A Digital Strategist x Media Inventor's ideas on business, life and such
September 29th, 2005 • To be filed
Anina, a top fashion model and also a tech-freak has organized the first ever Fashion Bloggers conference in Paris with No
kia and Six Apart.
More information can be found here.
What’s interesting is that finally, fashion, is stepping up and embracing the new media. Ofcourse, there are several fashion blogs that have gained popularity over the last couple of months. Anina, the organizer, has also kindly agreed to be featured in Straight Questions.
September 29th, 2005 • To be filed
PSFK is running an idea-generating contest for two Fortune 100 companies. All you need to do is submit your ideas and wait to hear back!
Check it out here.
Only two more days to go!
September 28th, 2005 • 1 comment To be filed
I’ve been experimenting with my blog, trying to define it strongly and keep the content consistent. While, there is so much I’d like to blog about, I’ve decided to primarily concentrate on my interests.
Starting this Friday, I’m introducing a weekly series, "Straight Questions" where I will feature cool, interesting personalities who think out of the box, are experimental in nature and just, different.
Bottomline: people who intrigue, inspire and fascniate me enough that I want to know more about them.
So in the coming weeks, watch out for interviews with
Justine of Psychic Girl
Laila of Moorish Girl
….. more to follow.
September 27th, 2005 • To be filed
For 24 hours, (starting now) TRENDSTOP, is offering free access to their online trend-forecasts, reports and databases.
Username: trendstop
Password: orchid88
You need a non-yahoo/hotmail/free email account to access the site.
September 27th, 2005 • To be filed
I wasn’t able to make it thanks to the thunderstorms last night. However, moorishgirl made it in Oregon and here
is her report on meeting Rushdie.
September 26th, 2005 • To be filed
Salman Rushdie is speaking in Philadelphia tonight, at the Free Library.
It’s a rather late notice, but better now than never.
I met Rushdie last summer at a conference of the South Asian Journalist’s Association. He came with his beautiful wife, Padmalakshmi. Intelligence should be his second name, and honesty, his first.
Check back in later tonight for a report on the event.
September 25th, 2005 • To be filed
Thank you for everyone who wrote in to tell me that you liked the new look for Stylestation. I’m myvery happy with the look too. Also, I’ve been so inspired by my new design that I’ve decided to make a sorta-e-book for my fiction stories.
A little about me: I was a published author at the age of 15 in India. My book, "The Unexpected Gift" was published in 1999 by Pauline Publications. It was pretty cool– to be 15 and having earned a sizeable amount. 
I’ve not really had the inclination to get any of my other stories published since then, mostly because I am lazy and am more consumed with other things in life: such as finding a job, making money etc.
But I’ve always continued to write. Until now, my stories, (some incomplete, some complete) have been lying around in several flash drives and several folders on my computer. But today, I’ve decided to put them up on my site.
First, I thought I’d make little pdf’s to make it easier to download and read but then I took Pier’s advice and put them on a blog.
I love writing.
I’d like to invite you to Read my stories.
I’ve placed a permanent link to my stories on the upper right corner of the site.
Also, Stylestation will see more action now: more trend updates, juicy intakes on customer experience/service and more anecdotes about Philadelphia. And I need a favor: I’m shamelessly asking you to help me increase my blog traffic. I’m not sure I really know how to do that. Also, I’d like to hear from you what you like to hear/see/read here so I can frame my content accordingly.
I thank you for continuing to read Stylestation and giving me the inspiration to continue producing more content for you.
Jinal Shah
September 24th, 2005 • 2 comments To be filed
Sometimes, the possibilities on the web simply amaze me. Take this Wiltshire resident, Alex Tew, for example. This 21-year old college student launched a website, the Million dollar homepage, with the aim of providing advertising space to companies. That’s all the website does!!!
Each pixel is worth $1. and Tew’s aim is to make a million dollar from this site alone.
The site recieves close to 40,000 hits a day! and Tew has already made 56K pounds.
Yes. exactly. after reading about him, I , too, kicked myself in the head for not thinking about this before.
September 24th, 2005 • To be filed
C. O Bigelow Pharmacists have slowly gained my respect and admiration. Just yesterday I bought their incredibly famous Lemon Body Creme from the Bath and Body Moisterizers speical deal.
Here are a few reasons why their products are really appealing:
1) the products are just good. no doubts abou tthat.
2) the packaging is so simple and plain– you almost won’t buy this product. But it’s the simplicity of this brand thats so charming. The overcrowded market already has a million different brands of beauty products, each vying for our attention. It is the un-pretensiousness of Bigelow Chemists/Pharmacists that stands out.
3) And, this company has history. It’s been around in NY since forever and its formula’s have evolved. I’m a sucker for history: I’ll buy a new product that’s good and been around for ages than go for something that has a glowing recommendation in Vogue or Lucky.
