Icon-o-Cast by Lunar

Simple, minimal, humble.

The family computer died last month.

No tears, she made it to the ripe old age of 7 (70 in PC years). But now that we have a real processor in the living room, I can finally “Watch Instantly” on Netflix.

And, hallelujah! I am impressed and grateful that Netflix has done such a thoughtful job on an entertainment UI. Simple, minimal, humble. The movie stars are the stars, not glassy buttons and “viewing options.”

This is also my first experience with using something running on Microsoft’s Silverlight. Even on a Mac the performance is great, and the technology isn’t elbowing its way forward. Now I’m eager to see how Netflix will deliver HD content…   

What do you think? What are some other “humble” apps that really deliver? What are other great Silverlight experiences out there?

-- Gretchen Anderson

Sustainable design workshop with Taiwan Design Center

After a very successful workshop with the Korean Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP) a few weeks ago, we’re jumping right back in for a second round!

LUNAR will be hosting a sustainable design workshop for a group from the Taiwan Design Center next week. The workshop portion, consisting of presentations by LUNAR employees, as well as research and conceptualization exercises, will take place on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It will be focusing on creating sustainable products that relate to the challenges of child care. On Tuesday, Jeremy Faludi will be at Lunar to talk about prioritization in sustainable design and biomimicry, and Terry Swack will be here to give a presentation on design level life cycle analysis.

The group consists of several design students, two CEOs, two marketers, and various other professionals from Taiwan. They will be led through the design process and by the end of the week will have their own conceptual product based on what they have learned.

You can see some photos from the KIDP workshop on our Facebook page.

Making mobile phones even more useful (in the U.S.)

Yesterday I headed to the airport yet again, a one-day trip to San Diego. That commute is so easy from Oakland, I didn’t really take it that seriously. I grabbed my bag and took off. Then, my husband calls just as I pull up to the terminal. I’ve left my wallet on the counter. No ID, and no money.

I thought about turning around and going home, but realized without money or cards, I couldn’t get out of the parking lot. So I headed into security to tell them my situation and hope for the best. (Turns out TSA actually has that use-case handled, but that’s a post for a different time.) I cleared security handily, and headed to the gate.

And there, dangling just out of reach, were cups of hot coffee for everyone but me. I thought about pan-handling, but decided against it. Early am flights are tough, but without coffee? Brutal.

Which brings me to: why don’t we have contactless payment through mobile phones in the US? In a world of FastTrak and EZ Rider specialized cards and devices, it seems like we are used to the idea of invisible payment methods as consumers. And as my husband pointed out, Japan has it. Because while forgetting my wallet happens not infrequently for me, I am almost never without my phone.

What other stuff “from the future” do you wish we had? Besides jet packs.

-- Gretchen Anderson

Photo by Yogi / CC BY-SA 2.0

Maker Faire 2009

Solutions - June 26, 2009: What do you get when you combine 600 inventors and innovators with thousands of people who want to see their work? It's Maker Faire 2009.

Join Lunar's Robert Howard, Bob Lane and Jonathan Downing as they roam the faire in search of the new, the cool and the homemade.

Send us your feedback.

Play audio:

Download MP3 audio file

Designing Business; Businessing Design

In today’s Fast Company “Powers of Design” blog post by LUNAR’s John Edson:

“I don't think that future enterprises will be able to connect to customers or remain competitive without increasingly fluid and agile management practices that respond more to the idiosyncrasies of real people than to the current fiscal quarter's numbers.”

Read the post.

Creating Cults and Cultures With Design

In today’s Fast Company “Powers of Design” blog post by LUNAR’s John Edson:

“Building enthusiastic, obsessive love for your company's products begins with enthusiastic, obsessive love for design. Is design on the CEO's list of legacy objectives? If not, the design activity is often about creating better window dressing or optimizing a product for usability--but not about creating a remarkable offering.”

Read the post.

Why Ugly Sells

In today's Fast Company "Powers of Design" blog post by LUNAR's John Edson:

"Designing universally attractive products sometimes means eschewing beauty.  The real trick is to resist navigating consumer taste and understand the emotional sources for taste."

Read the post

Toothbrushes, TiVo, and Twitter (and more)

In today's Fast Company "Powers of Design" blog post by LUNAR's John Edson:

"Our modern era of mass production requires enormous organizations to replicate the relationship of a designer artisan with her customer.  If a company can't replicate the traditional exchange between maker and consumer, the relationship is destined to fail."

Read the post

Play audio

Listen to John as he offers one more example:  his experience with his new Eames Lounge Chair (1:45)

Download MP3 audio file

John Edson is this weeks expert design blogger on Fast Company.com

LUNAR’s John Edson is this week’s expert design blogger on FastCompany.com. You can follow his thoughts on design all this week. 

Today, John writes about Patterns of Emotional Connection.

Growing creativity with the Korean Institute of Design

Next week, June 15-19, LUNAR will play host to a group of designers from the Korean Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP).  Since the very first day of business, LUNAR has sought to make a difference with creativity - to use creativity to design distinctive products that are meaningful for individuals, society, and the environment.

It is in this sprit that we have built the foundations for this immersive design workshop.

Ten LUNAR designers will lead the fifteen Korean designers through a series of exercises that are built on our process and centered on our framework for sustainable design. Throughout the week, the designers will take their learnings to the streets of San Francisco to do real world research and design exploration.  After what is sure to be a full, challenging, and enlightening five days, the week will conclude with an exhibition for the group’s work. And perhaps a glass or wine or two…

Strategy by Design

LUNAR President, John Edson, will be speaking at the upcoming Sustainable Brands ’09 conference in Monterey, CA.

His presentation,  “Strategy by Design: Incorporating Design Thinking into Your Business,” will be at 4pm on Monday June 1st.

John will be discussing how a simple “design for sustainability” framework can help craft the direction of a company, ensure higher quality and more desirable products, and craft a tighter integration between business strategy, execution and communication.

Behold beauty

Expressions - May 28, 2009: How can design tap into our emotional wiring, stop us in our tracks and create responses in us? An exploration we did at Lunar, loosely based on Don Norman's Emotional Design, looked at how design can make us stop and think, stop and act, and stop and behold.

In this episode, Lunar's John Edson, Jeff Smith and Becky Brown talk about this last dimension -- the beauty dimension of "stop and behold" -- and how it turns out to be the most elusive power of design.

Send us your feedback.

Play audio:

Download MP3 audio file

Green Leader

Lunar’s Travis Lee was recently invited to be a part of AutoDesk’s Green Leaders series. In this video, he shares his passion for sustainable design and his vision for a more sustainable future.

Think, Behold and Act: Clive

LUNAR’s graphic design maven, Becky Brown, presented some work at San Francisco’s Pecha Kucha Night recently.  Becky crafted a story whose main character, Clive, befriended us, made us care – and then led us around an unexpected corner.  And then another.  Here's a reenactment.  Enjoy.

Best products & experiences for new moms & their babies

Connections - May 6, 2009: In this episode, Icon-o-Cast mom-to-be Lisa Leckie, new mom Gretchen Anderson and experienced mom Sandrine Lebas talk about the decisions new moms make as they struggle with seemingly infinite product choices and apply their personal values to the experience of motherhood.

Happy Mother's Day!

Resources:

• Me Too Chair
  
• Boon Toddler Cup
  
• Brest Friend Pillow
  
• HABA toys
  
• Kids Love Design (design trends for kids)
  
• MiLK magazine (lifestyle paper and online mag for modern parents, nicely done in French)
  

And here's more about the Holistic Feeding at nightime concept work we did (pdf).

Send us your feedback.

Play audio:

Download MP3 audio file