addictlab

Manifesto for Responsible Innovation (repost)

2010-03-09T04:14:00.000-08:00

I'm reposting this text that I started of on, in a previous post called: 'the Moral Duty Of Creation'
As this text will now be published in a book from the University of Brussels - working title: "WE CAN CHANGE THE WEATHER. 100 Effective Cases to Start Doing So.

Manifesto for responsible innovation.

You can not change the weather with your head in the clouds.

Almost two decades ago, I was trying to write up a business plan for Addictlab, that was based on the belief that there would be a severe need for creativity. Creativity will become the ‘oil of the 21st century’ I wrote back then. Defining creativity would take us too far here, yet we can consider creative thinkers people who are able to apply some form of chemistry, so that new things arise. In that perspective, creativity is in no means to be confused with art.
More than ever, I believe that out of the box thinkers have a huge potential in view of the desired changes for the planet, the way we live together. In that sense, creative minds also have a huge responsibility. It’s what I’ve called ‘the moral duty of creation’.
Looking back at the different projects we have been doing with Addictlab, be it on our own or for third parties, there is something that is popping up. When you ask people to take part in a session of group thinking, there is a clear wish to come up with the wildest ideas, to change paradigm shifting, all of that. But there is something else: the actual ideas are been assessed by the invited group, based on their sustainability and importance for the social environment too.

What if this comes naturally with the process of sourcing and the methodology behind concepts such as Addictlab? What if bringing people together in collaborative processes results in interaction, in surprising or out-of-the-box ideas, but also brings forward a clear wish to create 'for the community'?

Group thinking sparks responsible solutions. Change R.O.I. from Return On investment to Responsibility Of Innovation.

Could social awareness be one of the outcomes of any creative project? Then maybe that is the most remarkable thing to be studied. Because that would mean that we play less 'individually' when creating in and as a group. So the methodology itself steers the result in a certain direction. We’re adding an extra 'social' layer to the filters we use to generate our concepts. And with this, our creative thinkers need to be responsible in what they create.
Am I making sense? Let’s make a quick diagram.

1. conventional creative process:

There will normally be a reason of creation. I will limit my example here to that of a consultant creating for a client. Yet the thoughts remain the same for all creation, art included.
A client, a company, a possible sales outlet, there is an economical reason and budget to start a creative process. This process should therefore create changes for that receiver or whoever ordered the process to start. Think of new products, a communication strategy, a brand reflection, a new building, and more. It depends on the creative discipline commissioned.
In the process, there are a number of changes to be looked into. What if we could quantify those 'changes', be it economical, brand-related, personal or more.

• The blue part then shows the 'amount of changes' that are the result for the receiver. Less money but received ‘added created value.’
• The red part shows the other party that will be involved in this process: the agency/designer/consultant/artist. He who creates, he who transmits. In consultancy, changes as a result of this process for the agency will be primarily income, but one could also add field experience and added value. (We did THIS for THAT client)
• Next to that, we can/should expect more income (or added value) for external or internal creative resources. That's the yellow part.
• The Green part, is the social part: the PR value, the story to tell. It’s what ‘other’ people will say or do, when coming in contact with the creation. In an economical creation, this means stories can be picked up by journalists & media. Yet, probably, and most of the time in a consultancy relation, this will be limited to the peer group of both agency/ & client.

2. The holistic creative process.

Now. Let's look at what I believe should be an ideal Addictlab project, and a model for all creative processes tout court.

• The blue part stays pretty important: a client - any client - should get the changes they are paying for, and more.
• The red part then, is about quantifying the beneficial changes and/or income (but not necessarily only money) for the organization, as facilitator & methodology to create. The transmitter. This can be remuneration for the ‘production’.
• The yellow part here, shows you the income/added value for the creative resources involved. These, in my perspective, are labmembers, registered on Addictlab. Mark: the sizes of client/addictlab/labmembers are equal. Important, as we want to do anything but abuse the creative resources. This sometimes is completely opposed to how creative minds are treated/neglected by agencies in the ordinary process..
• The green part is added value generated for the lab's partners & sponsors. Addictlab's labpartners should be benefiting too. Labpartners can step in & tap into certain research fields. Addictlab's proactive way of working & global research fields demand research partners. The partners/sponsors should receive added value for any process done by the lab.
• Next to that, the purple part, we are looking at changes for society. Why? I believe we shouldn't only create to earn money, or a company shouldn't pay us just to get added value for its board of directors. We have a moral duty when creating. This section is quantifying the social implication of the creative process. The result for our society, the people. Changes here could be heritage, regional branding, respect for social groups & more. the list is long. Our sessions proof that this part comes natural in group thinking.
• The orange field - I've called it 'Credibility of the Independent Lab' - is the authenticity factor. It’s what the organization needs to build – proactively – to create reactively based on a briefing. It's what changes we are creating to remain true to the lab's independency and authenticity. If the lab is not authentic, the previous parts are simply just not possible. (This is why some political decisions to sustain the creative industries simply don't work. Politics is all from top down. Creative process is from bottom up.) The orange part are to be considered the engine of this holistic creative process.
• If all those last elements are ok, we have come to the last part, the brown part on the chart, being the story value of the project. The size is the same as the ones in the beginning. As important, because the story we now can tell, is a story that is authentic and very credible in view of sustainable changes. A broad selection of media should be interested in bringing the results of the process, generating PR for the company, the labmembers, and the regional hub it was created in.

The way forward: All creative processes should be assessed.
I believe this model should be implemented throughout the different fields of expertise. All processes could have an assessment based on the changes they evoke and realise.

Such a model, emphasising on the social implication of the creative process, will result in a growing awareness for all aspects involved, and could re-arrange the way we as a society look at art, fashion, design & more.
How can the fashion scene, for instance, have come to a point in which it needs to reinvent itself every 6 months, throwing away whatever they had in a previous season, still knowing that a huge percentage of people need clothes on a daily basis? The whole fashion industry would score badly in our holistic creation diagram, and the market approach needs to be rethought.

The way to do this: mapping of creative thinkers
The mapping of creative thinking should be done with an utter respect and completely unbiased. Prima donna’s in the different industries will not score high in a holistic creation process. Let me take the example of Solomons radio.
Personally I believe his art and creation tells a genuine and authentic story. He creates his radios because of the needs – people in Soweto want a radio to listen to local news and soccer games. But what he creates, the way he creates, and the final result, are showing a huge potential in view of the previous chart.
In one such a radio, we can find craftsmanship, vision, heritage, communication, recycling and pride. I believe it’s art and much more than that. I believe Solomon deserves to be mapped as a creative thinker. And if by any chance I can sell one of his radios from Soweto in a European art fair for a price that would fit the concept and the object’s meaning , he will have a couple of year’s income for his family.
Am I living with my head in the clouds or on ideatopia? Or will we really be able to change the weather?

Jan Van Mol, Geneva 2010

On Zuma, Kermit, MacDonalds and radioactive avocados.

2010-02-03T05:47:00.001-08:00

I have always believed in a holistic approach towards branding. Communication, R&D, product development, sales & retail, it all helps to create your brands 'point of gravity'.

In talks & seminars on branding, I then talk about examples of this holistic vision and brand 'coherence'. That the CEO's assistants wardrobe is as important as the decisions made in the boardroom, and more.
Now, having lived in South Africa, I realise that the rest of the world not always knows what's going on there. Believe you me, the country has a whole lot more to offer to the rest of us than just crime statistics.
I would even say that some of the young country's characteristics should be adopted in other countries. And it's not just the weather or the wildlife, I'm thinking consumer services, people friendliness, retail concepts and kids birthday venue concepts.
Of course, the country has had its issues to overcome, and Nelson Mandela 's ANC played an important role in getting the country where it is today.
There is a bit of a downside to that, as not everyone at the ANC has the same vision or knowledge on corporate governance. And that's a bit of a understatement.

Now getting back to the wardrobe example. Have a look at the newest ANC..heu... casual wear. They took the holistic brand approach to new heights. Walter Van Beirendonck must have gotten an Antwerp-Joburg ticket to come in and design these.
I could live with a female leather jacket wearing ANC powerwoman. It's the male ones that are only perfect when your name is Michael Jackson. Pity you have died.

The choice of green opts out some colours that were strongly united in Mandela's great brand payoff: the 'rainbow nation'. The ubuntu greenishness now unites Kermit, The new MacDonalds logo, Zuma and radioactive avocados.

Whether these greenish blingbling vests are proof of good governance, however, is to be seen. But these jackets will surely light up in the dark, when there is a power cut somewhere. It will then be easy to spot the one who is to blame.

In case you're interested, place your order here

The Moral Duty of Creation.

2009-09-04T00:12:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to get my thoughts together, on this particular issue. I'm asked to do a talk on eco-design. Green design. Sustainability. You name it, it's that hip subject and my talk obviously comes as a result of our Ad!dict #28
on Eco-Research: World 2.0.
In that issue we talked about re-design, re-cycle, re-act & more.
We have 10 ways to create a better world, as I posted here.

I' m trying to think beyond the plain eco-message. Looking back at the different projects we have been doing with Addictlab, be it on our own, or for third parties, there is something that is popping up: there is a clear wish to create sustainable concepts. Sometimes, this is even an extra to the requested or commissioned deliverables. An extra filter and task we give ourselves, adding to the client's briefing.

I know that this might be a personal thing, a result of my personal drive. But what if this comes naturally with the process of sourcing and the methodology behind Addictlab? What if bringing people together in collaborative processes results in interaction, in surprising or out-of-the-box ideas, but also brings forward a clear wish to create 'for the community'?

Could social awareness be one of the outcomes of an addictlab-sourced project? Then maybe that is the most remarkable thing to be studied. Because that would mean that we play less 'individually' when creating in and as a group. So the methodology itself steers the result in a certain direction. We create differently in a group, and we add an extra 'social' layer to the filters we use to generate our concepts. Am I making sense? Let me make a quick sketch here.

1. a conventional creative process.

There will normally be a client, a company, most probably, that is spending some of its budget to start a creative process. This process should create changes for that company. That can be new products, a communication strategy, brand reflection, revenue, a new building, and more. What if we could quantify those 'changes', be it economical, brand-related or more.

• The blue part then shows the 'amount of changes' that are the result for the client.

• The red part shows the other party that will be involved in this process: the agency/designer/consultant. Changes as a result of this process for the agency will be primarily income, but one could also add field experience, for instance, or added value. (We did THIS for THAT client)

• Next to that, we can/should expect more income (or added value) for external and even internal creative resources. That's the yellow part.

• The Green part, is the social part: the PR value, the story to tell that can be picked up by journalists & media. Probably, and most of the time, this will be limited to the peer group of both agency & client. Both agency as client will probably get press in BTB media.

2. Addictlab process.

Now. Let's look at what I believe should be an ideal Addictlab project.

• The blue part stays pretty important: a client - any client - should get the changes they are paying for, and more.

• The red part then, is about quantifying the beneficial changes and/or income (but not necessarily only money) for Addictlab, as facilitator & methodology to create.

• The yellow part here, shows you the income/added value for Labmembers involved. These are how I call the creative resources, registered on Addictlab. Mark: the sizes of client/addictlab/labmembers are equal. Important, as we want to do anything but abuse the creative resources. This sometimes is completely opposed to how creative minds are treated/neglected by the agencies.

• The green part is for the lab's partners & sponsors. Addictlab's labpartners should be benefiting too. Labpartners can step in & tap into certain research fields. Addictlab's proactive way of working & global research fields demand research partners. The partners/sponsors should receive added value for any process done by the lab.

• Next to that, we are looking at changes for society. Why? I believe we shouldn't only create to earn money, or a company shouldn't pay us just to get added value for its board of directors. We have a moral duty when creating. This section is quantifying the social implication of the creative process. The result for our society, the people. Changes here could be heritage, regional branding, respect for social groups & more. the list is long.

• The orange field - I've called it 'Credibility Independent Lab' - is the authenticity factor. It's as important as the benefits for society, and it's what changes we are creating to remain true to the lab's independency and authenticity. If the lab is not authentic, the previous parts are simply just not possible. (This is why some political decisions to sustain the creative industries simply don't work. Politics is all from top down. Creative process is from bottom up.)

• If all those last elements are ok, we have come to the last part, the brown part on the chart, being the PR value of the project. The size is the same as the ones in the beginning. As important, because the story we now can tell, is a story that is authentic and very credible in view of sustainable changes. A broad selection of media should be interested in bringing the results of the process, generating PR for the company and the labmembers.

Now tell me. Addictlab has been a start-up company for the last 10-12 years (Or so it seems). It seems difficult to control, set up, steer in the direction wanted. Maybe it's just to naive an approach?

Jan Van Mol

Message to & on South Africa.

2009-07-07T15:36:00.000-07:00

openlab4 speech

Message to & on South Africa.

(this speech was exhibited at the last OpenLab4.0 in Johannesburg)

I don’t do speeches. Not that I’ m afraid of facing a crowd: only this weekend I went for an interesting game drive to Lofters in Pretoria, where I witnessed a live kill and about 50.000 extraordinary blue-ish species.

It’s just that I learned that setting a time for a speech at an event like this is just not possible. Or you’re here and might not be interested in what I have to say. Or you’re not here, then you’ll miss out to what I would say anyway.
Hence this poster: it gives you the power to neglect it, or to dive into my mindset whenever it pleases you.

My journey here in South-Africa was planned for about 3 years. And those 3 years are coming to an end. I will be moving out, to a place where there’s more white snow and less black diamonds.

I am still amazed by the beauty and richness of both your country & culture. Of course, I’ve had some interesting downsides, anything from companies not being visionary, people not living up to their word, getting run over by a truck, your every day card fraud or gun against your head.

But I need to thank all believers in Addictlab. Marike, Dan, Haldane, Jabu, Sean, Niik, Snowy, Linel, Craig, Michaella, Joanna, Leila, Clive, Tim, Amor, Katrin, Waldo, Hildegarde, and the list actually keeps on growing every day.

These and other creative minds from South Africa & beyond are constantly inspiring me and giving me the drive to take on a naive project like Addictlab,
where we are discovering creative talent, accelerating it, generating innovation and, yes, some times, I actually think we are making some progress in creating sustainable changes for the community involved.

I need to call on all of you to help me in our next projects.
• The set up of a lab in Soweto to help discover and accelerate creative talent. ‘Sowetolab.com’ would be the most important project to proof me right.
• I want to create a new publication of a book on
South-Africa and 2010 : we definitely need more sponsors.
• The offering of creative processes for companies looking for innovative ideas and concepts. We need companies, but they definitely need us too.
• And above all, a clear open mind to set up collaborations.. To create what you might not have created.
This 4th OpenLab is an example and opportunity. Sit next to Kasi Custom Rides making their car , or Solomon designing a radio using ewaste... Chat to Clive Rundle or listen to one of the bands playing for you tonight.
It’s not just about what they create. It’s about their life, vision and dreams.

It goes without saying that this isn’t a farewell. I simple haven’t finished here. What am I saying.
Addictlab South Africa has barely started.

Jan@addictlab.com

When your agency wins in Cannes, please fire them.

2009-04-28T12:49:00.000-07:00

I've tried to convince my friends and fellow colleagues of the advertising industry about how the business was changing and how one could react on that.
Well, I'm sorry to say... I failed.

At least, it's that what I was thinking when running around at the Salone del Mobile in Milan this year, where I obviously ran into a crowd of friends and people from the design industry, but apparently none from the advertising scene.

Has Milan turned into the center of branding? No, of course not. There are too many buyers and sellers and salesmen around that try to convince you of a new leather sofa.
But when you look beyond the dead cow covered sitting objects, you can see a parallel inspirational branding universe.

I admit: the abundance of chairs, tables and whatnot's is painful for the eye and the eco-friendly heart. Since who needs a new chair anyway? But when that chair comes with an added value, a story to tell, a function to add...