But that’s just me… what about you?
September 24th, 2005 • To be filed
I take my food very seriously. Even though I am a vegeterian, I know when a place doesn’t serve enough vegeterian food and when a place just sucks at serving any kind of food.
I’ve never been a huge fan of Olive Garden- the restaurant that claims to have bought Italy in our dining rooms. Last night, friends and I went there for dinner coz they were running a special: for $7.99– unlimited soup, salad and pasta. It does sound like a good deal, eh.
The salad was good. the soups were fine. It’s only when the pasta’s were delivered, I wondered if the pasta was cooked in the restaurant or at some poor unassuming lady’s house and just slabbered on our plates. I ordered the farfalle with creame garlic sauce. Luckily for me, the had the farfalle pasta (they surprisingly ran out of farfalle and penne when my friends ordered those for the next round of pastas) and the creamy garlic sauce was well.. creamy but too salty. So salty that a friend didnt’ even eat his first order.
Other’s had problems with the sauce being too less– to the pastas lacking complete favor.
Now I’m sure if we had ordered from their regular menu-they would have produced both farfalle and penne pasta. NOw it wasn’t all that bad: the service was excellent, the ambeince just perfect, its only the food that sucks bigtime.
Next time someone wants to eat good Italian food in Philly, try Pietro’s or Bucca Di Peppo. Much much better food.
September 23rd, 2005 • To be filed
Can’t believe I missed this one! Thanks to Agenda Inc, however…
Guess who’s Barbie’s competitor in the Middle east ? A prettier look-alike, Fulla (name of a jasmin like flower in Levant)
But unlike Barbies outrageously large boobs and skimpy, tight outfits, Fulla comes packaged in the typical Islam garb: a black abaya and a matching head scarf.
Ofcouse, she has her own share of wardrobes, but they come separately. Fulla also has a tiny pink prayer rug. So the doll not only educates and inclucates the Islamic values in little girls- it’s a relief for parents too, as they don’t have to deny their kids a "Barbie" anymore.
Designed in 2001 in Syria, Fulla has become a best-seller in Islamic countries because of great marketing and target-oriented advertising unlike Fulla’s other counter parts.
A great way to have peneterated the Islamic market– like the LG phone that introduced the SMS prayer alerts and the GPS’ system that points in the direction of Mecca. This phone has recieved an amazing response in Middle East.
September 23rd, 2005 • To be filed
So is anyone surprised that Ebay might buy Skype? I’m not the least surprised, infact I was wondering why it didn’t happen sooner. Maybe Ebay was waiting to strike the iron while it was hot? or waiting for Skype or any other fast-growing, popular web tool, to reach a sizeable level of its potential before making the jump for it?
In my opinion, Ebay is buying Skype for two main reasons. 1) The brand. – Skype, although has not achieved main-stream popularity, has atleast become synonmous with phone calls. Even if consumers don’t really know what Skype does or is- they know that much to relate it to a phone call. Skype has built a loyal customer base which will smoothly transfer to Ebay’s once the acquisiton is complete. So now when someone thinks of ebay- they won’t just think of money and auctions, they’ll also think about making phone calls. Excellent startegic move.
1) The bandwagon.- Ebay just cannot handle the pressure from Google and Yahoo. In each of the monster’s struggle to become the number one web-services provider, they are ousting each other every way imaginable.
Hey- I’m all for progress of the mankind. But I dread to think of the day the whole world will be governend by a single Gooyabay. (let’s not forget amazon)
I’m so convinced that Gooyabay is not very far off that I’m making a whole new category to track Gooyabay’s progress.
Just watch..it’s not going to be too long before amazon.com is snapped up by one of these three…
September 19th, 2005 • To be filed
Disney has partnered with Hallmark to introduce, "Mickey and Me.. With Love" bouquet. Interesting move ?! To think about it, I quite like the idea of recieving the familar mickey with a large bouquet of flowers..
how well with the consumers catch up with this idea? any thoughts…
(can you go wrong with world’s fav mouse and flowers….its like chocolate and flowers…!)
September 19th, 2005 • To be filed
The poncho Martha Stewart wore on her "coming out" show has reportedly fetched orders worth $375,000.
Martha is a cult here.. Sometimes I can’t imagine how hard it must be for her to live up to that reputation. I mean, you gotta live up to this guru, to this pedastal the public put you on, or you’re pretty much dead meat!
I’m actually quite looking forward to her version of the Apprentice. I remember reading that she isn’t planning on "firing" people persay. She has different plans- well, we’ll find out I guess.
September 19th, 2005 • To be filed
I just had to put this here!
