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

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?]

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

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

Bamboo, a convenient root. (trend_research)

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)

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

The Vroom & Dreesmann paradox.

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.