I realise I'm wandering through design heaven (or hell) with branded eyes, discovering gems of parasite branding and guerilla marketing tactics. Seeing inspiration for brands to get experiences across. That's why I can not understand that agencies are still choosing the Cannes beach in stead of the Zona Tortona.

Next time when your agency wins in Cannes, please fire them.
Don't get me wrong. They have proven their added value and we should honour them for that. On the advertising industry's funeral, we should speak with respect. The skills of the industry should be passed on by parent on child, and occasionally exhibited in museums over the world.

But a brand needs all senses to become a brand. In view of sustainable change, brand innovation and a holistic brand approach, you, dear marketer and/or CEO of a company, should look at other resources.

In fact, when using any creative resource for any project for your company, it should always be used with the bigger picture in view. This turns the advertising industry into craftsmanship and skills, and leaves a big space for true strategic and holistic brand consultancy, using a model of genuine collaboration, out of the box thinking and respect for the brand's surrounding environment.

I can be wrong and all the intelligent people in the advertising industry can still be right. In fact, I received yet another email from a big budget brand just now 'that we might be looking at a test project in 2010'. So when looking at what I earn today as compared to what I did when in advertising, I'm completely wrong.

Apparently it's waiting for the recession and it's fall-out to have companies realising the need for change. And if that doesn't do the trick, consumer behaviour will.

I hope I won't be painting sunsets in Namibia, by then.

Milan - some pics & thoughts.
-------------------------------

A female stand-up urinal. I'm not sure if this will make it to the market. What do you think? For me it 's a proof that tangible ideas can generate change.
In it's best, these concepts have a brand - and- social potential that can be enormous.

Ok, I was in Milan and I thought of recession when I saw this badly printed A4. (Chances are it's not the Mr Ferrari, but for the sake of my story, I need to believe it's the real one :-)

Our friends of .MGX / Materialise who will produce our Pine Cone light, had a collaboration with Renault. By far the most impressive work, tucked away in a small room at the Zona Tortona. Obviously deliberately anonymous, but with a potential to fill a complete hall.

A Retro-vintage ifoon.
For me this has brand relevance: dive into your heritage and past. It might need some tweeting and adjusting, but you'll have a unique story to tell and have a commercially successful project that goes with it.

The People Parking. Now here I saw a solution for the earth's global warming and a witty lounge concept, all in one. I also ran into a friend 'parked' there :-)

Diesel and Moroso. Combining fashion and design, and succeeding big time.

When looking at the following concepts, try looking beyond the physical object, but grasp the creative twist that makes up the story.

For more brand thoughts and help, a Creative X-ray or Brand Inspiration Shower, visit and/or contact www.addictlab.com

#recession? Addictlab takes over high value but empty shopspace.

2009-04-18T02:02:00.000-07:00

As you may know, I have been working on the further development of Addictlab, here in South Africa. An interesting experiment, as it allows me to test certain processes, learn from mistakes and implement maybe later the best findings in other countries and creative regions.

Have a look at the OpenLab3.0, a physical yet guerilla style evidence of Addictlab in a public & popular shop environment. (pictures on facebook)

In short, this is doing the following:
• Select, discover and accelerate local creative talent (What we call LABINPUT)
• Collect stories & people for journalists in the different creative scenes.
• Educate a large audience about design, innovation and other cultures.
• Interact and marshal a large crowd for ideageneration, via interactive tools. (The difference with 'crowdsourcing' being that I think it's important to know everybody in the process - preferably personally. I'll do a blog one day on crowdsourcing and the difference with addictlab.)
• Create a physical space, as an inspiring lab environment, for companies that need to tap into our lab when looking for new ideas, coherent brand consultancy and innovation. (LABOUTPUT)

It's an amazing space and it has a pretty important commercial value. Yet it was empty. One of the evidences of economical change is the rise and fall of shop concepts, shopping malls etc. Consumers have an abundancy of choice. But when you're shop/product/brand falls out of their Top of Mind, you better hang on. In tough times as these, it immediately results in empty venues. Causing less people to come, causing even more shops to close down. Empty spaces are the symptoms of economic downturn.

Resurrection thanks to recession?
So these OpenLabs must be seen as a solution, turning those proofs of recession into a positive story, with PR, brand, marketing & inspirational value for everybody involved. The addictlab methodology could work, yet it requires a lot of collaborative power, energy, and dynamics. We need people, artists, brands, to really WANT. (I'm not mentioning budget. Money should not be an issue when everybody shares a vision.)
A physical space as a metaphysical definition of innovation and hope. I can be very lyric on it all.

There will always be incomprehensible things in collaborative processes. I offered a - free - space to Danone, to name but one. I need to calculate the value of my gift: the PR value of collaborating, the brand value in the space, the number of people who would be in contact with their brand & product. We're talking about an A location space, so lot's of traffic. We already had national radio doing an interview.
It didn't happen. Timing? Vision? Budget? Lack of Respect? Ignorance? - It's in those moments that I like to take over the company, and force it in the right direction. But it's ok. I'm over it. I understand you need two to tango. And I have other things to do then to win someone else's battle. Certainly when I offer it for free.

Then again, during last week's opening, I was touched by a whole bus of visiting Soweto based artists coming to the design mall. Read: rich environment. I need to be thankful to everybody helping out, like Marike, Jaylily, Sean, Dan, Joanna, Haldane, Clive, Michaella, Open. There was an interesting mix at the opening, yet I will be looking with the help of those great labmembers here to see if we can organise a specific brand/innovation related workshop.

Having this space now, opens up even more possibilities. From a content point of view, we could do this all the time. We have the great talents to showcase. And companies need now more then ever innovation to get out of the dangerzone.

Business Opportunity / we have extra lab-capacity for brainstorming sessions, workshops & innovation idea generation.

We have this space only temporary. If your company or others you know are in need for new ideas, we can bring in creative talent almost immediately to start thinking completely out of the box. This gives us a unique opportunity for our brainstorming sessions.

As far as the selection we made for this OpenLab, I believe all are very talented, and useful in most creative processes, but more specifically there are labmembers that can be very valuable for your company when you're active in :
- Automotive
- green-eco design
- womenslab
- branding & marketing
- business travel
- SouthAfrica 2010
- kids

When interested, do not hesitate to get in contact.

[Would an OpenLab in your region be a good idea too? Have a place? A network? An Empty space?]

Why big agencies need to be afraid of 3 guys in a township.

2009-04-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

When you receive an email, stating that you would have 'a valuable input in clearing the path to our destiny in terms of developing the work we doing' then you most probably think it's spam. In this particular case, it was genuine.

Every now and then, I get completely blown away by human ability to create.
It's a rare yet strong emotion, that brings me happiness, since I realise the addictlab concept of discovering great creative thinkers from any culture or discipline is actually working. It makes me proud, and it makes me frustrated, all at the same time. Frustrated since I see the restrictions of what it is I can only do.
Even when it's my eternal Addictlab pledge that we need to do all - and preferably more - that is in our powers to push their talent.

Meet Sibusiso Justice Dhladhla, living in a township called Thokoza in Ekurhuleni, working in a group called Kasi Custom Rides, made out of three members namely Sibusiso Dhladhla, Jabulani Ngwenya and Enerst Sibeko.

They use paper and cardboard to build cars. The models are about 7Ocm, with perfect curves. The windows go up and down, the rooftop window slides in the roof, the seats can go out, the wheels turn when using the steering wheel. All out of cardboard in a perfect physical visualisation of autocad computer wireframes. Made by hand, not by processor.

When they arrive by taxi and humbly present me their concept, my brain activity is at its highest, my mind is in a thousand places. This is why I do what I do. If only they could benefit from the projects that I have been doing in the car industry. Visiting the design center from Rover and looking at the CAD and the clay models, when doing all campaigns for Daewoo in Belgium. Working on idea generation for BMW or Lexus, setting up projects with Chrysler or Renault.
They should have been involved. They need to be involved in the future. Any car company that is not busy getting broke and/or looking for innovation (I guess this covers them all) should call me now. PR or AD agencies working for car companies looking for innovative ideas, should see me tomorrow. Car manufacturers, call me now and invite them to come.

Because I don't see just a car. I see living proof of a much needed serious reshuffle of how companies should use their creative resources. It's time to stop showing creative respect to agencies who do not respect creativity.

It's time to have respect for authentic creative skills and use creativity in a much needed win-win system for all: client, brand, environment and thinkers.

Let this be yet another call to companies to use creativity for all the good purposes. For their own benefit, sure, but also for the benefit of the people and society that surrounds them.

As for now, I will do whatever I can to accelerate their talent. In case you wonder, no, no one is paying me to do this. And I'm not even sure what I will get in return. I will exhibit them in our Open Lab. I will post them on blogs, put them on our homepage and I will get frustrated when I don't get a call from car or design companies wanting to see how we could get that talent in for design, communication, PR or other projects.

I want them to be in Milan next year. I want journalists to write about them. I want companies to pay them the right amount of money for their skills. Christmas should come early this year.

You can see the cars at the OpenLab3.0 event in Johannesburg. Check www.Addictlab.com for more.

Now, even the cleaning lady can put her CEO out with the garbage.

2009-03-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

Concept.
These wheelie garbage bins are turned into mobile sitting units, cupboards and more.

Recycling.
The eco-recycling concept is pretty cool for children, with customised designs, patterns, bright pillows. The objects will raise awareness related to eco-design, recycling and sustainability. They will love the mobile aspect of it, and the use of their own little space. Yet the Garbage Sofas can also serve perfectly for your board meetings.

Functional.
You are not disturbed or disturbing when using your cellphone, laptop or reading a book. When you want to take part in a conversation, simply roll your seat closer to the others.

Immediate solution for banks & board rooms.
The garbage sofa's are especially designed to be a direct solution for when your executive board is taking all the wrong and irresponsible decisions. Now, even the cleaning lady can put her CEO out with the garbage.

The Garbage sofa's will be shown at the Open Lab event in Johannesburg, South Africa. Graphic designers, artists and other creative minds wanting to customise a Garbage sofa, please get in contact.

jan@addictlab.com

Labfile addictlab:
LAbfile Garbage Sofa

Message to twelebrities.

2009-03-23T00:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Famous celebrity twitterer.

I kind of get the hang of twitter by now. My job (and hobby and lifetime preoccupation) has taught me to look for new concepts, and try to capture its essence. I myself am small twitter-fish, though. Having about 300 or so followers.

With a bit of nostalgia I look back at the beginning of your and mine twitter career, some 190 followingers ago, when the novelty and mystery made us actually engage in twitter-conversations. I even believe John Cleese was or maybe still is following me as well.

Dear Twelebrity, don't get me wrong. I do am interested in your daily whereabouts, like following Demi Moore to a Berlin trip, or see her flirting with her husband via twitter, it's sweet. And this is really not meant ironically. I really think it's interesting to read about your life and your thoughts.

But that's the problem. Twitter gives me more then I can handle.
Before Twitter, I knew you existed, could admire your work (or not), and you were text blurbs - or preferably blurry pictures of you doing something nasty - in the global popular press. So we learned about your pregnancies, your Hollywood gossip, your addictions, your love lives and your court orders. Your illegal sex-video, though, I have never seen.

With Twitter, it's worse. The damn Twitter-thing gives me the impression that I can be closer to you. Read about you, directly from you, and - worse - interact with you. I have the impression that you would actually engage in a conversation.
Now, without any boasting to be done, I really believe that for some of you 'famous' people, I think my life and experience could actually be as good as an inspiration as vice versa. I truly believe that we should have a coffee, discuss life, creativity and more. I truly believe with some of you, I could get along.

Yet I can't get to you. The twavalanche keeps on growing, and makes me one of your zillion followers. 'Followers' meaning that I'm behind you, where as I believe any decent conversation is happening with someone next to you.

Of course I can retweet. Of course I can reply, as I see others do. I even see you react and reply back from time to time. But it's a lottery thing. It will probably make the retweeters their day, since you, their hero, has stepped down from your Hollywood cloud and has shown a beginning of human interaction. They will probably save your retweet on a usb stick and cherish it like a piece of a Saint's real bone relic from a bygone era.

I don't want to play the lottery. Or worse, lose myself in a Web2.0 equivalent of a religion. I've rejected other religions a long time ago, and at least he could walk on water.

So we have to stop meeting like this. And that's why I will unfollow you. You will not notice this, it won't hurt a bit. And I will at least have not the impression to be close to you. Unless, of course, you react. Retweet, engage. Then we can discuss. You can start following me on my twitter account.

http://www.twitter.com/JanVanMol

Generating Strategic thinking for companies: Danone.

2009-03-11T05:51:00.000-07:00

Here is what was published on the Addictlab.com site.

Addictlab's brainstorming sessions offer Danone South Africa an important strategic eye-opener.

Children should have their daily intake of calcium, in order to have their bone structure developed appropriately. The innovation research led by Addictlab's founder and brand specialist Jan Van Mol therefor decided that it was important to focus on the regularity of the intake, rather then on the different tastes.

This is but one of the outcomes of the brainstorming sessions commissioned by Danone South Africa, for which Addictlab used it's own 'Creative X-Ray' methodology, using creative resources from diverse cultures and disciplines. The lab delivered a concept database, with about 20 ideas that could be implemented, ranging from strategical concepts, products, packaging, brand fashion, above & below the line communication as well as traffic builders and promotional items. All ideas were generated by an out of the box approach, followed by a Danino brand filter.

Now, over 6 months later, the 'every day your Danino' concept has been adapted to the existing 6-packs, and are on shelves in South Africa. In stead of communicating the different tastes, every little pot now has received it's day of the week, promoting and explaining the necessity of an every day intake.

The 6-pack version consists of the 5 weekdays and 'Weekend'. The packs are now sold with a Day of the Week magnet to emphasize on the changed concept. Regardless to say that this concept is beneficial for the kid's calcium-intake as well as for the volume sales of Danino.

This example shows that not all ideas for innovation imply long term research and high cost implementation. Addictlab , though, was not involved in the final packaging design, and the TV and Radio campaign, which raised an important question in the addictlab organisation. Jan Van Mol: 'We have all these executional specialists in the database, so much craftsmanship, we could offer this as well. With the benefit of high quality and low cost delivery, but the danger of becoming a more executional supplier in stead of a like minded thinking partner. The fact that this concept made it through the whole process, however, is a statement on both the power of Addictlab as well as the will to innovate from Danone'.

New... Labfiles - free downloadable online magazine

2009-02-24T10:23:00.001-08:00

With these Labfiles, I wanted to honour the creative talent of some of your fellow human beings.
People who create thought-provoking and inspiring art work. No matter what creative field, no matter what origin, no matter what culture.
With these Labfiles, I also wanted to explain more about the Addictlab concept: about discovering that talent, and accelerating it.
Yet it’s also about getting to know you, so that we can bring you together in dedicated research programs to come up with innovative and sustainable ideas. When a third party or client is involved, like our ‘broom lab’ or ‘chocolate lab’ activities, those sessions are remunerated.
Of course, we can not print as much books and magazines as I would like, like our normal Ad!dict books. But I do believe in the power of leaving traces, hence this magazine concept.
Free downloadable, free to dispatch, free to share.
What to do to be in the next edition?
Join addictlab, register and upload new work on your labfiles regularly.

More? www.labfiles.org

Find the three differences.

2009-02-24T00:49:00.000-08:00

The press release
With a new purpose and values setting a fresh direction, Kraft Foods also gave its corporate logo a facelift to more clearly deliver "delicious." Starting today, people around the world will begin to see the new identity that deliciously features a smile, the natural reaction to delicious foods and experiences, and a colorful flavor burst. It signals to employees, consumers and investors what the new Kraft Foods is all about.
— Press release

(O. The corporate kraft logo is the last one.)