Allure by Diane Vreelan
Scruples by Judith Krantz
The language of cltohes by Alison Lurie
Simply Halston by Steven Gaines
The Girls of slender means by Muriel Spark
September 19th, 2005 • To be filed
Laura Landro in WSJ talks about shopping in outlet malls and lists a great source to find listings of outlet malls and a listing by stores.
Check out OutletBound.com
September 19th, 2005 • To be filed
The first Weekend edition of WSJ– I have to say I am very impressed that WSJ finally introduced a weekend edition. WSJ has been my favorite newspaper since college days. The Weekend Edition is friendlier, and more colorful.
Includes a brand new section, "Pursuits" that loosely covers arts, entertainment, food, living and style. It’s alright- some noteworthy articles but with time, I reckon it will only get better.
A must glance through!
Unfortunately- nothing of it is available online 
September 16th, 2005 • To be filed
First featured in CMYK magazines summer 05 issue, Propaganda is indeed a unique design firm. Its products are quirky, contemporary and weirdly different! It’s one to watch out for.
These toothbrush holders are insane- a little off, but cool in its own way, I guess. They have more stuff, that’s not as weird, hehe.
It’s worth checking out.
September 16th, 2005 • To be filed
Fortune magazine’s 75th anniversary issue includes a tiny booklet that forecasts this world 75 years from now. It makes some pretty startling, however not unexpected predictions:
here are a few from the medical area:
- we will be able to buy drugs that restore memory at the counter
- our damaged organs will be rebuilt
-medicines will be customized to our genetic configuration
- women will be fertile all their lives– no menopause (that also means they’ll have to deal with periods all their lives,. ugh!)
- no more cavities for teeth. teeth can be grown in labs. (yay for this one)
- we will be able to grow limbs!
There are many more in the issue. This issue is for keeps. So we can show our children that we already expected their age and generation!
September 15th, 2005 • To be filed
Cool Hunting has launched a new site, FLUX, to help US Customers "pimp their cell phones." Just what I was lamenting about a few days back– now all that’ we need are cool cell phones. Listening Sprint, CIngular, Verizon ? GIVE us good cell phones!
September 15th, 2005 • To be filed
Designboom’s Teenage Furniture Design Contest saw some absolutely brilliant entries. What a talented crop of teenagers! The firrst prize winner designed this cool-looking, dice-like rumble seat with inset speakers to enjoy music! Designer James Owen says,
Rumble Seat is a new way to
enjoy music individually and with friends. Constructed of gusseted ABS
plastic, the main enclosure houses a powerful subwoofer, two mid-range
speakers and four tweeters. Rumble Seat can operate on four D-Size
batteries or on AC power through the use of a retractable power cord
built into the bottom of the unit. It features a simple control
interface for connecting any portable audio device. The interface area
is surrounded by a rubber overmolded handle assembly. The entire
structure is capped off top and bottom with a rubber overmolded seat
pan and base. The rubber provides comfort while maintaining durability.
Several Rumble Seats can be linked together to allow a group of people
to enjoy each other’s music and create unity through sound.
"
Infact, every creation is worth a mention. Check out the results here.
September 15th, 2005 • To be filed
Learnt about Smoy through the Buzz Report at Buzz Marketing. I’ve caught on pretty late on this trend, but hey- it’s super cool nonetheless. These are perfect little braclets to tuck in those tiny pics you take from your camera phones. They look all artsy and guess what? are customizable! Hooray
September 15th, 2005 • To be filed
Applying for jobs is a full time job— someone should pay me for it! So after a long day of applying jobs and cold calling companies, I went out for dinner to TRIA, a fairly recent Center City restaurant that I’ve been meaning to go to for over a year now.
The ambience was cozy. The music wasn’t so loud that you couldn’t hear what the person next to you was saying. The servers looked happy, esp. this one waitress– she was amazing. She was so happy with her job or about something that she skipped and danced to the music playing in the restaurant. Watching her made me feel happy about being there.
But the food– was simply the best food I’ve ever eaten. Anywhere. Period. We started with an order of some special beer that was laced with orange and corriander. Now I’m not a big beer fan but this one- was particularly good. A side of bruschetta to wash off the beer-Was it going to be goronzola cheese with fig sauce? carmelized onions with basil? Finally, out of the six bruschetta choices, I went with the sterotypical, tomoto, mozzarella and basil.
It arrived in a geometric plate, sprinkled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Every flavor and every bite was pronounced. I was so impressed with such an amazing concotion of such a simple item. So for the main course, I got a little courageous and ordered a grilled artichokes, tuscan spicy peppers and white beans sandwich. I’m not a big fan of artichokes or white beans- but what the hell…
I’m so glad I ordered this sandwich. IT was out of this world. No other word for it. I was in a different universe as I finished my sandwich. It came with a frsh garden salad on the side. For dessert I ordered a Banana, caramel and mascaperone cheese panino.
