SKAGGS

Way back in the summer of 2001, I visited my good friends Ping, Li and Mengye in Kunming, capital of China’s Yunnan Province. In July of that year I was in Beijing, where there was widespread excitement about the Olympic bid. When it was announced that Beijing had been chosen, the city erupted into parties, celebrations on the street and a palpable feeling that Beijing’s moment had arrived on the international stage.

Seven years later, there’s no doubt that the city has exceeded all expectations as Olympic host. Beijing has a new airport, an astounding Olympic stadium, and international focus has turned to emerging Chinese artists and the Chinese role in global media. The world is gearing up for the opening ceremony this Friday, with billions expected to tune in.

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And me too, and me too…

that’s the attitude and service we received from FedEx Kinkos’s while hiring them for a paid “test run” of poster for our client. Meanwhile, they’ve potentially lost a 1/2 million dollar job due to lack of managing their custumer service and quality control. I recently read that “Kinkos’s wasn’t doing too great…” I wonder why?

In an age where smaller businesses are ruling the roost and home printers have fantastic print quality, Kinkos’ business decline is no surprise! In my opinion, they need a big change in employee attitude and large modifications to their operations, NOT a new tagline or advertising campaign. This is a common and frustrating mistake with large corporations; instead of looking at the company internally and fixing the decay, they seek “new, shiny and expensive veneers” in the form of headline grabbing rebrands and “innovative” marketing. While they might attract the business, maintaining it is going to be a problem if you haven’t got informed and proactive employees. Did you know that consumers are 50% more likely to be influenced by word-of-mouth recommendations from their peers than by radio/TV ads and I’m quite certain we all know that stories of bad experiences spread far more quickly than good ones.

I’m not sure about the rest of the country, but I know for a fact that Kinko’s reputation in New York City is pretty much known for “bad service, unhelpful and/or un-informed staff. It’s a love/hate relationship - you usually end up HAVING to use them, because there’s nobody else available for your last minute or convenient job. You just have to grit your teeth and put up with the poor service. At SKAGGS we call this “Duane Reade Syndrome” (don’t even get me started on that).

Does anyone else agree?
If any Kinko’s employees or Kinko’s corporates are reading this, please feel free to enlighten me — I look forward to hearing from you.

Welcome to the ramblings from an Intern and the City. My name is Jeni, I’m from from Scotland and I am priviledged to join the wonderful Skaggs team in New York for an internship. Over the new few weeks I shall share my diary of events and thoughts as an Intern, but also as a travel journal as a first-time visitor to New York with observations, restaurant reviews and general tales. Carrie Bradshaw I am not, I have neither her wardrobe nor column writing ability. But I do love to gush about Design. I am hugely passionate about Design, across the board- graphics, architecture, web, products, illustration, interaction, fashion, typograhy, exhibition… and all, perhaps, an obsessive level! I read too many Design blogs, subscribe to too many Design journals, spend too much jet-stetting to Design events and own the complete Borders Books creative section. I can bore anyone who takes me out for dinner about the font choice on the menu, I get frustrated with poor illustrative diagrams building flat-pack furniture and detest things that don’t work due to thoughtless product design. I like things that are well thought-out and user-centered*, functional, simple, with a touch of aesthetic elegance. Keep an eye on my blog posts over the course of my time here at Skaggs.

* my spelling is not wrong or right, it’s just British.

Good Design comes in many forms. My personal favourites include the London Underground map, Macbook, Aston Martin Vanquish, Dyson ball vacuum, Olivetti Valentine typewriter, Chrysler Building and customisable doormat to name but a few.

But infact, the best pieces of Good Design are the inconspicuous things that make everyday life just that little bit better, like paperclips, biros, and folding chairs.

Today I acquired the most inspiring and useful simple object I have seen to date: a coffee cup stopper. This genius little device eliminates the on-the-move spill and scald issue familiar to surfing Subway commuters. I feel there is a market for personalised versions and marketing opportunities… something I’m planning to look into - watch this space!

This is why Starbucks is in a league of their very own.

TOTO’s quest to show you just how much water you could be saving using their High Efficiency Toilets brings the infamous water bottles to New York City just in time for ICFF.

Please join us on May 19th in celebrating totology — TOTO’s commitment to innovation and sustainability. From 6pm-9pm at the TOTO Gallery, 25 Mercer Street, NY 10013. RSVP to marketing[at]totousa.com or 888.232.8916

Attendees definitely have a surprise in store courtesy of SKAGGS and TOTO, check back at the end of the week for more info.

I’m all about random designer luxury goods. Not so much the handbags, umbrellas and cell phone cases. More like KVD’s Chanel Surfboard and my Mark Jacobs Bean Bags (courtesy of Cara). I see them not as luxury goods - but more like works of fashion art. When I came across Peter Gronquist’s latest exhibition at the Gallery 1998 in LA, I positively leapt out of my chair with glee. Weapons aren’t really my thing BUT I will make an exception for the Chanel Rocket Launcher, The Prada AK47 and of course the Louis Vuitton Chainsaw.

I haven’t had much opportunity to travel extensively through America, but every time I do get the chance, I absolutely love it. Why? Because I see the most random stuff ever!
Take for example a trip I took a few months ago for an ad campaign we shot for Skanska in Ohio.
As Cole Ruth (Communications and Brand Manager at Skanska USA) and I headed down the highway at night we saw Jesus…literally. All 62ft and 42ft wingspan of him.
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Ahhh Tribeca, home to the Tribeca Film Festival, The Odeon, a celebrity or two, SKAGGS and now one of the coolest and sexiest buildings I’ve seen in a long time. Construction has begun on a 20-story residential tower on 5 Franklin Place and is designed by Dutch architect Ben van Berkel of UNStudio.

It doesn’t look like much now, but the renderings are absolutely gorgeous. I love the metal bands that wrap the building and after finding out that they’re not just for show, I love them even more.

The reflective metal bands of our building are almost sewn on, like a dress. They grow thinner and thicker, wrapping themselves around the building and generating different visual effects as they change. But they are not just graphic elements, they are three-dimensional. Sometimes these bands become balconies; other times they become sunscreens that protect the apartment interiors from excess sunlight and reflect excess heat. So they have a true function and a sustainable quality, too.

There’s a great interview/feature on Dezeen with sketches, plus an interview with Ben van Berkel himself. Highly recommended read.

Science Machine from Chad Pugh on Vimeo.

How long does it take to create a complex illustration? Chad Pugh documented the process and put it all together in a very cool video.

The video is a condensed time lapse of screenshots over a several month period. Total physical drawing time is close to 40 hours and I’d add an equal amount of time for concept time and readying the print.

With their decadent confetti made of diced dollar bills (totaling a hundred dollars) to their S*** From Paris (a company dedicated in collecting, recycling and selling Parisian dog defections), it’s kind of difficult to describe what they do. I guess you could say that French duo Ivan Duval and Jean Sebastien Ides are in the business of ideas. They create/invent wonderfully quirky but well designed products, some of which is available to buy on their site. A good resource for off beat gifts methinks.