The Espresso: Edition 122
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Wednesday November 30 2011

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Letter From the Editor- Edition 122

Looking Forward

Anna Wintour is the Editor of Vogue Magazine US. She singly is believed to be the most powerful woman in the world of fashion. In a documentary called The September Issue , they follow Wintour as she puts together their biggest edition of Vogue Magazine to date covering the shoots, the styles, the fashion and the politics. Something caught my eye when Wintour said that fashion is about looking forward not looking back. There's a lot of company directors and brand managers who could take this to heart for their own business. Too often websites haven't been touched for up to 2 years, too often there's not product innovation for years. Too often there's no point of difference in a brand of companies offering, the way it recruits or its sales approach. If more business leaders took the approach of being a fashion designer that would draw them forward to always look for what's next. Too many leaders are constantly looking over their shoulder, worrying about their competitors, looking back. True leaders, true innovators and those people brave enough to break the rules are fashion designers regardless of their category of industry they work in. Too often it takes somebody to come from outside of the service industry to shake things up. More often than not it takes somebody from outside the main manufacturing industry to shake it up. You don't have to be a fashion person to have a fashion mindset. It's the curious approach to what's next. One of Wintour's closest acquaintances designer Karl Lagerfeld is known as a mercenary. The minute his collection takes the runway he has moved onto the next thing and he will never look at that collection again. Its time to be a mercenary.

Technology

Absolutly Brilliant

Readers of The Espresso may remember we did a story a while back on Absolut Brooklyn a collaboration between Absolut Vodka, rapper and storyteller Lemon Anderson and filmmaker Spike Lee. We happened to cross the next Absolut gem when we saw Absolut Vodka's Absolut Blank campaign. The idea is that you download the Absolut app from the iTunes store and by taking photo's using the camera function or even your microphone you can then lay the visuals onto a bottle of Absolut Vodka on the Absolut Blank Canvas to create your own artwork in their gallery. They have now taken it one step further with video director Saam Farahmand where using motion tracking technology you stand inside the Absolut Blank pod and dance or move about and they can then lay your dancing with a music track upon the Absolut Blank canvas which happens to be a bottle of Absolut Vodka. Technology is moving at such a blistering pace and its great seeing expert brand managers capitalise on technology, creating trends, involving their consumers and allowing for crowd sourcing via their websites and innovative apps.

Automotive

What Bike?

We love it when somebody takes something that is taken for granted and puts on their own spin. Designer Joey Reuiters Moto Undone is a very unusual motorbike. Its square, made out of polished metal and with its mirrored finish makes the bike seem almost invisible. Pretty much the only thing you see are the wheels, handlebars and pedals. The designer believes that when you are riding it the motorbike almost disappears. It's as if the rider just floats along the street silently. This is a pretty cool innovation. It may not be totally functional but it certainly is a masterpiece that demonstrates what someone can do when they are prepared to buck the system and re-define what a motorbike is by stripping away all the typical attributes that we know and have come to accept. The other twist is that all the gauges like the speedometer, GPS, petrol display etc are on show through the rider's smart phone using downloadable apps. This is such a cool spin on the motorbike. 

Beverage

Green Wine

With the world going green there are innovators all over the world looking at every aspect of their business and working out how they can make it more green. The Observer Newspaper in the UK reported that we are about to see the worlds first paper wine bottle. The company behind the product believe that we will see it on the UK's supermarket shelves as early as 2012. The drive behind the bottle? The necessity for us to find different options as land fill runs out and the opportunity to make something with a much smaller carbon footprint. GreenBottle is the company behind the product and it reckons it is already manufacturing the world's first paper milk bottles and so wine is the obvious next step. The wine bottle feature a similar bag to what you find in a wine box and that keeps the wine in good shape. It would be interesting to see whether perceptually people will be able to get their heads around it. 

Parenting

Checking In

We think parents will like this one. Its a mobile app that rewards kids for keeping their parents updated as to where they are and what they are doing through the day. I'm OK is a free mobile app that rewards kids for checking in and essentially good behaviour. By checking in kids accumulate points, a bit like a computer game. There is a little bit of set-up from the parents perspective but it sounds like this is something that if the kids engage with it could be a great tool to open up communication barriers for both kids and parents.

Environment

A Quick Escape

Quite often necessity drives innovation. Cosmos Power a small Japanese Engineering company have designed an escape pod that can hold up to four adults on water. Naturally in the wake of the recent Japanese disasters this has driven innovation and Cosmos Power have answered the call. Its kind of shaped like an oversized bowling ball, the new Noah Capsule has a small window and breathing holes on the top. It floats on the water and is apparently crash proof. It is made of fibre enforced plastic and according to reports is already starting to sell. If it has even a small chance of saving lives then it should be given a go we think.
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The Espresso is a weekly free newspaper designed specifically for those who want to look at things differently.

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Gary scours the world to find interesting tips, tools and news to give you a new or different perspective on the world around you.