Since when did banana in a bread start tasting so orgasmic? If I were a NYTimes Food Critic, I’d have more words to describe the food experience.
Bottom line: If you live in Philly- you have to have been to TRIA.
September 13th, 2005 • To be filed
Self Education neved ends and never should. I didn’t study marketing in school but I believe I know more about marketing than most marketing grads. I just am familiarzing myself with the technical terms now. I borrowed a friend’s textbook to educate myself… Watch out for an update on what I learnt..
September 13th, 2005 • To be filed
You cannot be a good trend-spotter unless you can compartmentalize your brain and be aware everytime you think like a consumer. Today I was shopping at my favorite store on Chestnut Street, Di Bruno brothers, when I noticed these pastel-colored mints right next to the cashier.
I knew I had seen them somwhere, they looked so familiar to me. And then I rememberd, Lucky magazine. Ofcourse!
In the October issue of Lucky mag, on page 252, is a tiny picture of Pastiglie Aromatiche Mints. I almost bought one of these little boxes but balked out at the last minute.
I’m not sure whether I’ve seen them before there- maybe they’ve always been there but I didn’t notice them?
One thing -any kind of media- can do is garner the consumer’s attention. For sure. I didn’t buy it this time– maybe the next time, I’ll end up buying it. who knows?
September 13th, 2005 • To be filed
September Issue of Vogue has more ads than actual features. Actually, the September issue of almost every women’s magazine is usually the fattest, fittest and full of advertisements.
In other news, Men’s Vogue has just released and I’m not so impressed. Yet.
There is a saturation point to every kind of magazines in every kind of genre. Yes- there are so many great people to write about, there are so many great stories to tell- But I am strongly of the belief that very soon, all this will be available on-line for free.
Tell me, what do you think?
September 9th, 2005 • To be filed
Cingular Wireless is to be the first US operator to introduce
Motorola’s hotly anticipated Rokr mobile handset which doubles as an
Apple iTunes
digital music player, capable of holding around 100 songs. The three companies this week announced plans to
launch the new service in time for the 2005 holiday season.
Enough has been written about the Ipod and its halo effect– but one thing- American cellular service providers really need to get their groove together and introduce better phones at better prices. I’m not really a phone freak but everytime I need a new instrument- I end up asking my family or friend to buy it from India or Indonesia… or even China.. where latest models are available sooner than they are here in America– and at cheaper prices too. It’s not a big deal to get the phones unlocked and tune them to the local service provider here. I truly, deeply hate every cell phone service provider in America. T-mobile and Cingular merger was so bad—even now when you call then, you get answers like, oh you are a T mobile customer– Cingular doesn’t do that.
I dont get it— isn’t Tmobile, cingular now!? Shouldn’t they have consistent, similar policies?
I am very strongly convinced that USA is ripe and ready for a brilliant mobile service provider. Something that’s cheap, easy and very uncomplicated. and yeah– something that has cool phones!
September 9th, 2005 • To be filed
Crayola, is a company, we have all grown up with. (I think!) Even though I was born and raised in India, I had a steady supply of the wonderful Crayola colors coming in every year through uncles, aunts and cousins who lived in America. I even remember being gifted a 16 pack Crayola one Christmas. I was so thrilled then! Well.. I’m 22 now.. and just bought a 64 pack Crayola crayons.. I’m just as thrilled!
I came across this very interesting article on the Crayola site. A national survey conducted by Crayola revealed that if kids could erase one problem from the world, it would be violence.
Crayola donated $100,000 on behalf of the kids to "Students against violence everywhere," a charitable organization. I hadn’t thought of companies actually doing something for the community-benefit until I read this news. And got to know DK.
DK, runs Phatgnat- a company that identifies approriate projects and creates opportunities for brands to communicate with youth and help communities. It’s amazing how much good some companies do and we never hear about it…
It would be reallly really nice of you if you took 2 mins and filled out this survey for DK. And while you are at it– check out his blog as well..
September 9th, 2005 • To be filed
Baidu , the press says, is China’s answer to Google. Businessweek reports that Baidu went public at $27 on Aug 4th… now trades at $83. That’s a huge jump in just a month.
I just checked out the search engines and unless you are Chinese, its not going to be of any use to you. Its layout– feels like Googles.. I can’t really tell how better it is, but if someone out there speaks Chinese– mind dropping us a comparison!?
The name, though, is definitely catchy.
August 27th, 2005 • 3 comments To be filed
The Sept 5 issue of Business Week has an article declaring how Spain is becoming the next hotspot for huge corporations. Companies like Citigroup, General Motors, Hewelett-packard, Agilent technolgoes have already set up shop in Barcelona.