Love this quote
"There really isn't anything good to say about this logo — if I had to dig really deep I would offer that the lowercase "k" is very pretty, but that's about it. This is such a wimpy logo for such a large corporation. The red "smile," the colorful burst, they are all hackneyed and friendly to a degree where they are just childish. And, ohmygod, is that Tekton in the tag line? I haven't seen that typeface used without sarcasm or irony in a long time."

And how does your brand stink?

2009-02-05T02:39:00.000-08:00

Dear brands world wide,

Imagine that I am blind. God forbid, in the event there would be one.
Then I can't see you. I can't see your brand. I can't see how you communicate about yourself. I can touch your products, if I know where they are. I can smell your aroma, or your odor, yet you need to explain to me that that smell is linked to your brand.
I can hear you shouting, and I can even hear you whispering, as long as I know how to distinguish your audiostream from all the other noise.

Of course we live in a visual community. But it can't harm to, once in a while, omit the obvious brand experiences, and enhance parts of your brand spectrum you might forget about.

Imagine all your consumers are blind. You will need to change the codes and references of your language. You will need to work on your overall brand experience, and not rely on the visual bombing you're used to. Let's face it, for us, being not blind, it's a war zone out there.
You will need to create products that have a USP, but also a USF (Unique Selling Feel), a USO (Unique Selling Odor), a USA (Unique Selling Audio), and a UST (Unique Selling Taste).

Tip to do with a friend.
Blindfold and take him or her to a branded spot. Like Ikea, Starbucks, you name it. How long before your friend will realise where he or she is?

Tip for brands:
Set up a team of blind consumers. Your eyes will open.

Jan@addictlab.com

Thanks Pedro Alegria, for inspiring me on this topic.

Sensorial Lisbon on addictlab.com
Imagine what might be like to rediscover blindfolded the borough of Alfama: the narrow streets, the smell of grilled sardines, the sound of a Fado that can be heard from afar and so many others sensorial adventures… Walks on foot in the Alfama Borough in which the participants have their eyes blindfolded and are guided by a blind guide from ACAPO (Association for the Visually Impaired) who shares his sensorial experiences. There are also a Lisbon Walker Guide who sets the historical contextualization of the route, and 4 other elements who help the participants. The Project has two main goals: - to provide a sensorial experience which aims to gather new knowledge of the surrounding space through the stimuli of the senses of smell, tact, taste and hearing and absense of vision. - to bring awareness to the universe of the visually impaired, not as a limitation but instead in a positive and stimulating note in which the blind himself invite us to step into his own world of codes and references.

About a trip to Belgium and the food that goes with it.

2009-02-01T23:16:00.000-08:00

So I did one of those trips again. As you may know, I live in South Africa. As you also may know, behind Addictlab is a Belgian company, with a Belgian office space. So from time to time, I need to fly in. The moments are selected based on emotion, ratio and above all... available budget.

Tuesday.
I arrived quite late, and my parents, sweet as they are, deliver a car to the airport, so that I can run around, drive on the wrong side of the road and get ticket fines. My parents can start a car pooling-bed & breakfast-restaurant kind of company, based only on my short visits.

I had decided to have an informal lunch with Imke and Jo from Imec: brought them some Amarula to thank them for the past years collaboration. We also discussed future projects.
# food: chinese duck, really good.

Rush to the Addictlab office, to prepare my two presentations for Wednesday. I end the day with a pretty nice diner at the Belga Queen in good company, discussing about addictlab activities, strategy, fashion and more.

Wednesday.
New business meeting in the Netherlands, near Eindhoven. And what a beautiful trip it is: all is white, and the orange sun comes up when I cross the border. This Dutch company produces African tissues for the West African market. They do have a shop in South Africa (at the Maponya mall), but their core business is in Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal etc.
Will this be a new client? Who knows. I presented all the projects and contacts I made in the SA fashion scene, but of course, I realise West Africa is different. I sincerely hope they see a lot in a collaboration, what would allow us to open up Addictlab activities and discover new talent in Western Africa aswell.

In the afternoon, I needed to be on the other side of Belgium, to deliver the project & concepts of our broomlab. A nervous trip through Belgium, with a healthy diet. (At least the water in the car is. The whole pack of Chocolate Mellow Cakes I swallowed in the process, is, well, ... proteines.)
How I enjoyed this meeting. The board of the company seemed pretty happy with all the ideas presented, and the fact that 3 concepts already will be tested to a consumer test audience next week shows we did have some possible winners. For some concepts, we will need some years of nano technology research.

Wednesday night, it's my fathers birthday, and we decide for a spontaneous diner in a restaurant in the neighbourhood. When living in Belgium, in 's Gravenwezel, you MUST try this. They call themselves a brasserie, what must be the most underrated underestimated statement of the century. How else can you describe a restaurant that brings a dish of 'Lotte' (fish) with parmesan crumble and spinach ice cream... The name of the restaurant escapes me, but contact me if interested.

Thursday.
You have those crazy days. My day starts at 9 in the Pain Quotidien in Brussels, discussing about Addictlab & TV formats. Then I rush to the Carestel in Ternat to talk about our plans for the upcoming Womenslab. (Launch of www.womenslab.org on March 8th, International Womens Day)
A quick lunch in Mechelen at the Nick Brasserie (scampi dish, very nice, to be honest, and the South African wine is very good) with possible future partners, then meeting with a publishing house. Need some thoughts on the concept of me writing a book.
Short trip to the Addictlab space, to prepare my lecture and then off to Vilvoorde,for my lecture on branding, innovation for an audience of Mars Alumni.
Looking at the comments I got, it seemed the audience appreciated my presentation and the addictlab way of thinking. Will the big player from Germany really fire his agency and tap into Addictlab?
# food: walking diner.

Friday.
A trip to Cologne, to check upon the construction and final delivery of the booth concept we generated for a chocolate client at the ISM fair. I kind of like these construction days: most of the thinking is done, it's now all about execution and following a strict plan to deliver the right thing on the right moment. Pretty hands-on.
# food: I ordered sandwiches and a pasta for our team in my best German. What actually is a pretty risky thing to do, looking at my German and the Pakistan takeaway's responses, but it turned out to be alright. Well, we can discuss about my pasta carbonara, though.
I leave back from Germany to Brussels, back to the office quite late, to do some paperwork.

Saturday.
Family time. Before the birthday brunch at my parents house, I defeat the prejudices and go shopping at the Wijnegem Shopping Center. (I do have a rich hands-on shopping mall experience here in South Africa..) Brunch with family is exactly how brunch with family must be: warm and enjoyable.
Before going to the airport to dash off to Zurich , I deposit a signed commercial agreement in a companies postbox. It nearly made me miss my flight, yet I really wonder if the agreement will allow Addictlab to start flying high. Later more on that.
When I finally sit in the plane to Joburg, I fall asleep before I finish my inboard movie. Happens to me all the time. I wonder why.

Respect.

2009-01-26T22:21:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of respect for people who use their creative talent to come up with ideas that actually try to change something. I do believe it's our task at Addictlab, as well, to point those out, and not yet focus on another creation of a fancy dress or hip design chair.
Not that those are not important to show a vibrant creative community. But let's face it, in view of global needs, there are more important aspects to be looked into.

Here is a new labmember from Portugal, Pedro Alegria, (and what a name that is) who came up with a really nice idea.
Of course, from a brand experience point of view, your slick bank director wouldn't like too much the presence of, well, not so well-dressed, not so nice smelling people in his ATM booth. Maybe we should throw in free Lancôme samples, and a small winter garderobe courtesy of Louis Vuitton or Chanel.
Let's keep on dreaming. It's the only way to create sustainable changes.

---------

According to recent news, there are around 900 homeless in Lisbon. On winter’s coldest days, to sleep on the streets is to take the chance of suffering of hypothermia. Several entities seek to re-enforce the distribution of blankets and clothes, hot food and drinks, an effort that reveals to be insufficient. But, in the city, there are indoor spaces likely to be used by the homeless on the cold nights. Those spaces are the ATM booths. These money containers, during the night, have hardly any movement, are constantly warm and can represent an almost luxurious shelter for the homeless. Consequently, we’ve created a golden ATM Hotel to be developed in partnership with banks, allowing homeless to access the ATM indoor spaces. The main goal of this project is to rise multiple questions regarding the homeless conditions and needs, the way we share space with these people evoking public and private space, and also the possibility to have institutional spaces playing more active social roles, even if only temporarily.

Go to labfile

ifashion.co.za

2009-01-23T05:09:00.000-08:00

I'm not too sure about this headline, but I do am in good company.

Direct link to article

Trend forecast 2009/2010. Well, not really.

2008-10-29T23:41:00.000-07:00

I have been asked to write down a trend forecast for 2009-2010. For some reason, people think that goes with the addictlab-territory. And, yes, well, maybe, I have the opportunity to discover a lot of great creative work from different cultures. And if you start from the premise that artists and creative thinkers are conceiving before the masses take over, then yes, I'm a bit on the first row.

But.
I have a problem with the fact that this is but passive. I honour the job of a journalist, don't get me wrong. The analytic qualities, putting it all in a bigger perspective is a true gift. I would put journalists above art directors at advertising agencies in the hierarchic scheme of creative thinking. The work of a journalist is of utmost importance to pass on the message, crunch it, explain it to a bigger audience.

My personal ambition is not there. My addictlab 'job' (now that's a contradiction in terms) makes me a consultant, a journalist (I have a press card), a publisher, an agent and what not. Interesting how people need a framework to rely on to get things defined.

I believe in a more active role in the creation of things. I'm naive enough - still - to believe that with the collaborative force and methodology we really can make sustainable changes. I'll write about next weeks event on the plane to Europe, Sunday night, but I believe the Live Addictlab session at the World Creativity Forum is of great value, even compared to the 28 books or more Addictlab has published since the beginning.

Creation? That would make me an artist, then? A young labmember from South Africa asked me to explain to me what makes a good artist.
The young talent that I meet and discover and that I believe could be big in the future, are all mature in their thinking. Complexity in their thoughts, combining their growing know how with their equally growing know not.
With all answers you find, you discover new questions. I'm not talking about craftsmanship. Students need to learn, since you can only step outside the lines if you know where those lines are.
I believe in what comes next in that process. In an artist's tenacity to follow a well defined vision. I'm amazed by coherence in their work, the dynamics of the creative process, rather then the artwork itself. I have huge respect for artists-specialists, even though Addictlab makes me a 'generalist' pur sang.

Enough said. The trend forecast report is waiting. Knowing the prices some trend forecasters can ask for lectures and workshops, it's something to get into. Businesses pay good money for so called trend gurus it seems.
And, I admit, it's not that my eleven year old start up (...) has been an economical success so far. It didn't even get me to TED. Speaking of which, I do need to prepare a lecture for next week too. On emerging technologies and the force of creative thinking and my answer to crowd sourcing.
Ok, the trend forecast 2009/2010 needs to wait. And if you're patient enough, you'll live it, in stead of read about it, anyway.

Work on the Winkel.

2008-10-22T03:48:00.000-07:00

Brainstorm with us during the Creativity World Forum
Addictlab will be presenting its newest book (#29, on emerging technologies) and exhibition together with IMEC at the Creativity World Forum, November 19 and 20, Antwerp.

But we will also install a 'Live AddictLab' there.

Live Addictlab: brainstorming sessions
Addictlab researchers attract creative minds from all over the world, publish them, try to accelerate their talent, but also bring them together whenever possible to create an out of the box approach and generated new ideas.
For the Creativity World Forum in Antwerp, we will do this ... live.

What projects?
We have our own research projects going on, but we are also encouraging CWF visitors to hand over a possible problem that they have in their business.

Work on The Winkel.
After an internal brainstorming session, we need to decide, write out the proposal, visualise our thoughts and hand over a file at the end of the Forum.

What can you do?
Participate in this instant brainstorming, filtering, visualising project. Expect chaos, but inspiring chaos...
Can you join Jan Van Mol on site? Or - why not - can you work with us online during the two days - and nights we will have?

What's in it for you?
A chance to expand your horizon, and a moment to collaborate with other creative thinkers. We will try to generate as much as PR as possible about the project and the collaborating Labmembers. You will receive free entrance to the Creativity World Forum. And you can bring your work in order to be selected for publication in the next Ad!dict book.

Money
is an issue, of course. We are doing this to show our process, and ... to get clients for this kind of projects. Normally, when there are clients & income involved, you are of course getting paid. In this case, however, it is a low cost project. Yet when there is a possible next step for one of the projects we worked on, we will get back to you!

Eager to start?
We already received some projects to think about! So we can start today...

Apply now
Send your application to
Jan Van Mol
jan@addictlab.com
Preferably link your name to your work on the addictlab database.
Not registered yet? Register here.

Research issue?
Do you want to use this opportunity to have us think on an issue linked to your company?
Go to the Innovation_desk.

about Addictlab's 29th book and diabetes Jewellery.

2008-09-23T00:34:00.000-07:00

[text by Giovanna Massoni] Ad!dict Creative Lab and IMEC are glad to announce the next Inspiration book: #29 issue, out next October 2008, will be entirely dedicated to the science and creativity. The in.tangible.scape.s collaboration did not only result in a book fully dedicated to this theme, it will also be an ongoing network that will generate a series of actions throughout 2008 and 2009.

In.tangible.scape.s is a hybrid title, suggesting flows of meanings, expressing fluidity and solidity at the time. Tangible and intangible, singular and plural visions… #29 is a collective, participative project, according to Addict style, but increased in intensity by gathering together a number of platforms and not only individuals. The aim is to co-building contents and meanings, hypothesis and scenarios around an open issue: emerging technologies, successful applications, liable solutions, sustainable promises and risks in bridging science (the future) and creative domains (the Erlebnis, the experience).

In.tangible.scape.s is a joint initiative by Addictlab and IMEC.

It all started more than a year ago. IMEC, Europe's leading independent nanoelectronics and nanotechnology research centre is driven by a dream: opening up the horizon of emerging technologies research, not only by widening the fields of scientific studies, but involving and informing as many people as possible. Science is for all, not only from an educational point of view, but also as a mean of increasing creativity and creating a true dialogue on science, technology, possible applications and implications. By crossing the borders between science and technology and art and design, industry, research institutes, academia, education partners and policy leaders can enter into a dialogue with the broad public. In this aim, IMEC came to Addict Creative Lab for a first project that resulted in a publication: #27 Nanotechnology.

This Inspiration Book generated workshops and exhibitions during 2007, and it’s still adopted at IMEC as a communication tool to explain both youngsters and scientists that science and creativity have no limits.
The present project is to be considered a step further: emerging technologies are becoming important media in art and design. Even if still delimited to a niche category (e.g. digital or bio-art, interactive- or experience design) we all believe that in an optic of sustainable development, this might lead to a responsible, appropriate technological evolution.

Issue #29 is a sort of portal connecting platforms and individuals in order to create new meaningful networks. Exhibition curators, as well as major companies research departments, schools and universities, organisations together with designers and artists filled the bi-dimensional space to hopefully create a fourth dimension of debate and solutions.
The publication has been built thanks to main supporters and contributors: Imke Debecker, Jo De Wachter of IMEC and Jo Decuyper of RVO-Society.

Labresearchers
The Labresearchers Carl De Smet - Noumenon, the Belgian artist Frederik De Wilde and Alok Nandi – Architempo to having increased the reflection and enlarged the field of research. And thanks, of course, to all the participating Labmembers.

