging is a behavior quickly becoming ingrained in our photo-uploading activity; now a GPS-enabled mobile device can tag your photos as you upload them directly from your phone so you don’t have to think about it. Handsets aren’t the only players in this space, either: Eye-Fi is a wireless memory card that automatically adds location labels to photos that are uploaded to the Internet, directly from your camera.

I had a ton of fun writing the October one I submitted last Friday; I’ll be able to share at the end of next month.