Wages in Spain have climbed 36% in since 1998– impressvive?
August 20th, 2005 • To be filed
I recently finished reading this very fascinating book about Managing Customer Expereince, by Bernd Schmitt. I had siad once that Design was the only differentiating factor– but I think Customer Experience will soon be replacing that. From the experience offered in low-cost carriers to stores–so many customers rely on their friends, family and colleagues to tell them about their experience with a certain product or company before trying it themselves.
Two stores that offer avery good experience (to me!) are Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters. Owned by the same company, everytime I walk into these stores– I never know what I’m going to find in there. There’s always an element of surprise. Esp. at Urban Outfitters, they position sexy Puma sneakers right next to a metallic pair of closed platform heeled punk-rock boots! It;s like a Treasure Hunt in that store—since the last few weeks, (that I’ve started earning not-so-embarrasingly-low-salary) I’ve been going to UF a few times a week and I walked out thrilled with the deals I find in them… The sales people are usually nice… ready to help… there’s always a bad apple when it comes to that though.
But all in all, I walk in that store sometimes, simply for the experience.
August 18th, 2005 • To be filed
Is this off-limits? Would people actually pay to see their name in a Stephen King of a John Grisham novel? For one– I applaud the genious marketers who came up with this idea, product placement in books! But on a more conscious level– isn’t it stretching it a bit too far !
Actually I take that back. What would be stretching it far would be Company wars over nameing the recently discovered 10th planet. IgorInternational’s blog has a fine take on that.
July 26th, 2005 • 2 comments To be filed
In Thailand braces have managed to find a pedestal of cool among the teenagers. So much so that fake braces DIY kits are available in stores. I never wore braces (even though the dentist said I should) for the fear of being teased and laughed at in school. And once you are done with school– there’s just no going back to braces, glasses or anything artificial protruding from your face!
That braces are now considered
cool
is a welcome change. Maybe they won’t give the stereotypical geeky kid braces in Hollywood movies anymore. Possible reasons for this attitude shift are
1) pretty looking braces in variegated colors, even invisible kinds! and
2) the fact that braces have become so ubiquitous and relatively inexpensive.
Inversely, now those who don’t have or need braces are feeling left out. I’d much rather wear fake graces to fit in than wear no braces at all. As long as the fake braces are safe and pose no danger or long term effects to the kids, I don’t see anything wrong with them.
Hopefully, fake braces are just a passing trend and the healthy attitude towards braces will prevail.
(link via
July 25th, 2005 • To be filed
This week’s best find, is undoubtedly ProductDose. A Web-zine of cool products launched this June- I think, Product Dose is a fun browse, on three counts. Good photography, clean space and succint description.
It is still in its Beta version.
July 22nd, 2005 • To be filed
This should have been the Best Find of the Week– and what better than desert?!
A close Indonesian friend offered me "Mochi Ice-cream" today– the name itself is so amusing that it kept rolling off my tongue, Mochi Mochi Mochi!! heh
The little soft ball, the actual Mochi ice-cream, is even more amusing and fun. This recipe is a combination of the traditional Japanese chewy sweet rice cake and all-American, ice-cream. Just perfect, mouth-sized globs of icecream are packed inside the Mochi, the rice cake- that tastes more like marshmellow. (Is marshmellow made of rice?? I have no clue)
It is so fabulously smooth and delicious. For $3.99, a pack- you can buy yourself six balls of Mochi ice-cream in several flavors. I tried the Mango flavor and it was very very good.
I’m not a big fan of ice-cream, so when I say something is good- it really is.
Where can you buy it: If there’s a China-town near you, I’m sure you’ll be able to find Mochi Ice-cream there. But I read it here, that soon Mochi will be available at our local grocery stores. (I’m not sure if it is already there)
July 22nd, 2005 • To be filed
Two reasons why shopping online is easier and less-cumbersome:
- the prices are cheap
- amazon.com is so smart, it starts making its own recommendations once you use their site
Two reasons why traditional book-stores are still so lovable:
- some people like me, just like the feel and smell of new books and the environment to sit and read peacefully
- we can still read the book without the complusion of buying them.
HOWEVER.
The books are so badly organized and arranged, that unless you know what you are looking for, it is almost impossible to glance through all the books arranged on the book-store shelves, mostly by subject or the author’s last name. Just today, I spent close to 3 hours at the local B&N, with the sole intention of coming across some good books simply through browsing the aisles. But after 10 minutes or so, my eyes started hurting and I’d only read titles of those books that were positioned facing the customer. I barely could read the names of the books stacked side-ways, with only the title visible.
Big Mista
ke. And I’ll tell you why.
- Sometimes customers buy books simply because the covers are pretty to look at. I know this because I have worked at a Borders bookstore.