The contributors network is including the following partners: Marie O’ Mahony (technological textile expert) and the Science Gallery, Dublin;
Paola Antonelli and Patricia Juncosa of MoMA, NY ;
the designer Mathieu Lehanneur, Anthony van den Bossche of Duende Studio,
Basile Gueorguievsky, and David Edwards of Le Laboratoire;
Maria Grazia Mazzocchi, Claudio Moderini and Renzo Giusti of Domus Academy/I-Design;
François Jégou, Sara Girardi Colelli, Giulia Durante and Paola Paleari of Strategic Design Scenarios ;
Jan Boelen and Liesbeth Huybrechts of Z33;
Koen Snoeckx of the Holst Centre ; Yixiu Wu, Siwei Fang and Patrick Chia Seow Leng of Design Incubation Centre, National University of Singapore;
Clive van Heerden, Senior Director Design Innovation and Jane Hardjono of Philips Design;
Kathy High, Daniela Kostova and Rich Pell of Arts Department Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and Michel van Dartel of V2_, Institute for the Unstable Media.

A special thanks to the designer Leah Heiss for her enthusiastic response, and to James King, Cynthia Pannucci of Art & Science Collaborations (ASCI), Hiroshi ISHII of Media Arts and Sciences MIT Media Laboratory who actively contributed to increase the networking.

Giovanna Massoni in collaboration with Imke Debecker developed the concept, the network and the editorial partners’ coordination. The Art Direction has been assured by the young and talented Marike Hechter, Addict South Africa labmember.

Sponsored by Sappi
Headquartered in Johannesburg, Sappi is the world’s leading producer of coated fine paper and chemical cellulose. They produce specialty papers, uncoated graphic and business papers, as well as packaging papers, newsprint and pulp. Out of a strong believe in Addictlab's mission and view on creative processes and sustainability, Sappi kindly offered the paper used for this book.

Triple Green demonstrates Sappi's on-going commitment to producing high-quality coated fine paper in a sustainable and environmentally-sound way,
The three pillars on which Triple Green is based are processes that not only minimise the environmental impact of paper manufacturing and ensure long-term sustainability, but also assure end users that the procurement chain has been stringently monitored by independent environmental bodies. They represent Sappi Fine Paper South Africa's pledge that:
• the primary source of pulp used in the production of paper products at Sappi Stanger Mill is sugar cane fibre, which is sourced from local suppliers
• the bleaching process is elemental chlorine-free
• the wood fibre used in the production process is obtained from sustainable and internationally-certified afforestation, using independently-audited chains of custody for incoming fibre
Sappi Stanger Mill is one of only a few mills in the world that uses sugar cane fibre as its primary source of pulp.

Sappi also contributes to Ad!dicts #29 book on emerging technologies with a unique story of an out of the ordinary and bold company vision.

one of the concepts: diabetes Jewellery

Leah Heiss in collaboration with Nanotechnology Victoria is developing a range of jewellery for treating diabetes.

The Patch Projects are focused on developing jewellery-based wearables which contain Nanotechnology Victoria's MicroArray patches. MicroArray patches are small (10 x 2mm) circular discs which have an array of micro needles on their surface. They can be infused with insulin to replace syringes, as the insulin can enter the body through the dermis. The Patch projects include a wearable applicator device - a necklace which allows you to administer the patches to the skin.

In addition, Leah has been developing a series of rings which hold the patches in place once they have been administered. This project is being developed as part of the AIR residency with Nanotechnology Victoria, supported by ANAT - Australian Network for Art and Technology and Arts Victoria

Go to her labfile

Your Own Chinese Look.

2008-08-18T00:47:00.000-07:00

I thought it is quite interesting to see that the Spanish team's 'We are ready for China' picture is send around the world as seen as racist. They did get a lot of criticism.

In order to increase the own competitiveness and its penetration of the global market , the Chinese society currently tries to conform itself to the western model. But as the Chinese force becomes stronger, this might very well turn the other way. We Western people might need to adapt to them. Looking at their Gold Medal success, it might not even be a bad idea.

The project 'Chinese Look' we published in Ad!dict on Heritage is a critic on the current paranoia that leads us 'from the West' to stare impotent to the imminent advent of a Chinese Future.
It's a jewel in titanium that the westerners can wear in order to assume the more obvious oriental somatic features, showing off fascinating almond-shaped eyes. It's also an instrument of visual correction that offers westerners the possibility to look at the world with Chinese eyes, helping them to face... a hypothetical new world order.
Ha. Let's see how many people will actually wear this in London in 2012.

Go to Oscar & Lara's labfile on addictlab.com:

Oscar Brito + Lara Rettondini

Mini Creative X-Ray© in Brussels. (addictlab brainstorming process)

2008-08-14T09:22:00.000-07:00

Bring 10 creative minds
together, stir firmly, and leave a bit out of control: of course you get weird stuff.

I can’t really tell you why, for whom and certainly not what we’ve talked about, due to the confidentiality of these kind of projects at Addictlab. But the process is worthwhile mentioning.

Last month, I facilitated a brainstorming session as part of a system to generate new ideas for a company. We do these projects since I believe in the fertile environment of a mix of creative people. Preferably a lot, but, no, this is not crowdsourcing.

Crowdsourcing is the new buzzword. But it’s too
impersonal.

The added value of our ‘Creative X-Ray’ should be :
(1) having a track record so that we are sure we can deliver, and (2) have ways to deliver them. But, ok, I’m sounding too much of a salesperson now. If you’re interested, be sure to contact us.

On this particular day, I selected the Addictlab spot in Brussels. It’s a bit controversial, has the right vibe to do these kind of things, and was conveniently for me and the Shanghai based client, at that time.

The selection of resources is of utmost importance. As opposed to crowdsourcing, I need to know whom I inviting, for what, and almost anticipate what is going to happen when we bring labmember x together with labmember y on project Z.

Take Lieven De Couvreur, whose very first job was being a Design Lab Researcher at Addictlab. Ok, the economy & market reality made our ways to be separated, and he is now a teacher at the school he went to. When he enters, he brings his homework that I have asked, but in a powerpoint of 105 slides, that blow me away. I remember: this is why I do what I do. Feeling privileged to work with this kind of thinkers. Feeling honoured to be able to push their creative boundaries and have them come up with new ideas.

Lieven enters.
His lab/homework exists of 105 powerpoint slides that blow me away.

The whole day, we will have discussions going on, and I’m taking their minds on a journey through my sinister brain giving them assignments according to the Addictlab X-Ray methodology. Sometimes clear, sometimes unclear where this or that question will lead to. My job being to anticipate, filter, facilitate.
One moment, I see Boyoung being puzzled by some question I had raised.
A complex question it was, and not having received an answer I tend to switch to another angle. Yet she stands up, and moves to another spot in our space.
She needs some time alone and wants to come up with an answer.
When I go sit next to her, she has sketched out mentally a possible solution for the problem at hand, going much further then I could have imagined. I bring in Emilie & Celine to help investigating this route, while the others keep on my initial track.

At the end of the day I’m a bit of a wreck. But it was worth every second of it. The result, in this case, will not be tangible in the near future, yet it will be reworked in a ideadatabase to be used by the brand & their creative resources.

selected labmembers
Pieter Verhoeven
Lieven De Couvreur
Celine Poncelet
Emilie Lecouturier
Boyoung Jung
Emmanuel Wolfs

facilitators:
Niki Vranken
Jan Van Mol
+ clients

More info?
All labmembers received the same remuneration and signed confidentiality docs. The session was part of a three month Mini Creative X-Ray program. Interested brands or agencies for these kind of sessions can mail info@addictlab.com

Shit design. (Pardon my french)

2008-06-12T05:02:00.000-07:00

One of the things we can do with the Addictlab concept, is set up collaborations with schools and have their students work on one of our research themes. Preferably in a out-of-the-classroom surrounding, and on a project that is far away from their normal habitat.

Have a look at the ongoing Kidsresearch.

Some examples?
Take labbie Silke Rombaut.

She contributed with her great Kids Cage concept on her labfile.

But look a her 'Shit Down' concept, a bold design statement in the beginning of your career.. But on second thoughts, not bad. Useful it is, since you need kids to train to do their little thing on a toilet in stead of in the Procter and Gamble device. These house breaking rules are not that easy. (I have two kids, I know). Yet I'm not too sure about having a huge fecal look-a-like in my bathroom, but ok.

Second remarkable concept is by Labbie Dagmar Stozek
She is clearly a fan of the prestigious Nip Tuck series, and who can blame her.
She created a very strong image, with a lot of impact and 'stopping power' as we say. During the Labbie workshop they can think of concepts for products, but also reflect on the matter at hand. Which is even more important.

And then a nice one by Marilyn Verwimp. This flower changes color, indicating the right temperature of the water when the baby needs to take a bath. A concept with a possible commercial value..

We do welcome schools to take on similar projects. Do not hesitate to get in contact and have your students become our labbies.

Aanvallah! - A football blog.

2008-06-10T00:00:00.001-07:00

So here we have it. The Dutch soccer team defeated Italy with a 3- niks score. And it could have been worse.

I'm not a football freak. I did play some, ages ago, at the infamous S.K. 's Gravenwezel. And the only time I wore a teams colors was when I drove my motorbike to go see Lierse becoming Belgian champion. An exhibition of fan behaviour from that magnitude, in my case, that needs some explanation.

I had an advertising agency, MotuNui, and we had arranged for my client Daewoo to be sponsor of the Lierse team.
A Korean client, at that time, was a sort of adventure for my then pretty young company. We had no 'car' experience what so ever. Still that's what made it a success I guess. (We gave a way 100 cars to test drive, added free petrol for a year, all things you wouldn't do with a car back then. We used FMCG marketing concepts for cars, which became an example for the competitive brands.)

Setting up sponsorship with a football team seemed a good idea to increase brand name awareness. The first match of the season, with big boss Kim attending (50% of all Korean people are called Kim) Lierse was defeated, with a humiliating 8-0 against Anderlecht.
Everybody thought our sponsor deal was wasted money. I thought I wasted my client.
Who could predict that at the end of that soccer season, that small team would actually win the cup. There are blurry images in my mind of Korean marketing responsibles dancing on their own cars. (You have no idea how a couple of years in Belgium can actually destroy your good manors :-)

So, yes, that's why a drove my bike and Petra - both with yellow scarfs - to that last remarkable game.

Football, since then, was never that good. Today, the Belgian soccer team is perfect in sync with the Belgian government. Blatantly incompetent to do the job at hand.

And what did we see yesterday? The Netherlands performing pretty well. Holland, playing as a team! Let me repeat that : 'as a team'. Done with the primadonnas and ego's of the last century.
You must know that there is always this sort of rivalry between Holland & Belgium.
Lately, the Belgian Flemish speaking part has some problems with the French speaking part, and vice versa, leading up to thoughts to bring Flanders together with Holland.
Thoughts that can only emerge after watching a boring football game in a burning sun when your face itches from the orange paint and your intestinal flora are being infected with a liquid substance called dutch beer.
Since no two cultures are more different: The Dutch eat sausages out of a wall and drink a pint of milk with it!)
But hey, if it's about a national football team that performed yesterday, then yes, we would welcome them with open arms. It's not that we still have a Justin Henin or Kim Clijsters to keep our country together. But that's another story.

Now how did I started writing this blog? Dutch labmember Jeroen Tebbe mailed me this morning that his 'Aanvallah!' concept was getting more and more international response.

'Aanvallen!' is what you would yell if you, well, charge to take over another country. Yet the Allah! at the back is a pretty good tongue in cheek discovery to add another level. It's a way to get Dutch muslims united with the Dutch soccer team.

A social integration project using football. Didn't I say that creative thinking can actually change our world?

Jeroen Tebbe's labfile

Your silence blows my head off.

2008-06-04T00:35:00.000-07:00

Dutch labmember Jeroen Tebbe has uploaded another great concept on Addictlab.com.

Here you have something ordinary and small, and let's admit it, a bit gross. Any thought of another human beings ear smear is not what I consider a feast. But ok, ear plugs are quite necessary and helpful, from a medical perspective that is.

So you take Jeroen's creative brainwaves, and hup, this little device becomes a communication tool. He uses a tongue in cheek humour that I can appreciate a lot.
The iDEAF should be a hit on the workfloor.

What am I saying, in your day to day relationship aswell.
The first one, for when she really isn't talking to you. Kind of saying: Talk to me, your silence is blowing my head of.
And the second one more for the opposite, when she talks too much. It would mean : Shut up, screw you...

Ok, I'll stop. My imagination is taking me too far.

Addictlab Labfile

Consumers becoming Condemners.

2008-05-22T06:33:00.000-07:00

I must say, the last couple of months the world seems darker every day. Myanmar, China, the financial crisis, Austrian incestuous grandfathers, you get my point.
(I'm not even talking about the internal Belgian political arena since it is too stupid for words, and most of all the rest of the world thinks 'Belgian' is something you just add to a chocolate brand anyway.)

Now, as much as I believe in the whole green & sustainable movement - hell, ELLE decoration did a feature about me as a 'big thinker helping to shape our eco-conscious future' - I realise the planet needs more then just being greener. (And thus the only way to survive, I know, I know).

But there is hatred out there, and you can't solve that with biodegradable utensils, wood pellets heating systems or solar panels.

Who bothers thinking about cradle to cradle when you have no cradle to put your child in?

Let alone know how to keep it alive with the food that you don't have?

Where are those Parisian May 68ers when you need them? I know, married, children left the house, just bought a Harley, and jealous of Sarkozy - not for being a president (Hey, Bush is a president too) but for having legally a naked Carla Bruni in your palace.

So maybe, maybe, we have a creative duty. I believe, as a creative community we have the moral duty to use our creative thinking not just for the brands we work for, or the pure commercial value of it. We also need to use that talent to reflect on our society and our surrounding, and create sustainable (in all means of that word) changes by doing so.
Organisations and governments, should not underestimate the power we can have.

1. Beijing 2008.

It has something noble, attracting the whole world, being the host to the biggest event on earth, to compete in an open and friendly environment. It has also a big marketing value for the hosting country, for current and future investments, and it has a true commercial value. They will make money of it, but that's because we teached them capitalism.
I won't go into the politics of it, but the Human rights issue in the country and the treatment of Tibet on the political front is clashing with the global Olympic thoughts. So. Bam. Enter the "ADanarchists" or the "CommunicationGuerilla" and hup. You're expensive logo is wasted and will never be the same. These were send to me via Facebook.

Or this one.

2. South Africa

Then my temporary adoptive country, South Africa. Remember my blog about being robbed in our house. I do remember it, every night, when checking the house, the electric fence, the inside and outside alarms. Back then, I wrote a piece about the fact that just that event send out a message that South Africa wasn't ready for the Football World Cup.

Here you have a country, that by brave men & women and a lot of courage (including the white minority who voted against apartheid...) has been changed radically, in 1994. The rainbow nation, as Mandela called it, was a fact.
And now, in the 'informal settlements' & townships (there are about 2 million people living in Alexandria alone) there is hatred. True hatred against people from another country. (Countries that helped the ANC, by the way). Beyond hatred, evil, or how else can you explain that human beings are setting other human beings on fire?

I believe the World Cup to be a blessing for South Africa. In view of perception, international credibility, investments... There was no other African country that has this kind of boost. The ANC, après-apartheid, received a lot of help and support also. But today, the country's leaders are ignoring the current threat. Even worse. The people responsible for the violence are ANC voters.

So in true ADanarchism style, I've changed the SA2010 logo. Notice how the football playing figure has changed into the poor burned victim of the recent xenophobic violence, a photo that went around the globe.

From a branding point (no pun intended) of view, South Africa and the 2010 event really need to work hard to correct an image that is getting more negative with every Facebook group, protest march, or negative blog. And it's not the messengers that need to be taken care of, it's the very origin of the violence.

If Beijing 2008 and South Africa 2010 both look at us as 'consumers & fans' they should be aware not to treat us as ignorant or naive consumers.
With the powers that we have, the blogs we write, we can be condemners.

Know about the Ad agency Ogilvy's Lovemarks theory? Sissies. Advertising has nothing to do with love and barbie and pink Romantics. It's a war out there.

Addictlab & Urban Forest in Design Indaba Magazine

2008-05-19T04:17:00.000-07:00

Remade plastic trees

South Africa's second Open Lab was held recently at the Design Quarter in Johannesburg. Brainchild of the almost year-old local chapter of international creative think tank Addictlab, the event drew participation from local and international designers.

"South Africa should be more proud of its creative talent," says Jan van Mol, Belgian founder of Addictlab. The role call included Haldane Martin, Vlaemsch, Juventa, Michaelle Janse van Vuuren, Kensaku Oshiro, Clive Rundle, Kofifi, Amanda Laird Cherry, Tempest van Schalk, Darryl Gouwes, Emile Kotze, Melanie Brummer and Mtkidu.

Van Mol himself contributed the Urban Forest light installation. Consisting of objects shaped like irregular tree trunks and made from recycled plastic, the installation criticises the world's consumption attitude. The built-in LED lights can change colour depending on the atmosphere, soundscapes, seasons or any other emotions linked to the location of the forest or reason for gathering. The inside can also be used as drinks cooler, turning the light objects into a lounge accessory, guerrilla tool or design object.'

Go to Design Indaba

Addictlab:
#28 Research: eco-research

Go to Urban Forest Labfile

Look. I'm thinking of you.

2008-05-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

Addictlab's most recent research (our #29th already!) is all about 'in.tangible.scape.s' (You might ask yourself : 'What's with the dots?' - or you might think we're actually really clever to have at least 4 meanings in one title...)

Most promising is the fact that Addictlab has been receiving support from some organisations that are not the least in their line of work...
Thanks to Giovanna Massoni's Lab Researcher activities resulting in collaborations with the MOMA, NY,
Design incubation Centre, Singapore,
Science Gallery, Dublin,
Philips, Netherlands
V2, Rotterdam,
Imec, Leuven
and Domus Academy, Milan we do are developing our labresearch more globally.

Now have a look at the following concept, send to us via the Design Incubation Centre from Singapore.

Roly Poly
Web 2.0 is changing the way people interact resulting in the emergence of a new social eco-system. This concept would like to address the unmet and undefined needs within this new social eco-system through the creation of robotic social tools. Roly Poly looks at the phenomenon of people living apart and examines gesture as a different mode of communication other than speech and text. Through gestures, one is able to transmit him/herself physically to the other party even when miles apart. Roly Poly connects two individuals in real time through a familiar gestural dimension. Roly Poly is a manifestation of how sophisticated robotic technology can be integrated into our daily lives as expressive and communicative social tools.

Ok, I do not think the playful 'Roly Poly' name is doing justice to the concept. But imagine how this concept allows for communication and interaction between people miles apart, in distance, or, why not, in time. It's romantic, or sad, depending how you look at it.
Of course, if you change the hardware you 're pretty close to having real virtual sex - but that is then the more tangible result of an in.tangible concept.

Labfile

Labmember from Indonesia: No cup please.

2008-05-11T06:30:00.000-07:00

I know, I do feel privileged to be in contact with geniuses from all over the world. Here is a very fine idea, uploaded on Addictlab all the way from Indonesia. It's interesting because of its simple concept, but also its sustainable and ECO-potential, cutting away part of the consumers consumption process (and thus waste).

New labmember Chandy Widiastara has been doing research on instant coffee packaging. You won't need a cup, since the packaging changes function. Just add water, and hup. How instant can you get?

Thank you Roosydin Harris, to become our new Labambassador in Indonesia. If there are other people in other creative hubs out there, do not hesitate and join our labambassadors from Vancouver, Gent, Joburg, London or more. Have a look at Addictlab.
As a labambassador, you try to discover great local talent, and by linking them with Addictlab and have them register on our website, it is your energy that will make their work being published in one of our books, being exhibited wherever we can (or are invited), and being produced whenever we get a client/company looking for innovation.
Know anyone working at D'Ouwe Egberts or Starbucks or any other worthy Coffee , Soup or food brand? I'll be happy to make the bridge.
Jan

Labfile Cupchet

Evil is in the eye of the beholder

2008-04-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

There has been a bit of a stir in England on a logo that is created for the OGC, the Office of Government Commerce. It cost about 17000 euro to create, but it will probably not be used due to the .. well... erotic connotation it gets when you look at it sideways.

Now, if I was the creative director of the slick London design agency, I wouldn't worry too much about controlling the hormones of my design team or their will to create some hidden persuaders. I do would fire them and start looking for a team that could create something unique for a client, in stead of going 'shopping' and getting more then a bit of inspiration in .... a bottle water.

trend research on designweek.be

2008-04-21T01:56:00.000-07:00

It's but one of the products we should package more and better: Designweek.be has the potential to be a weekly updated website on the design activities in Belgium. And there is a lot of it happening nowadays. If there are people outthere wanting to collaborate (and advertise :-) feel free to contact me.

To kick off our new approach for the website designweek.be I wanted to show the work of new Labmember Marijn Dionys. I simply love his 'stock' (a wordplay with the dutch word 'stok' for branch)? There is romantisme involved because of its irregular shape, but most important, it shows the original source and the functional end result in one object. Very clever.

Guest blogging for Elle Decoration.

2008-03-21T08:17:00.000-07:00

The recent issue of Elle Decoration magazine here in South Africa is all about Eco design. Of course , there are other magazines attacking the subject, but Elle Deco is actually the first one to ... feature me in it as one of 7 'Green Keepers', 'Big thinkers helping to shape our eco-conscious future.'

Check www.elledeco.blogspot.com these weeks, since they've asked me to be a guest blogger on their site.

Fitness in third world countries.

2008-02-10T12:05:00.000-08:00

I live in South Africa. In that part of Johannesburg where the rich black & white population enjoys supermarkets with an abundance of food, restaurants on a Friday night (and Saturday and Sunday since it's that inexpensive, for that matter), a braai now and then and an occasional robbery if you're popular as I am. (Or just bad luck, who knows...)
A place, where that richer population almost without exception has a a subscription to a golf course and a Virgin Active fitness chain.

And I know, since I'm member too. (Not the golf, that I still - wrongfully, I know - consider a sport I will take up in 30 years or so.) Who could have thought that I would once go 'work out' in a fitness center. The moral and ethical boundaries of running on a specially designed treadmill were to high, but my life (and my body) needed some sort of structural work, so I figured a fitness and workout membership could do the thing.

Running , on the streets, seemed not an option. That is considered dangerous. In many ways. yet after a while now, I'm running on the streets anyway. From my house to the gym. That way I skip the boring treadmill with built in TV screen and ipod connector, but keep the workout sessions.

Watch the guy that I caught on photo, in full exercise. Dragging a tire behind him up a hill towards township Diepsloot.
Respect.

trend research : The Penguin in all of us.

2008-02-05T03:32:00.000-08:00

So here you go. The internet is doing what we all think it should have been doing 10 years ago. Until the bubble burst - and that was not my fault. I didn't find an investor back then. (Interested parties can always apply, though after the Kuwait Prince and the Malaga scam I am a bit, well, suspicious.)

But I wanted to point out a web 2.0 concept : I find myself throwing a party for my son Lucas, turning 8 years on Friday. Not a real one. A virtual one.

Both he and Emma, my daughter of 6, have understood what internet is about. If you look for something - for a project at school - you type orca, killer whale, My Little Pony or clown frogs in the little Google window on dad's computer. You select, you print, and hop, work is done.

It gets better. If your parents drag you from your friends in Belgium all the way to South Africa, than that's cool. You make new friends, discover new stuff, can swim while everyone in Belgium is freezing and hoping some sort of government actually would start to do something. But - you can stay in contact. Not with boring Skype and fractional images of grant mother, but ... by becoming a penguin.
So on Friday, Lucas' friends in Belgium will be joining him in ... his igloo, for which he 'bought' a dance floor, a DJ set, a palm tree and much more.
After the virtual cake, they will go and play in Penguin Land. Eat a virtual pizza, do some sledging, or stroll around the Penguin island to discover other friends.

Become a penguin here

All about Ann.

2008-01-31T23:02:00.000-08:00

Running Addictlab has been a sort of rollercoaster experience.
This multilayered concept of creating platforms such as our books, or exhibitions, or consultancy towards brands, of being a gallery and doing trend research, it all makes sense to me. I realise that that's not always the case for everyone else. That's probably why running Addictlab sometimes was and sometimes still is a burden.

As opposed to my naive attitude of wanting to create a very creative global and fertile surrounding, of introducing creative chaos in a work environment as an asset,
I need an organisation and people whom I can build on.

And the last years, I've had the honour and privilege to be helped by Ann. She has the looks, but I won't go into that. She has also the brains. And above all, she has the emotional intelligence to take on life as it happens.

I realize that life is full of constant changes, and up until Addictlab has a major breakthrough and has the resources to create constant growth, it is quite normal to have a flux of people coming in and leaving the company. In Ann's case, it's a bit different. She has been watching over addictlab in a way I never could have hoped for. Reliable and loyal are understatements. A Beacon of Hope for people around her , that's more like it.

Today is Ann's last day on the job. She will go and take on other challenges. It wouldn't be fair to say the timing is wrong. That there are going to be some major changes in the Addictlab organisation, and all that. There are always major changes in a concept like Addictlab.
But there aren't always people like Ann to believe in it. To support it. To help it grow.
I'll miss her. And that too, is an understatement.

You romantic twit.

2008-01-17T14:09:00.000-08:00

'Follow me'. That is basically what all your GPS navigation systems are saying. But they do that in a functional, dry , engineery kind of way.
Now forget the engineery, go fairy.

Meet Dandella, A GPS direction pointing device that works with the GPS mobile
phone to find direction. The idea was to replace the complicated
digital interface with a physical and intuitive device that shows the
direction by pointing.
Forget Tom Tom, go ET.

This project received the Grand Prix from
Osaka International Design Competition 2006.

contributed by Design Lab Researcher Giovanna Massoni

The Design Incubation Centre is a design research
laboratory which investigates and develops tools to help
us better understand ourselves and our environments,
and to find new possibilities and new relationships
between man, objects and his environment. The
Design Incubation Centre is part of the Department of
Architecture, School of Design and Environment,
National University of Singapore.

Makes you think.

2008-01-13T12:04:00.000-08:00

Pretty well done, if you ask me.

trend filtering

2007-11-28T08:08:00.000-08:00

Life goes on. Even without my stolen Macbook Pro. (Thanks Marike for helping out)
Here is my new selection of interesting stuff in the Addictlab community.

1. Ouch/Bling

These are called bling band-aids.
Wear as jewelry. or really turn your OUCH into BLING. Packaging : Three plasters in slide top tin.
One with ice white rhinestones, one with rose and one with red rhinestones. sterile.

I love it. It decodes objects from two different worlds, mixes it, creates an experience that is completely new. It also proofs that Swarovski not always needs to rent a huge space at the Salone del Mobile in Milan to mark the spot.
Turning to a truly creative labmember is good enough.
Beauty and pain in symbiosis. How true.

2.Dignity Toilet

Uploaded by Alexandra Fraraccio, HUMANITARIAN INTERNATIONAL DESIGN ORGANISATION

Cooler Solutions Dignity Toilet wins international design competition by providing sanitation for those in need

Sustainable green product design granted the International HIDO (Humanitarian International Design Organization) Design Award

Toronto, Canada and Golfe Juan, France November 27, 2007

Today, Cooler Solutions, a product design firm specializing in sustainable and health product innovations and HIDO, the Humanitarian International Design Organization, announced that Cooler Solutions has received the HIDO International Design Award. The Award was granted for their ground-breaking Dignity Toilet, a portable sanitation solution ideal for refugee camps and developing countries. Cooler Solutions developed this unique design as a part of their focus on sustainable product solutions. Images of the product can be found at http://www.coolersolutionsinc.com/pdf/CoolerSolutions-HIDO-DignityToilet.pdf

The dignity toilet is a solid waste storage and disposal system for locations where a sanitation infrastructure does not exist. It addresses the issues of sanitation compliance, health and personal dignity. The Dignity Toilet provides sanitary storage for solid waste for four people for approximately 7 10 days. After that period, the toilet is removed from its dock and taken to a controlled area. Its then manually augered into the soil where it evacuates its contents, mixes the waste with soil and buries it in the ground for decomposition.

As designers we feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to use our experience to assist the hundreds of millions of people who live without basic sanitation. It is especially relevant at this time of year as we celebrate and give thanks for everything that we have, that we think about how we can make a meaningful contribution to all the families who are struggling to simply live, said Terence Woodside, Partner, Cooler Solutions. Were honored that this new Dignity Toilet design was awarded the International HIDO Design award and hope that this product innovation will be a help to control the spread of disease and contamination caused by unsafe sanitary practices.

We believe that the solution offered by Cooler Solutions can create a chain reaction, said Alexandra Fraraccio, HIDO. It will not only tackle the lack of sanitary facilities in developing countries, but at the same time improve hygiene and decrease diseases caused by faeces lingering in many of the worlds slums and infecting drinkable water. This solution could be THE step forward to a healthier and more dignified life.

Read more on HIDO's Labfile:
http://www.addictlab.com/labfiles/index.php?page=workdetail&work=7708

Terrorist attack on South Africa

2007-11-06T00:10:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night, October 30, 12 o clock. I work late on a new Ad!dict book that needs to go to the printer on Thursday. It’s a book that I’ve called WORLD 2.0.
Packed with recycling, rethinking stuff, with ideas from creative minds from the addictlab database from all over the world.
The baseline of the book will be: Ideas to create a better world.
Hilarious, if you know what’s coming.

I’m also finishing my presentation for my meeting in New York: I’m leaving tomorrow, October 31, for meetings and interviews on an exhibition on Nano technology, an outreach project combining industry, research & culture. Important meetings for me with the MOMA, So I decide to go to bed at about midnight.

Couple of hours later.

Two guys come in via a small window in our bedroom, with two guns. They force us to set out the alarm, then force us all (children and my mother in law who is visiting... ) to lay down on the bed. I hear them go down and open up for a third one.
One comes in with my squash shoe. I thought it a bit inappropriate to discuss a squash game at that hour.. He ties us up with the shoelaces, quite firmly, pulls up a children's chair and sits in the doorway.

Emma.
Emma needs to go to the bathroom. Of course, in every hostage situation someone needs to go to the bathroom. There would also be someone pregnant but that part was left out of our script. We ask our guard to let her, yet I don’t want her to go alone with him. Marleen goes with her. When Emma comes back, she whispers: ‘This one is nice, he lets us go to the toilet.’

Lucas is awake too. He rests his head on my leg, and has the best view of us all on the guard.

He is quite analytic.’Dad, if they have gone, can I then read a book? Or watch television? I‘m awake, I will not be able to sleep again.’
A bit later he asks me if I ever have been through something like this. I answer him no. His eyes light up. ‘Then I can tell this to my friends and my children when I’m older’. He has no idea how much I’m wishing that he will be able to tell it to whomever whenever.

I realize that with two guns there is not much one can do. Because they swap guns when they swap guards, I understand that one of the guns must be fake or not loaded.
Still with one gun, my biggest fear is what happens if they ‘re angry not finding what they’re looking for. Three, four times they come in to ask for cash, for the vault. They search the whole house, looking for precious stuff, hidden vaults.
We don’t have that.

I try to imagine how I can defend my family if ever they would turn against us. To Petra, to Emma. Horrific thoughts. And in no way I would let them do without putting up some sort of fight. I try to figure out how I ‘m tied up, how the knots work. The harder I pull, the tighter they get. Even today, two days later, my thumb is still numb.

I try to break the laces by rubbing them over the side of Emma’s bed, but that is obviously not sharp enough. I know that in Emma’s toy shop there are children’s toys to play ‘kitchen’. And I know there is a little knife as well, but it's out of reach.
I realize that I could put my hands from my back in front of me by sliding my hands underneath my body and putting my feet through.
The guy is sitting only two meters of me, so he could see that as an act of aggression. Which obviously it would have been. I keep it in mind, for later on, when things would go bad or when they’ve gone.