- There have been so many times I’ve wanted to read a book by "ANY" author from the Middle-East, or Egypt or even India. But unless I knew what book or which author I was looking for, it has been impossible to find that kind of a fiction book. Thats when I think to myself, why can’t book-stores have a special section where fiction books are arranged by the part of the worlds?
- When books are stacked side-ways, it is a complete mish-mash of typographies, logos and colors. It can be a vital mistake to position a glaring red colored book with black type, sidways– right next to a bright yellow colored book with a red type and a jazzy font. Now consider this arragement, a hundred times over. NO customer is going to look twice in that direction!
-It’s funny, how customers almost always noticed/browsed books that were specailly laid out on the tables at separate points throughout the book-store. These books are handpicked under genres such as, "Summer Reading," "New Fiction," "Staff Recommends," etc etc. These books are ALWAYS facing the customers enabling them to view the cover as well, therby increasing the chances of a book being picked up by the customers.
Sheesh.
There should be Book-Science. How can book-store owners not be conscious about such very minute things that help better customer experience?
July 22nd, 2005 • To be filed
Jolie Nyc , used to be a beauty edtior at Ladies Home Journal until she got fired this week for blogging. Her blog was popular, irrevrent, honest and showed the true side of the magazine industry. Having worked at a high-profile beauty magazine myself (as an intern– but I did everything the editorial assistants did, even more!) I know for a fact that everything Jolie wrote was true and untainted.
Beauty Editors DO get tons of free stuff including Marc Jacobs wallets, free holidays, airplane tickets, beauty products and ipods. Everyone in the magazine industry seemed to have ganged up on her. Seventeen magazine even retracted their job offer, as she was just about to switch jobs before her identity was revealed in a mass email. I feel for Jolie.
There is nothing wrong in getting and desiring free stuff, especially when you work in that environment. Its amazing when you think abou it– Fashion and Beauty Publicists send out SO MUCH free stuff to magazine editors– just hoping for THAT one mention in their magazine, that I wondered, if they’d be better off putting that effort and money towards marketing their products.
Anyways, JolieNyc has become yet another to have been fired-for-blogging. It sucks that even honesty doesn’t matter much now. Her industry professionals called her "behavior" unprofessional.Whatever. I’m glad I shunned the magazine industry while I had the power to.
July 19th, 2005 • To be filed
I don’t want to ruin the half Blood Prince suspense for you so don’t go to this link if you haven’t read the Half Blood Prince yet.
Others, do go here! The ending of the book, written in the style of another author. Quite funny, actually.
July 19th, 2005 • 1 comment To be filed
I just finished reading the New Harry Potter book and I dreamt of magic wands and purple robes all night. Harry Potter has become a brand within itself– infact, the true test of a strong brand is when others try to capitalize on it.
At most Borders book-stores, the Harry Potter book is strategically placed on a table with other related magic fiction books, an unofficial Rowling autobiography, dragon stories, Potter memorbialia, stickers, wands, robes…etc,etc, All these authors and manufactuers hoping to be so well positioned next to the new Potter book!
Harry Potter stories are the kind that make everyone think: ahh, I could have written it, but only she thought of it before me! I love Potter, I love what is has become, and sincerely, kudos to Rowling!
Related article at brandchannel.com
July 19th, 2005 • 1 comment To be filed
This is undoubtedly the best find of the week. The new Star War movie, Revelations, directed by Shane Felux has garnered a lot of attention in the past few weeks. It has already been downloaded over 3 million times and the word is, the director has recieved blessings from George Lucas himself!
Shane Felux studied directing and film-making in school and his wife is a costume-designer. They spent about $20,000 on their home-production of Star Wars with over 200 people working on it! The movie is free to download !
Read more at BBC News.
Post Script: The affordable technology is makign it possible for wanna-be directors and movie-makers to come out of the closet and at the least experiment! And really, some of these home productions are really good!
July 16th, 2005 • 1 comment To be filed
Design has become an important element in almost everything: fashion, restaurant, products, movies, websites, etc. Design has become the sole differentiator. If you haven’t read Dan Pink’s theory about the creative revolution, I suggest you go his website now! Better yet, read his book.
I found some interesting links today- I’m not a designer- more of a design afficionado…I appreciate beautiful things and invariably, like to learn more about design. I didn’t know Apple runs an absolutely cool website for professionals. Among the available options, the section on Color is the most interesting. Color fascniates me. The best part about the site is that it links you to other, cool, related sites.
Another very informative website I came across is Design-Boom. It is based in Milan and unlike other webzines about design, this one actually offers more insight into the designers and artists. Here’s is the listing of all the Designer and Artist Interviews. What’s different and what I like best about these interviews is that they interviewers poses very insightful questions that give readers a glimpse into the minds of the designers and what inspires them. A sampling of questions:
q- what is your favorite time of day?
q- what kind of music are you listening to right now?
q-what books do you have on your bedsite table?