Emma’s savings.
Petra turns around. She’s having a hard time. It takes ages, and I know the shoelaces hurt, and the impossibility to move adds up to a claustrophobic feeling she can’t stand.
Yet she thinks about Emma’s saving money, and I agree. Maybe if we tell them where he can find Emma’s money we could fasten up the process , get them going. So we tell Emma, and we explain to the guy where he can find it.

He calls one of the others, and standing in the door, they’re splitting the R200 (20 euro). The guard then neatly closes up the piggy bank and puts it on the floor. He says ‘thank you’. How surreal can you get?

It takes ages.
I want him to think we’re human. So I ask our guard where he comes from. 'Are you from South Africa?' At first , he doesn’t understand. It is a question he doesn’t expect. I repeat it, and he says yes. I tell him we’re from Belgium.
Marleen turns to me and doesn’t get it. 'Are you socializing with the guy'?

They stayed for about an hour.. they found the remote controls of the car, the garage, the outside gate. So they took my whole work & more : 6000 digital pics, 2 laptops, desktop, digital camera, Playstation, PSP, ipod, cellphones, DVD camera, jewelry and a bit of cash. They locked us up in our bedroom, and drove away with Petra's company car. I cut myself loose with a razor blade then untie Petra and Marleen. I could escape via the outside window and open up for everybody.

The fear of what could have happened is bigger then the actual loss, yet my children seem to be ok.

Minutes after I have alerted the outside gate, our place is crawling with people. Security agents asking if we had a panic button. To be honest, I wouldn't have pushed it and be between three armed guys inside our house and the armed security forces on the outside.

The police arrives late - the security people gave the wrong address. Two cops, one more cop, two detectives. And the obvious guy from CSI Johannesburg doing the fingerprints. It is an interesting photographic process.

Missing.
They took all the electronic stuff. But a cellphone is not a cellphone. It is a container of contacts. A binary extension of our mind. It takes a while to retrace cellphone numbers and important contacts.

My loyal MacBook Pro is more then just a tool too. It's my office and reason why I could move to South Africa in the first place. For 80% of my job I use it to go online to the addictlab site that runs on a remote & protected server.
But both Mac and cameras are containers of history. The robbers have taken away 6000 images of my past and I hate them for that.

But it’s in those times of distress that you discover human beauty.

At school, the day after. It's Halloween. (How horrible can Halloween get?)
One of Emma’s class mates comes up to me: I’m sorry that you were robbed.' A girl of 6 being a grown up woman! Surprised , I thank her and turn my head away to avoid her from seeing the tears in my eyes.

Emma’s other friend Luz came with the idea to give back Emma’s saving money. Her parents Eric and Chris should be proud : raise a child with thoughts like that and your parental task is as good as finished.

Flowers from Eskom & chocolate eggs
The support from the people around us is moving. Petra’s client contacts drop by to chat or send flowers. Dupont arranges immediately for another car and cellphone. Dupont is sending someone from Geneva to check where the security can be better.
Marike drops of her computer so that I can continue working. Even though not Belgian the Christmas chocolates taste good with a glass of wine. We tell the story over and over.

The eternal optimist in me might be right: people are good from the inside.
A theory that is hard to defend, having had to call my parents and family who are staying all together in a holiday house in Belgium. The grief and sorrow and fear were unbearable.

I think of the extreme right comment one day on my blog. That we were stupid to go to South Africa. That we are putting our children in great danger. That the fences around us will never be high enough. I was disgusted by the tone of voice and the blind anger in that text. Yet how, today, can I prove them wrong?

I hate the robbers for putting suspicion in my mind. Looking around me while shopping, not out of fear, but hoping to run into them. Me, having organized an Open Lab in Bree street to give a platform to local creative talent. Where one - black - guy had come up to me asking - with tears in his eyes - why a guy from Belgium had to prove to all of them that Bree Street was not dangerous. I wanted to do my part of the job to work on the brand of South Africa.

Because there is more. Look at the speed with which the news travels. Our regular social networks, the compound where our house is, the kids at school, our friends, social & business network. Simply by having to cancel my meetings in New York you can add to that my network of creative thinkers from all over the world, this addictlab network. Everybody has heard: South Africa is not save. It is not ready to host the 2010 World Cup when people are threatened at gun point.

The walls, fences and security companies are a laugh. But Emma, Lucas, Petra, Marleen, we're all alive. We will cope. We're installing extra security systems, beamers, hell, even get a dog. And if we won't feel safe anymore, we will leave.

For South Africa, on the other hand, the situation is worse.
This was an act of terrorism.
Would someone acknowledge that?

'A knife, a fork, a bottle and a cork.

2007-10-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

That's the way we spell New York.'

I've been to New York quite a number of times, since I once started up Addict Inc there.
I even took my then Addict employees to sign their contracts in the restaurant on top of the WTC building.
It was called 'View on the World' and I thought that was appropriate for what I wanted to do with Addict.
Right vision, maybe. Wrong timing, for sure.
And I still remember Heather's email on 911: I saw the first tower go down.

I did go back after 9 11 to do a much apreciated New York Mutation Project , in a local art gallery, with contributions of artists from all over the world on the event.
Addict Inc didn't quite kick off, and I needed to focus on the main office in Belgium, but my love for the city remains.

The reason now is quite interesting. I'll keep you informed.

Bokke Fan Fest.

2007-10-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

So the heat is on in my new adoptive country.
And no, it's not about politics this time. It's about a game, and clearly not one for sissies.

Tomorrow, South Africa takes on England in the World Cup Rugby Final, and - how appropriate for 30 sweaty entangled bodies with carved out muscles and dito six packs - it's in the City of Love, Paris.
Ok, everyone is entitled to some caring & love. And it's allowed on prime time TV.

From a branding point of view it's quite interesting, to see an audience turn in to 'brand' ambassadors.
The concept started ages ago, with Coca Cola's tactics to 'Paint the town red'. And, just recently, The German World Cup football 2006 Fan Fest showed how to properly do it.

Obviously, the media plays an important role, leaving its original informative task and turning towards entertainment providers and experience creators.

Christmas, Halloween, any season is good to create a through the line brand experience. Why not a rugby game?
So today and Saturday up until 21, when the 'Boks' take on England in the World Cup Final, South Africa will be green and gold. A perfect example of the WE TM theory I've published in the Ad!dict book on branding.
We plug into a group, unplug , and plug in another. So it's dynamic. Yet when plugged in, we want to be branded as a group as much as possible. If that means we have to paint our faces or eat green bread, we'll do so.

Some examples from the bizcommunity site. I do believe that addictlab's concepts on coloured chocolates would have fit in perfectly... We'll have to get ready for South Africa 2010.

Steers has come up with a new initiative in support of the Springboks called ‘Bok your Burger'. The restaurant will be running this promotion until Sunday 28 October 2007. Customers are urged to show their support for the Boks by ordering burgers served on green buns at no extra cost. The green buns taste no different to the normal buns and are just as tasty as the usual fare, the group has assured customers!

“We are really proud of the Springboks' fantastic performance at the World Cup and it will be great to see South Africans getting behind their team by joining Steers in this fun initiative,” says André Piehl, Steers' marketing director.

Douglasdale Dairy, in turn, will be manufacturing limited edition ‘green & gold' 2 litre full cream milk bottles, which will be distributed across Gauteng for the duration of this week. Milk products now have a gold lid and the usual white bottle has been changed to a patriotic green. The Douglasdale Dairy slogan ‘Go for Gold' has been printed on a sticker and it includes the word ‘Bokke' – the colloquial term used for the Springbok rugby team – which is positioned on the gold lid of every bottle and reads ‘Bokke go for Gold'.

“We produced a limited edition ‘blue go bulle' milk bottle pledging our support of the Blue Bulls as they went into the Super 14 final in May this year, and we could not keep up with the demand for these bottles from Blue Bulls supporters. So, why not support the Boks in the same vein as they prepare for the biggest game in four years?” explains Douglasdale Dairy's marketing manager Marina Hanson.

(BIZCOMMUNITY.COM)

How did we cope with technology again?

2007-09-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

1. It makes us uncomfortable.
To illustrate this, here is a piece from Ada Rajszys, called 'Uncomfortable Esmeralda'. It is a painting artwork of a high tech print plate that you can actually wear, yet that experience is quite uncomfortable, since your face is squashed against the back of the painting.

2. We reflect.
Look at the Fake Fur collection “a Hunt for High-tech” by designer Bart Hessa.
"In a world… where nature and science emerged, where technology breathes and where living without is impossible. This futuristic world is the inspiration for a collection of imitation fur, a collection for the fashion industry. The ‘future fur’ shows that it is more interesting to imitate an imaginary world… and is based on biomimetics of animal skins.

3. We learn and create.
Mussel Glue
It is almost impossible to make glue that will work under water. The blue mussel is able to steady itself under water by attaching itself to a surface by using its own mussel glue. Because the glue maintains its strength in a wet and salty environment, which resembles the human body, the mussel glue is suitable for medical purposes. TU Delft has been trying to develop a synthetic protein that resembles mussel glue protein for several years now. Important applications could be in gluing fractures and injured intestines. Research Material Sense, institute TU Delft, Holland, Technology of Natural Sciences, DeltChemTech

All of the above examples where published in our book #27 on Nanotechnology, with the collaboration of Material Sense, IMEC, RVO. The discussion on Nanotechnology is far from over. but forget about the technology part. It's all about scaling. It's about design with basic building blocks. Creativity in its most elementary status.
We're now preparing a conference on the matter in February 2008 with our partners from IMEC.

Solar Bottle

2007-09-26T23:18:00.000-07:00

Solar Bottle

year: 2006
designer: Alberto Meda + Francisco Gomez Paz
company: Looking for a producer

Solar Bottle is a low-cost container capable of disinfecting water for people consuming microbiologically contaminated raw water; based in the SODIS (Solar Water Disinfection) system. The PET container has a dual face: a transparent face for maximum UV-A rays collection and a alluminium face that absorbs the infrared sunrays augmenting the temperature and improving disinfection. The reduced thickness assists the transportation and the storage. The handle integrates the angular regulation needed to improve sun exposure depending in which latitude of the world the process is executed.
Solar Bottle was awarded with the First Prize of the INDEX Award 2007 in the Home category.

now, what is design?
Look at this sample of out new book - and I'm not yet sure if this will be the new cover of out #27th research issue.

What is then 'design'? The image of the local people putting the bottles on the roof in order to get clear and drinkable water thanks to the solar warming up?
Or the creation of Alberto & Francisco needing western companies to buy into it and have their idea produced?

Thanks to research by Design Labresearcher Giovanna Massoni.

Everybody vip.

2007-09-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

When VIP becomes a commodity.
How much of quality time do we seek? Via our glass fiber connections we see individuals having their 15 bits of fame, common people being blasted in and out of stardom, and Paris Hiltonites running around the globe and acting as if they own it. (Well, they probably do, but only the brick and mortar).
So yes, everybody is looking for some level of pampering and feels they should be part of an upgraded world. The success of even the cheapest products can be measured via their upgradability. So watch the rise of a better packaged world, yet the content still expires on the same date.

Look at this Wheel of Excellence. Everybody is in for the ride. For the happy few, you can take the VIP coach. Same tour, Same visual. But at least you have the idea of doing it in a special way.
I could think of a number of activities you could do in there, but I'll leave that to your imagination. And that is exactly what the tinted windows are for.

jan@addictlab.com

From Joburg to Venice and back.

2007-08-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

Fancy a cup of coffee? Want to know more about some of our projects? In the upcoming weeks, we'll have a number of opportunities to sit down & discuss.

August 29
www.sanlamsafashionweek.co.za / Sandton Convention Center
Day 1: Business & Inspiration
Time: 14:00 - 14:40

Presentation Outline:
Addictlab: New Ways of Thinking
Testimony from an international creative lab with a remarkable global view on -designing the backbone of our existence questions our role as human beings. With developed and yet to be developed tools, we are close to playing God. Some believe we are coinciding with God‘s ‘job description'. An enormous task lies ahead for us, as a community, in defining the boundaries of this research.

September 6
18.00: Open Lab event, Johannesburg; Check our addictlab.com website for more info.

September 11
11.00: Industry : workshop on how to be innovative in your company and what Addictlab can do to help you.
Lister Medical Building, Johannesburg. Apply now.

September 13
Eco Awards, Design September, Brussels
Addictlab Brussels will be present at the opening of the exhibition at Design Vlaanderen. We printed a special edition of the Labfiles on the winners of the Eco Awards. I'll be in Italy at that time, I guess.

September 15
Mittelmoda Fashion awards, Italy
13.00: New Markets Conference: New developments, trends and business models in the creative industries.
Design Utopia or a brand new World? Introducing a crossover laboratory approach to get to another energy level. coordinated by Jan Van Mol, Creative Lab Researcher of Ad!dict Creative Lab @ Enoteca Gradisca, Gorizia.

So yes, I'll be spending my Sunday September 16 in Venice. Although I' m seriously considering flying back and forth to Brussels for a number of meetings. We'll see.

Olympic Thoughts. (trend_research)

2007-08-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

Beijing 2008.
They will be ready. And it will be profitable. What am I saying : money will be made.
Don't misunderstand me. Of course, I'm all for the city branding approach, using marketing tools to build - and enhance - your society.
The buildings that are being constructed, the landmarks , both geographical as futureproof... it is a celebration of Human creativity. Is it not?
Yet when looking at all those architectural wed dreams, I can not NOT think about that image that Raf Willems made and we published in the Olympic issue. It reflects so well an alternative view on the Olympic Thought.
One of honesty, dreams, gathering hope and cheers.

Bamboo, a convenient root. (trend_research)

2007-08-15T00:05:00.000-07:00

From now, I'll be posting on stories about concepts from Labmembers that strike me. That could predict trends, since we can use our growing database of concepts to see whether a certain story, product or habit, is being tackled by more people from different backgrounds and cultures. These stories will be published on different platforms, such as Flanders DC, Signs of the Times and other. More later.

About the concept

'Living Objects' is about furniture made of living organisms. The table on the picture gives us an example: the table litterally grows from the bottom up. Bamboo grows in 8 weeks up to the hight of a table, and maintains its hight & width for the upcoming three years. You can thus grow your own table legs. Living Objects is a concept by Floris Wubben.
Check Floris' Labfile on addictlab

More about Bamboo
Bamboo is a grasses family. Originally it served as a source for food as (its tiny bamboo shoots) but it can be used for many purposes. It is the giant of all grasses and one of the fastest-growing plants. Bamboo grows mostly in Asia (tropical -subtropical) and in warm places such as Central America and parts of South America. Its stem due to its hardness is very often being used for construction and furniture material. This character is formed from the mineral silica that absorbed from the soil stored in the hollow and the jointed stem while bamboo grows.

Why Bamboo on this trend lab pages?
It's quite in to discuss about global warming. Obviously a number of organisations and brands jump on this, as they hope the positive values for the good cause will reflect on their own.
Yet in how many cases the interest is genuine? What sustainable changes can we expect? Bamboo is a possible part of the solution. It can get an important part of C02 out of the air. You will be seeing bamboo back in different ways and usages.

Catch the new brand MOBBOA.
MOBBOA stands for fashionable bamboo shirts and bamboo bodywear. Mobboa also stands for a couple of "house values" : oneness, consciousness, honesty and respect for man and nature, all values we try to live to every day again. One euro per Mobboa bamboo shirt sold will go to a charitable thrust that support and practices the values described above. This bamboo t'shirt contains 70% of bamboo fabric making it supersoft, light, fresh and thus very comfortable to wear. Mobboa bamboo shirts are by nature anti-bacterial and hypo-allergenic. Its cut makes the shirt follow extremely well the curves of the female hips.When you wear bamboo, you actively give a positive contribution to our environment. An argument that counts in view of the important climatological changes worldwide.

Bamboo clothes are soft as silk and yet durable : bamboo feels as soft and light as silk and therefore makes it very pleasant and comfortable to wear, certainly on the naked skin. Yet, bamboo clothes are more durable and cheaper than silk and you can put them in the washer and drier.
Hypoallergenic : the risk of allergic reactions on contact with the skin is minimal, because growing bamboo does not require pesticides, insecticides or fertilizers.
Antibacterial : the natural bamboo fiber contains an agent with a naturally occurring bacteriostatic property. This means bacteria do not cultivate on them, thereby inhibiting the development of unpleasant body odours. Most other tissues get the same property by undergoing some chemical treatment (that can more often lead to hyperallergic reactions. Tests show that -even after 50 washes- 70% of bacteria, which were purposely incubated on the bamboo fabric, are still eliminated.
Breathable : because of its unique microstructure ( a matrix with various microscopic gaps) perspiration can be absorbed and evaporated much faster than is the case with cotton, wool or other e.g. synthetic fibers. That is why bamboo clothes stick much less to your skin, keep your body cooler (up to 2°C lower than when wearing other fabrics) and drier.
Biodegradable : bamboo fibers are degraded biologically within a short period of time .

Bamboo for kids : children will quickly discover the softness and comfort of bamboo towels, washcloths and bath robes !
Our woven bamboo bath robes for kids are "top of the bill" : they have a bunny design on the side pocket, are silky soft to wear and of high standard quality and finishing.
They absorb faster more moisture than 100% cotton robes and also dry faster.Bamboo by nature has antibacterial properties.The owner of a bamboo bath robe contributes to the preservation of our planet.This bath robe undoubtedly will become their number one outfit afther a bath, shower or sauna.

information gathered from different sources. Be sure to check :
Widianto Utomo
designlabresearch
Mobboa
Check Floris' Labfile on addictlab
Other related work by Labmembers
Dr. Bamboozle
Bambooligature
Aimulet

Reflections on new work uploaded on addictlab.com (1)

2007-07-05T01:06:00.000-07:00

I'll be commenting some of the great concepts that are being uploaded on our addictlab.com site. Here is work from a Belgian promising talent, Gert De Clercq
It's called Black Box.
Technique used : Acryl on Carton boxes.
And the message ?
What first seems no more then boxes with well known brands printed on them, gets a twist when you focus a bit more.
All logo's have been subtily altered, changed, creating humoristic, sometimes cynical but always intelligent messages.
The boxes are conveniently empty... Aren't todays marketing hypes not all about the packaging and not about the content?

Go to Gert's Labfile

Can we Manage Open Source?

2007-05-30T13:24:00.001-07:00

Some of you might know that I moved from Belgium to South-Africa, just some months ago.
Plenty of reasons, business & personal. On another moment, I'll talk about my new surroundings. It just seemed like a pretty good idea: giving my family the possibility to get inspired and discover another culture, and at the same moment taking some distance from the Belgian creative scene. About 9000 km, that is.

I've forced my self to speed up my strategic thinking about addictlab.com. Where do I guide this ship to? How do we go on , and more. What mistakes are we making? And above all, how do we learn from that?

It is now 10 years since I started Addict. and I did learn a lot. It doesn't help feeling dissapointed when someone doesn't see the bigger picture or your own vision on things. I used to think it was all the other's mistake or lack of open minded vision.
Now I know that I have to do all possible efforts to solve that. That's why we learn to communicate.

One of our own communication tools is the website. The addictlab site has been running for over 10 years, and , as all things with addictlab, it had its up and downs. I choose partners who I payed a lot of money , and then they went bankrupt. I had to restart with a simple database structure. Just like other things at addict, it was a roller coaster.
We had people registering, and then the site would stop working. We had people working with addict, but not registering.
If I add up all the names of the people that have been working with us on the 27 issues and other projects, I think it 's about 6000 people.

Today the database has been working with a remarkable stability. Today's database counts over 2600 registered people. And yes, we should communicate to the others to come join again.
The content of the homepages was already adjustable, so the changes these last months were noticable.
Based in South Africa, I've been updating the site. Apparently it worked, since the month of May will go up to 800.000 hits and about 16.000 unique visitors.
That is an all time record.

But there is more.
Today's new site allows us to do a couple of things more. My core team of Addict lab researchers can work on our communication. On making things clear. Pages for Labbies, pages on the publications, hell, finally pages for the industry to see that my view on design innovation and more really works.
After 10 years people can actually come and buy stuff...

But I wanted to take it a step further. To throw it all open. I hate it when people tell me that I am addict, that I'm the bottleneck and the driver at the same time.
Addictlab should be about collaborative processes. So I need to give the stage to others then me.
Today, with this wiki-system, anyone who we give a password can start creating their own pages.
I'm feeling a little boy with a new toy...... Someone once said I had succeeded in Managing open Source. A contradiction in terminis, sure. But that 's really what I 'm experimenting with.

Give an individu the possibility to express, to create, to support others.
That is a form of freedom we humans value too less.
The fact that you actually can SUPPORT others. ACCELERATE TALENT, unbiased.
I believe that is a very sustainable way of working on a prosperous society. Ethical and constructive creative processes, I could write a book on the matter.

Yet I believe that needs to be done in a certain canvas. So that the bigger picture remains, the bigger story keeps growing in the desired direction. Of course, individual opinions and expressions count, and are the main point of gravity. Yet it needs to be in some sort of system, that works as a clear framework within the surrounding society. We need to find a balance between that freedom, our respect for the individual and the sustainability of the overall process.
I believe it is actually a good theory for our society of tomorrow.

The site, now, besides everyones possiblity to create their own labfiles, can being updated via Labambassadors per country or city , and via labresearchers per discipline.
I' m curious to see if we can marshall people to work with us. To open up their minds and their business networks to attract more ideas, people and business.

Am I 'm making sense? Shall I explain more? Or shall I drink my glass of South African Stellenbosch wine, eat the last piece of a Belgian chocolate bar, and go to sleep?

Tomorrow is another day. Yet setting this up is something I would have liked to finish yesterday.

Jan@addictlab.com

the Nano Research

2007-04-24T03:41:00.000-07:00

Here is a challenge.
Addictlab is full of references towards science. Our, name, our logo, our periodic table approach with creative disciplines replacing the chemical elements (thank you Mr Mendelejev), our formula’s and websites. We designed it that way as it was my way to try to structure creativity. I still believe creativity is chemistry. It’s al about people collaborating, creating something new because of the crossover collaboration.

The definition ‘creative lab’ I have patented and registered years ago, since at that time no one was combining the world of culture and that of labo’s, pipets and Geiger counters.

Yes, I know, these days, ‘Creative Lab’ is used by many others, and no, I didn’t start up copyright issues and juridical steps. Maybe I should, but I ‘m convinced that is some what of negative energy, completely opposite to my vision of a positive attitude in creative processes.

Nanwho?

One nanometer is about 0,000 000 001 meter. That’s rather small.
Nano technology for that matter, is science on that same 10-9 level.

Nano technology can be considered as design with essential building blocks, design on an atomic level, and with every small change implemented, the bigger picture changes.

It comes down to the utter essence of creation, re-designing the back bone of our mere existence. Being able to do that questions and defines our role as human beings, since the one thing that makes us different is our capability to be creative.

It defines and questions our role, since with the developed and yet to be developed tools, we’re close to playing god. Some people believe we’re coinciding with god ‘s proper job description.

An enormous task lies ahead for us as a community to define the boundaries of that research..

An example? Can we talk about genetically modified food? Is that a line not to be crossed?
But what then to say to those ingenious people that have developed a system to modify the DNA of a certain plant, resulting in a change of colour of the flower when it grows on top of a hidden landmine, making the landmine more easy to be detected…

On nano and history.

I love the similarities with history. Since, isn’t that the same? We live because there were creative processes before us. We live because one action (human or by nature) initiated another action, and thus creation is happening.

In nano research, those actions are the molecules. Change the sequence or the molecules, and you get an other outcome.

On a more personal note.
I must confess. I started my education as a civil engineer student. A logic next steps after my math specialty during high school. Add to that a slight parental force to have an engineer in the family.

It was all a bit to narrow minded – or unidirectional for that matter. I was busy, designing, drawing, photographing, writing. I met my future wife there – who is a civil engineer. So that solved my father’s problem.

When I finally quit and turned to art school and advertising, I remember my father being anxious. On the wide gap between the engineers’ world (and social surrounding) and that of the creative - or worse: artistic - scene.
And he is not the only one. We structured our society that way.

Wrongfully. With this collaboration between addictlab and imec, we are taking care of that fear. We are closing that gap.
With this book, we are trying to give a platform to those who are able to reflect from a complete other perspective and confront them with the usual suspects of the nano research.
In that confrontation lies the essence of true conceptual thinking.

Let this be a start, create the best of both worlds. And we have work to do: there is a whole place that needs to become a better one.

Allow me to thank Fenna Zamouri & Nuno Oliveira for their 109hours spend on 10-9. I also wish to thank Jo De Wachter from Imec, to have the open spirit needed to approach addictlab with this project.

Jan@addictlab.com

More?

[def. Nanotechnology is a field of applied science and technology covering a broad range of topics. The main unifying theme is the control of matter on a scale smaller than 1 micrometer, normally between 1-100 nanometers, as well as the fabrication of devices on this same length scale. It is a highly multidisciplinary field, drawing from fields such as colloidal science, device physics, and supramolecular chemistry. Much speculation exists as to what new science and technology might result from these lines of research. Some view nanotechnology as a marketing term that describes pre-existing lines of research applied to the sub-micron size scale.
Despite the apparent simplicity of this definition, nanotechnology actually encompasses diverse lines of inquiry. Nanotechnology cuts across many disciplines, including colloidal science, chemistry, applied physics, materials science, and even mechanical and electrical engineering. It could variously be seen as an extension of existing sciences into the nanoscale, or as a recasting of existing sciences using a newer, more modern term. Two main approaches are used in nanotechnology: one is a "bottom-up" approach where materials and devices are built from molecular components which assemble themselves chemically using principles of molecular recognition; the other being a "top-down" approach where nano-objects are constructed from larger entities without atomic-level control.]
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On the creative industry..: How to give a company wings. And the designer with it.

2007-04-04T13:27:00.000-07:00

It is not without pride and I hope I'm not boasting when talking about a recent succesful project confirming a bit addictlab's status as 'pioneer in the creative industry'.
A nice title, indeed. (Someone once called me personally the new Renaissance man, which was rather ok, because she was nice. But in the same event, a guy came by calling me Leonardo, stating that he then was Raphaello. It was in Australia, and yes, there were too much free drinks.)

But ok, let's bring on this exemplary work. Hm.

The briefing: try to captate the „brand essence“ of the new Diesel collection.
The system: select innovative work from our addictlab.com database.
The result: production, sales and exhibition of Light objects designed by Swedish Labmember Malin Lundmark, in the Diesel concept stores of Amsterdam, Brussels and Antwerp.

The new 2007 Diesel collection is based on aviation and neon lights.
With that information in mind, we could dive into our constantly growing database of concepts and ideas. And it was logic to present to Diesel the Paperplane Lights.
The Paperplane Lights are now being produced in Sweden and will be exhibited in the different stores mid April. The Paperplane Lights look like little paper planes, but are made of aluminium and are actually lighting objects.

About Labmember Malin Lundmark (Sweden)
Malin Lundmark mainly works with functional design, where a poetic value is added. Her creations always tell a story. More information on Malin Lundmark can be found on her Labfile on Addictlab.com.

I'm proud since I believe this really shows how Addictlab can and should work. First Malin became a Labmember after she met us in Milan. I approached her at her booth at the Satellite during the Salone del Mobile.
She registered on the site and uploaded a selection of her work on her Labfile.
We then selected her work in our publication, Ad!dict 's Inspiration book #27 with the theme Gaming, that was linked to a travelling Gaming exhibition.

And now we are making the link with the industry, and thus creating a win-win situation for Malin Lundmark as a designer, Diesel as a brand, and Addictlab as a 'facilitator'.
It means that we were able to understand the artistic level of a concept, and bring that to a larger audience. But also,
not less important, create a bridge towards the industry that needs to be innovative.
In other words: a creative industry can work if you can match economical rationalism and artistic chaos. Or at least try to control the confrontation between those two.

Thought one: we need more creative work from that level, from all different people.
Thought two: we need more businesses that understand the proactive work from Addictlab and tap into our lab.

Bring it on....

Smart brand consultancy with build-in chaos

2007-03-22T00:28:00.000-07:00

Too many brands act as if they rule the world. Well, in some cases it is actually true.
I was just listening to an interview by a local soft drink reseller on the streets of Johannesburg claiming that his one-person-shop will have to close down since Coca Cola announced shortage of carbon dioxide. (The Gas that adds the fizz to cooldrinks.) Or that other global brand using stars and stripes to play the worlds policeman in regions such as Irak.
I saw this great cartoon of the brands logo: the American flag, where the stars where left out , with the message: 'Didn't earn your stars today.')

But I didn't want to talk politics.

Here you are, five star marketeer, paid by your client to bring your client' s brand in the picture.
But do you think beyond the actual brief? Do you think about the relevance of what you do?
Like in chess, how many steps ahead are you thinking? Do you take into account 'external' elements that could influence your creation?

Let me rephrase that, since 'external' elements will anyway, sooner or later, be an influence to what you have created.
How do you cope? Anticipate? Panic? Or do you always - like I believe you should - have a build-in chaos system to be a balance to the theoretical strategical and thus rational level of what you wanted to obtain?

Here is a project of AddictLabmember Olivier Vanderaa:
Brand\Non brand is a short photographic series using brands displayed in real life on billboards and neon signs as a fictionnary material. It aims to treat these advertising objects as a plastical material, going often beyond the border of existing marketing schemes, real spaces and standard commercial messages and significations.

I love Olivier's work - check his citysnapper projects, by the way, on addictlab.com

But look at the picture of the Massive Logo. (Massive is a lighting company)
I'm sure the marketing team that commissioned the logo to be put on the roof of the building, didn't take into consideration ... that local traffic forced a whole lot of people commuting to look at the logo... from the other side.
Not just once. But everytime they go to their work.
How do you take that into account, cost-per-contact-wise?

In the case of the MacDonald logo, also part of Olivier's work, you must admit that their brainbashing communication is quite fruitful. How much of the light should be broken so that we wouldn't see the logo anymore?

I welcome all pictures depicting brands & logo's in unusual situations, in your neighbourhood.
Jan@addictlab.com

Corporate Consultancy on a Global Scale.

2007-03-12T00:57:00.000-07:00

Since you're reading this blog, I guess you are some sort of creative mind.
Possibly a creative consultant, meaning that you use your creative thinking to help third parties - clients to use the c word - communicate, innovate, stand out, build, earn money etc.

Wouldn't it be a great idea to bring all our creative juices together in a sort of consultancy melting pot,
a sort of creative shaker, resulting in strategic reflections and executions in branding, external and internal communication, design, architecture and more?

Shall we create ideas, campaigns, proposals created specifically for one client? Mother Earth? The planet we all live on? And will be burried in?

Unfortunately, the client pays really bad. And I know... the management sucks.
Even the shareholders are neglecting their shares or are unaware of the possibility of growth, let alone the planet's return on investment. Even if you have a great campaign, it could very well be the client's not buying it.

So what's new compared to what you do today?

jan@addictlab.com

Send your projects. We can bring them online on our website. And I'll have to play a number of virtual chess games to bring some money together to be able to print them.

Belgium's Quantum Leap Theory.