Seriously, I’m so glad I found the site, its my best find of the week! Speaking of which, I’m starting a regular feature, Best Finds of the Week, where I will post a sampling of websites, products, news, anything that deserves to be shared with everyone as a Best Find! I will put together that feature every Monday, so stay tuned.
July 15th, 2005 • 3 comments To be filed
Of late, I’ve been reading a lot about the growth in the market for men’s products and services. Trend-spotters and certain analysts have spotted it as the next major trend. Yet, I fail to understand or see "this" trend.
Yesterday, I was walking past Rittenhouse sqaure, Philadelphia’s swanky upscale district and I saw a nail salon that said, "Exclusive Nail Treatments for Men and Women." I stopped for a bit and peaked inside to see if I could really spot any men inside. I saw a bevy of Chinese women tending to the toenails and fingernails of yet another bevy of customers– all women.
Sarcynic, a close friend and fellow blogger, recieved a subscription to Cargo magazine recently. When I flipped through some of the past issues, I saw listings of beauty products for men, prices and all. I’ve seen a lot of my guy friend’s flip through these magazines but surprisingly, I’ve not seen many of them actually splurge on "smooth shaving gels," or "eye contour lift." I figure most of of the men I know will look up quizically when I tell them about eye contour lifts.
What I’m wondering is– WHERE and WHO are these men who splurge on beauty products- and mind you, its not that these products are very expensive, most average incomed men can afford these products. I’ve seen men ogling over cars, gadgets and gizmos– and maybe sometimes over colognes. But beauty products? Not in my lifetime of 22 years. So one thing is clear that this is not about money and not being able to afford such products and treatments.
I’m sure there are men who are experimental in nature and know a whole lot more about beauty products than I do, but my guess is, there are only handful of such men. A very teeny small percentage that do not count for the entire male population, who’s views do not reflect those of the whole male population.
While nation-wide men are getting more experimental with their clothes and sporting softer colors, I have yet to see men swoon over beauty products. 
Post Script:
Nickel- this company has the strangest product list. A shaving gel with ruscus and chamomile, a massage oil made of hot peppers, a refrigerator-able eye mask (??!!) mositerizers to suit dark complexioned men, moisterizers for light complexioned men– hey, what about the yellow skinned man? They’ve even set up a Nickel for men Spa in New York- ofcourse, it had to be NY, every other company and his brother wants to woe the NY audience. And the NY audience are very different from the rest of the people, however, just because something works there, does not translate into a successful trend or a major upcoming trend.
July 14th, 2005 • To be filed
Ever wondered how companies come up with names for their products? Wondered how they come up with names for themselves? A few months back I finished reading a book about Nomenclature of companies. A google search led me to this interesting e-booklet (74 pages- and FREE) on IGOR’s naming website. If you are interested, it’s worth a read.
Meanwhile, I’m HUNT for writers is still on. Read the post below.
July 12th, 2005 • 1 comment To be filed
This
is what I should have heard at my graduation. This is kind of graduation speaker I should have gotten, instead of a lousy religion professor.
Please read what Steve Jobs told the graduating class of Stanford. It doesn’t matter if you are a graduate or if you are a forty year old home-maker. This speech is for everyone, all of us who aspire to do something and be something in life.
July 12th, 2005 • To be filed
Packaging: Tetra Paks, IndiaButter Milk is very central to Indian culture. It is a staple at every Indian home, in all Indian cities. The introduction of Buttermilk in flavors and tetra packs is a most ingenious idea, Jinal Shah suggests.
Before the site become password protected, check out the rest of my short article here.
July 12th, 2005 • To be filed
Matcha (made from Japanese green tea leaves) Acai (a berry harvested in the Brazilian Amazon) and Guarana (a seed native to Venezuela and northern Brazil) are slowly entering the vocabulary of the health-conscious. These natural stimulants are supposedly healthier than universally popular caffiene. So much so that Jamba Juice has started using them in their smoothies.
Jamba Juice has started this trend- it won’t be too long before the benfits (or disadvantages?)of these natural stimulants spread.
This article talks more …
July 12th, 2005 • To be filed
Have you noticed how H&M stocked up on brown and blues for their spring collection? Or did you happen to see the window displays at Zara where the mannequins are wearing gorgeous flare skirts with Moroccan and Indian motifs? Have you wondered why, on the onslaught of spring, colors like brown, blue, green and pastels are making a comeback?