2007-03-04T23:41:00.000-08:00

(This text will be published in a book on Belgian design, on the occasion of the Salone del Mobile in Milan, April this year)

I am not sure if I have the right credentials to talk about the brand of Belgium… being Belgian and all. Yet maybe my recent move ‘out’ of the country to the other side of the world gives me indeed the necessary distance to comment and - where deemed necessary – criticize the way Belgium and all implicated are working on a Belgian brand.

It is interesting to sit back and look at all the efforts that brands – in general - do in order to get noticed, and get bought, and not necessarily in that order.
I believe we have to redefine what we understand by the word ‘marketing’.

In space terms, and your brand being a space ship, the question arises: ‘which engines do we have to build, so that our brand space ship moves at the desired speed in the right direction?’

’Marketing’ whether for products, conventional brands or countries like Belgium could then be defined as Brand Gravity Control. Trying to control the point of gravity , so that the vehicle is moving into the desired direction, and all elements with it.

But yet that image is hardly sufficient, since it makes us think the object to control is a well defined shape. No brand is.

A brand is a collection of a zillion small or bigger pieces, interacting with each other and their surrounding, making it harder to define that point of gravity. A brand is a collection of brand molecules.

Marketing can then be defined as the research to apply some sort of quantum leap in order to get the brand as a unity to another level of energy. I recommend redefining marketing as brand energy.

Like all brands, Belgium is not easy to map.
What is our USP? What are our weaknesses, our strengths, our threats and opportunities?
‘Belgium’ is all about its people, original or imported, its important mix of historical and cultural references, its regional setting right in the middle of the cradle of the European union, not much of a football team, but a whole lot of tennis. Add to that a political model of compromises between its 4 different governments and you have a pretty chaotic brand.

To be honest, maybe the most important asset today is Belgium ‘s central role in Europe. Sadly enough, I’m convinced that Belgians themselves are tremendously underestimating the role we play in Europe.
If it were not for Europe and the eurocrates in Brussels, everything Belgium would have got, is Antwerp that conveniently believes it is the center of the universe, and the rest of the country that basically likes to eat very well and go to France on holiday besides minding its own business. The Walloon part, for the record, would be the preferred long weekend holiday spot for the Dutch.

Like all other countries Belgium has a complex mix of characteristics and is a pioneer in developing a multinational democracy.
Or call it eclecticism. Belgium has made eclecticism a way to govern, to organize and structure its society.
Ingenious people such as Magritte, Panamarenko, Eddy Merckx and Rubens have been taking it all to another level. Surreal and hands on at the same time. Northern and Scandinavian rationalism in the North, Southern passion and ‘Carpe diem’ mentality in the South.
No wonder companies like Coca Cola use our country to test new products.

I could talk for hours about the danger of a narrow-minded attitude in each subculture, division, or section of the Belgian society. Nothing is more contra productive then an inward-looking mentality. This is not only ‘Belgian’, it ‘s everywhere where human beings try to organize their life by hanging on to what they’re used to know and not to what they could learn.

But, believe it or not, changes are imminent. Belgian ‘s cultural diversity has been picked up. There is a growing interest in the fertile outcome of our little country.

Maybe it’s because of the tangible balancing between friction and harmony. The designers - and with them the rest of the creative scene - are taking control, yet not without the facilitating help of different old and emerging organizations, not without a well informed media apparatus and a growing public interest. It’s a balancing exercise between structure and creative freedom.

The creatives should therefore not necessarily be the pilot of our Belgian space craft. There are ample stories about crashes and businesses going bankrupt.
Yet they should be the driving force, the engines.
The different governments (Belgium/Flanders/Wallonia/Brussels) do have to make sure the cabin crew knows how to handle and the passengers are involved in decision making.

When the vessel’s construction then can stand the speed, the sky is the limit.

The Social Relevance of Brands (Part 4/ from Ad!dict inspiration book: The Brand issue)

2007-02-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

Here is a task for all of us: design
globalisme. As clients, consumers,
brands, designers, manufacturers,
press, and people – thus, as a society,
the right approach should be to rethink
and work on creating coherent
concepts for corporate brands
and for human brands, still fully
utilising the knowledge and findings
emanating from our heritage.
Our cultural heritage includes our
brand heritage. We have to
incorporate a certain level of design
globalisme, to find a balance between
the created concept, the human
being, the environment and society.
Creating – and we all do – thus becomes
a complex yet
challenging activity.

(the brand issue / chapter 5)

Parasite branding (Part 2/ from Ad!dict inspiration book: The Brand issue)

2007-02-14T12:13:00.000-08:00

So if you now understand what faces
brands can have, what products they
make... maybe you want more, since
you’re a brand addict. What about
branding in all its extremes?
Check the Parasite Branding
concepts on the next pages.
Here the selected artists try to
understand a brand and go just
that step further: parasitize on what
the brand has become.
Use the efforts needed to create
the brand and its values for other
purposes. A pretty extreme use of
branding, if you ask me.
But it fits our culture of extremes.

Chapter 3 / Addictlab Brand issue / Parasite Branding

Advertising is dead. (Part 1/ from Ad!dict inspiration book: The Brand issue)

2007-02-14T12:09:00.001-08:00

Advertising as we know it is dead.
The creative advertising scene is
still somewhat unknown to
the public, yet the public is aware of
their existence. Moreover, the public
has grown up: they won’t fall that
easy for the tips and tricks of
the brands and their marketing
mercenaries.That fact combined
with the current economic situation
makes the processus about
communicating, marketing,
designing and branding a complex
and difficult task.
Today, it’s all about brand
experiences. Go beyond the
communication tools of regular
advertising theories. Best is to start
and rethink the products a brand
should create. The only way to go
is the necessary blurring between
the design & advertising scene.

Addictlab Brand issue/ Chapter 2 / Your product is your brand.

Gaming night

2007-02-07T13:16:00.001-08:00

So, yes, I believe it is important to think completely out of the box in order to innovate. That's why I'm open for all sorts of impulses by creative people from any possible discipline, anywhere in the world. At least if I'm able to get into their head, or reflect on their creation.

I admit, if you would be managing a company of 30.000 people, you'll have a hard time imagining why on earth it could be important to go to a performance where this guy is talking about creativity and innovation (eg me...) you see weird objects in their office/lab (e.g. in stead of clicking on the light you had to take your gun and aim at it....), and you are served by Lara Croft like creatures serving you soup coming from the crotch of a sort of Robokok.

End of January Addictlab organised a Gaming night for paperpartners Dalum and Antalis, including innovative food concepts ROBOKOK, lectures on gaming, and awesome DJ sets.

Thinking out of the box starts on the frontier you have limited yourself to.

Gaming Night
Lecture commissioned by Antalis & Dalum
research theme: Gaming
Brussels, January 2007

The Vroom & Dreesmann paradox.

2007-02-02T01:27:00.001-08:00

The Vroom & Dreesmann paradox is my way to describe the apparent limitations of Addictlab - not being able to make big money on a short period of time.

V&D approached Addictlab last year, attracted to the level of innovation we showed at the resent 100% Design fair in Rotterdam.
V&D is a supermarket chain in Holland, that apparently lost their innovative way of doing things over the last 120 year.

The concept / briefing was brave. Let's define and produce 120 new products to celebrate this anniversary, and put V&D on the map again as a proactive, caring, and innovative brand. V&D wanted to lead again, in stead of keep on tracking behind.

So far so good. In all honesty, I am convinced that with our addictlab-system we can deliver.
Timing was an issue, complete madness, actually, but speed is one of our assets, so I attracted more labresearchers at Addictlab Brussels to start working on this. We do have a huge database of people and concepts.

For me, however, there were some extra points I wanted to add.

First: the selection of ideas and concepts. My personal view on things is that we should think about the social relevance of our actions. Better not just think about the product we create itself, but also about the surrounding that changes because you create.
With a selection of 120 products, we really could make a difference.
One of the concepts I wanted to push was a USB stick with the housing cut out in wood in a West African country.
The Portugese designer Pedro Alegrià wanted to make a point with this design creating a bridge between western society needing new tools like USB sticks, and production facilities in Sao Tomé. (see also Ad!dict inspiration book on GAMING)
Obviously , you could not start sourcing this in China.

Brings me to another important point in collaborations between Ad!dict Creative Lab and companies like V&D: The importance of honouring the designer/creative and the link to the addictlab-system.
This seems so logic: you attract consumers by showing them innovative products, bring authentic (!) stories, explain the reason why, who did it, why, and make a link to the creative mind or group of creatives who are behind it. All should benefit from that. The consumer, the creator, the facilitator (addictlab) and the brand V&D

Now, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't convince the V&D management on those two points.
We had a couple of meetings - one meeting took me 3 hours on the road from Brussels to Amsterdam and exactly 20 minutes for the meeting and then 3 hours back - and it was clear that from their side, they were struggling with the briefing, the sourcing, the concept. Where as the initial briefing was that we'd go as far as possible.

You had the difficult discussion on the 'owner' of the concepts, or at least the communication of the people behind the concepts.
And you had the budget discussions. They wanted to earn money on every of the 120 products. Making it a mere commercial project. Whereas it was and still is my conviction we should add some products that might not sell too well, but create rumour and proof of V&D's clear will to innovate. in that case, the production of those products is an investment, on a branding level, not an income. On the long run, it would generate more business, in stead of short turn income.
Then you see that those big companies are not structured to have a coherence in their actions: each department works on its own. This was clearly a project that was not running through the whole company as a branding opportunity. A pity, it is.

The project didn't take off. With us, anyway. I believe they even saw me as a threat, as someone wanting to put my own brand on 'their' products. Of course, I would have loved to have this addictlab-shop in the shop concept, where you'd go in your supermarket and find products by Addictlab members. I still do, and it's on my wish list ever since. But it would have gone further then just my ego: it would have given 120 creatives a unique platform, it would have given the press 120 reasons and stories to write about the V&D, and a lot of consumers inspiration, humour and a positive vibe

V&D didn't even wanted to have the names of the designers, their companies, or our link. As 'they had too much subbrands' already. Thinking about it now, I'm quite sure I had to stick with our mission, bringing innovation via our system of labmembers. But I see it as a mistake from my end that I couldn't convince them. And of course, I missed a lot of business.
Hence the Vroom & Dreesmann paradox.

Comes a time, comes a place.
Our ADDICTLAB testshop prooves it could work. We just need to find people with the same vision.

research 26: Gaming

2006-11-13T22:53:00.000-08:00

My little editorial introducing our 26th inspiration book.

Ad!dict’s 26th issue has become a true inspiration book with over 160 pages, packed with surprising views of numerous labmembers.

Before diving into the content, I would like to focus on the creative process of the printed matter you are holding.

The book was created as a collective work. A collaboration of so called Lab Researchers, present on site in Brussels, or via broadband access.

Ina Arends, lab ambassador for the Netherlands, looking and browsing our databases. As was Giovanna Massoni, Italian design lab researcher based in Brussels. I thought it was a good idea to add another level, by inviting labmembers to come and do the job. Giuseppe Demaio (Australia) is the first ‘guest-art director in residence’, whose job was it to start playing with gaming.

He was lucky, believe me, to be able to count on the help (day and night, as games are not entirely linked to the universal hours of the sun) of Katharina Tretter (Austria) and Nuno Oliveira (Portugal). In the last straight line – why do deadlines seem inevitable to this game of editing - we called in Fenna Zamouri and Anja Samson (Belgium) to help and finalise, all backed by mental and more support Ann Van Dievoort.

All these people have made it their goal to deliver you something beautiful.

Respect their rules. Honour their game.

I know I do.

(the book comes out November 17)

New refreshed blog intention : Lecturing.

2006-11-12T14:17:00.000-08:00

So.
It has been a while, sitting down and writing my thoughts.
The Ad!dict #26 on gaming is ready. Well, that is, it went to the printer last week.
And yes, its production had all good things of a deadline period.

Imagine me sitting in my car on the passenger seat with the intention of correcting all the pdf's of our new inspiration book.
Imagine fresh-addict-employee Elke taking the steering wheel to drive me to the ADDICTLAB:shop.
I could get used to have a professional driver - she only crashed already after 5 meters into another car when putting mine in its reverse gear. As a new employee, doing that to your boss... Let's just say, I could tell she wasn't happy....:-)

Flashback.
The day after. Last thursday, I was - again - a passenger in my own car. This time I had to go to Amsterdam to give a speech at the Stedelijk Museum on the ADDICT on GAMING.
Giovanna (addictlab researcher) drove the car. My car. Devastating experience. Not because her driving, she obviously could. But because of all the deadlines and ongoing projects, the only moment I was able to prepare my speech , was on the way over from Brussels to Amsterdam. My mind going over the content, the flow of the presentation, the format, and the big 1000$ question whether my speech would be ready when arriving there, or if the battery of my dear MacBook pro would end before that.

At the end, well. Yes. I think the evening went ok. The organisers (the museum) didn't communicate that well, so only about what, 100?, people showed up. The view, on the contrary, was amazing. Looking over Amsterdam. The content of the new Addict projected on huge screens on both sides of the room. A huge screen behind me. And some nice words of interest after the presentation.

After the use - again - of a selection of my powerpoint slides, I know now I have to change them. Content maybe, format for sure.
Maybe the audiences I'm talking to discover all new, but for me personally, I'm finding it more a burden then an honour.
Next lectures?

January, french speaking design & architectural school (Tournai). French. Another ball game. Je devrais me préparer.
Also January: an event in collaboration with DALUM, the Danish papercompany supplying our ADDICT paper.

And closer by: a round table at the Design in Brussels event on our Universal House? - project.
Should I ? The drive from our office to the fair allows for no preparation what so ever....

Later.

Ad!dict #25: The World Heritage issue.

2006-04-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

World Heritage
Or the importance of being humble.

Here is what I wrote as an editorial in the new Ad!dict Inspiration Book.

This research theme has taken me to remarkable places and thoughts. From reflections on our past, on our current identity - call it patrimony - to questioning extreme conservative feelings that would force you to stick to one place or thought just because there is some ridiculous axioma that would say so.

It made me visit the Unesco building in Paris, where – summum of cultural diversity – all nationalities are working and living together on a limited surface. Oh, these are nice people all right. Yet Kafka is never far away. World heritage, for them, is building X, commission Y and convention Z. Anything beyond that, is uncontrollable, unidentifiable.

World Heritage for them, is limited to physical spaces, because a convention said so. Yet World Heritage is far more.

I don’t think they knew what to do with this Ad!dict lab, marshalling thinkers from around the world, wanting to reflect, research, point out those parts from our patrimony they consider important. A pity, since we offered this force for them to use, no strings attached. Maybe this positive, unbiased attitude has become rare in our society.

Preservation is deciding what is valuable to maintain. Do we do that as individuals? As tribes? Or as a global community? We have divided the different projects and reflections in 5 different chapters, taking you from an individual approach, via physical spots to concepts that would change the world if one lets us.

World Heritage is the openness to consider all that. And it is my grandfather who just celebrated his 95th birthday. Defined like that, we all should be very humble towards such a richness of experience. Only the past can create a better future.

Personal Heritage
Reflections on the future usage of one’s personal past or current identity

Future Dialogue
Reflections on the future usage of one’s past relation to another individual

Cradle Bonding
Reflections on the future usage of one’s relation to a geographical location or physical space.

Social Dynamics
Reflections on the future usage of one’s past as offspring from and in a certain culture

Global Heritage
Reflections on the future usage of our collective past or current patrimony.

In this last chapter we have added two projects as ‘work in progress’. We have asked fashion designers and interior designers to think of the possibility to create one Universal Collection, one Universal House respectively. Over 40 Labmembers from 20 countries already responded. Each with their own heritage. Each with a will and open mind to create for the better. And you? Can you stay on the sideline?

jan@addictlab.com

Subscript picture:

Dedicated to my grandfather Jules, who just celebrated his 95 years. World Heritage is that too. I hope we can still learn a lot from him.