At the February Fashion Week in New York, Wall Street Journal reported that brown and blue were going to be the "it" colors. Pantone, the color institute,is a premier color forecaster in all areas from fashion to furnishings. For their color reports, they interview designers/interior decorators/journalists/futuristic and analyze economical and cultural trends. The data is then compiled together to make their expensive fashion forecasts. It was, infact, predicted by Pantone, that glazed ginger and Moroccan blue were going to be very popular this season.
In a recent article by Cathy Horyn, the New York Times Fashion Critic, she reported on how designers determine colors for their collection. While inspiration is the number one source where designers derive their colors from, reports from color forecasting agencies like Pantone and The Color Association are relied upon heavily by the designers. It can prove fatal for a designer to strike a wrong chord with the colors. So don’t trust them too much when you see them rant off exotic locales and historic periods as their sources of inspiration for the colors! It’s a very fine balance of subscribing to these expensive forecast reports and trusting their instinct.
In a Chicago Sun interview Lisa Herbert ,executive VP of Pantone’s fashion and home division, says "When we’re talking about color, we’re picking these colors about two years in advance."
The process how certain colors gain popularity is rather interesting. When Pantone predicted purple as the color for fall 2004, it based its predictions on the popularity of the Lord of The Rings trilogy. "There was a fascination with traveling back in time to noble knights and dragons, and looking back at glorious tapestries and jewel tones," Herbert says. "This is how it all happens, believe it or not." (Chicago Sun Interview, Oct 14, 2004)
Brown climbed the charts this year in part because of Starbuck’s interior UPS’s trendy makeover for Brown. As for blue, the WSJ article said that Estee Lauder’s Beyond Paradise perfume print advertisement was one of the factors that raised blue’s profile.
Any guesses on what cultural phenomenas might help raise fall 2007’s color profiles? Its quite evident creativity and science converge at a point to create the latest trends.
Snippets:
QuikSilver, a surf clothing compay, has a ship that travels the international waters 365 days a year. The ship boards graphic artists, wordsmiths and designers. Their team observes the surfs, the island people, the flora and fauna of the waters and translate it through their designs on Quiksilver T-Shirts.
Diesel, on the other hand, sends out hundreds of scavengers throughout the world twice a year, to hunt for weird, strange and creative items of clothing. They adapt their finds into new designs. More on Diesel’s innovative approach later!
July 12th, 2005 • To be filed
I’ve been searching endlessly for a cute laptop bag for my IBook and I came across these designer laptops. Dutch company, Tulip E-go is designing laptops with interchangeable covers! I cannot find the price for this laptop but it comes with 100GB, wireless, bluetooth, 1024 mb, a video card and so much more. This definitely will be priced higher than the Apple i-books. Atleast I think so.
July 12th, 2005 • To be filed
A friend mentioned Cereality - the Cereal Bar and Cafe that opened in Philadelphia this December. It’s in University City, on the UPenn and Drexel campus, the perfect place to attract students straight from their beds!
I am so fascinated by the idea of having an entire restaurant dedicated to the quintessential breakfast food, cereals. I wasn’t sure how well the concept would do, but turns out, its pretty popular among the college students.
apparently, they’ve got all kinds of cereals, cereal smoothies, bars and whatnots. Their servers are actually called "cerealogists"! I’m not a big fan of cereal but I think this concept is just so cool.
Say within the next couple of years, Fruitality and Yogurt Cafe’s pop up throughout the country, the current fast-food giants like Mc D’s, Burger King and Wendy’s will have to change their strategy. I devored on fast food this entire semester because it was so incredibly cheap and thats the bottomline right there.
College kids are poor. The one dollar meals at these fast-food places fit perfectly in their budget. And thats the sole reason why fast-food is so popular in among college-kids.
I like it that stores like Cereality are taking initiatives, albeit, at a very slow pace to change this fast-food notion in the minds of American college kids. For every one move little initiatives like these make, the giants will take a leap. Wendys and Mc D’s are supposedly venturing into healthy foods. Haven’t been to Mc D’s in over 2 years, but Wendy’s has added fresh salads, yogurt bowls and fruit bowls to their menu.
This reminds me, yet again, of the new trend that is slowly creeping over in every field: specialization. We now have specialized cereal bars, what comes next?
July 12th, 2005 • To be filed
When I was a kid, we toasted our bread on pans. We’d spread butter on the bread first and then flip it over the pan until it turned golden-brown. When my American uncle bought a toaster for my Mom, she was ecstatic and so were we. Our bread was actually toasty – woohoo.
I don’t remember my exact reaction about these "pop art" toasters when I first saw them on my friend’s computer. She had them in her Wish List, to buy for her niece. Imagine eating toasted bread with actual art on it?! It makes the simple process of eating toasted bread so ….engaging, and fun. It has interchangable plates that come with designs on them. The day kids will be allowed to create their own designs for their toasts is not too far off.
