This weekend I watched Waste Land, a documentary about the Brazilian artist Vik Muniz.  The film documents the creation of a series entitled “Pictures of Garbage,” which are portraits of garbage collectors called “catadores” in Jardim Gramacho, the world’s largest  landfill on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.  The film follows the three year project from start to finish as Muniz and the catadores collaborate on the process of creating these works of art.  It’s an incredibly inspiring film and one that gives a voice to a community of people few know exist.  One of the most inspiring aspects of the film is that Muniz donates 100% of the proceeds to the catadores so they can educate, protect and improve the living conditions of Jardim Gramacho. To date, the project has contributed nearly $300k.   You can read more about the film here.

寂 SABI [/sab-i/] noun – A Japanese cultural aesthetic inspired by the notion of life’s transitory and evanescent nature. Deliberate or cultivated simplicity in daily living. Artistic representation that strives toward refined understatement.

Created by Assaf Wand and Yves Béhar, Sabi brings “design, functionality, and aesthetic to the most basic day-to-day things.”  Inspired by companies like OXO and Simple Human, Wand and Béhar tackled medication and pill management products as their first challenge.  From a 3-compartment clip-on travel pill box to a pill splitter, Sabi’s “Vitality” line aims to make the task of taking daily vitamin and pills more enjoyable.  In addition to be ergonomically friendly, the line is price friendly raning from $8.99 to $29.99.  You can buy the products directly from the Sabi site here.

*via psfk

One of my New Years resolutions was to no longer sleep with my iPhone next to my bed.  No more checking emails as soon as my eyes open.  No more sending off late night emails that could wait until morning.  So our “charging station” got moved to the other side of the room, which meant we lost the other function of our phone–the alarm clock.  For the last couple weeks we have been using the classic Braun Travel Clock, my husband’s from growing up, but it lacked a snooze button.

So the hunt began.  Our requirements were simple–well designed, slim profile and a snooze button.  We scoured blogs for “best alarm clocks,” “modern alarm clocks,” etc… to no avail.  Then, on a rainy Saturday afternoon we popped into Moss and came across what I am now deeming the perfect alarm clock.

Designed by Jasper Morrison for Swiss brand Punkt, the AC 01 is everything we were looking for and more.  I love how simple and intuitive the controls are and in addition to a snooze function, glow-in-the-dark hands and dial, it also has an led light that illuminates with a simple push of a button.  You can buy one online here.

I’m loving these latest shots for Ikea by photographer Carl Kleiner.  Similar to the images he created for Ikea’s first cookbook, Hembakat är Bäst (Homemade is Best) Kleiner forgoes the usual backdrop and takes a bird’s eye view that allows us to completely focus in on the actual products.  Aside from the photography, I love how each shot is so perfectly composed and balanced.  Big props to the stylist (and Kleiner’s wife) Evelina Kleiner.

*via TRENDLAND

I’m loving this tidbit of wisdom from Seth Godin:

The first thing you do when you sit down at the computer

Let me guess: check the incoming. Check email or traffic stats or messages from your boss. Check the tweets you follow or the FB status of friends.

It has taken me a couple weeks to catch up on the daunting stack of magazines that awaited me after being out of the country for six weeks.  I am finally caught up, which means that I just read about this beauty – the Nest Learning Thermostat.

Designed by Tony Fadell, formerly of Apple and designer of the original iPod, the Nest is the thermostat we all never knew we needed.  Using software that analyzes and tracks your usage patterns over time, it will program itself in a week to understand your heating and cooling needs.  It also has built in sensors that keep track of whether or not you’re at home and a wi-fi connection that monitors the weather outside so that it can intelligently understand how the changing temperatures affect your usage behavior.

Aside from the gorgeous minimalist design, what I love about the Nest is that it solves a serious problem.  In Fadell’s research, he discovered that 10 million thermostats are sold every year, yet only 6% of programmable ones are actually programmed.  He also discovered that the heating and cooling of our homes accounts for 50% of our energy bills.  Considering this impact, it makes sense to really look at creating design solutions for every day items like thermostats.  As Fadell says, and which I am 100% guilty of, “instead of programming their thermostats, most people have given up and treat it like a light switch.”  According to Nest, you’ll save 20 – 30% a month on your electric bill, which means that it can easily pay for itself in about a year. Unfortunately, the Nest isn’t compatible with my building’s system so I can’t test it out myself.  You can check here to see if yours is.

*Via Fast Company

I came across this infographic the other day and while I think the design of it isn’t necessarily the best solution to convey the information, I find the actual data really facinating.  The data is a good reminder that colors do in fact have different meanings in various cultures and countries.  As marketers we need to understand how our choices impact the products we sell and the messages we convey.  This emotional connection to the consumer is key and is one of the things that can turn a good campaign into a great one.

Infographic by David McCandless

After a long walk through the neighborhood on New Year’s day, I came home, curled up on the couch and made my way through the Sunday Times.  The first article I read, The Joy of Quiet, could not have better articulated one of my New Year’s Resolutions; I want to spend less time consuming information and more time observing and processing.

Pico Iyer’s article addresses the somewhat trendy desire to escape the constant stream of information.  The trick, as we all know and constantly feel, is the balance.  How do I stay connected to the world in a way that helps influence my insights on what’s relevant and appropriate yet creates space for the thinking to take place?  I struggle with this balance constantly and while I think there is no one right way, I do think that we all have to try to separate ourselves from everything that is coming at us literally second by second through our twitter feeds, emails, phone calls, instagram likes, calendar invites, RSS feeds etc.  As Iyer said so eloquently, “it’s only by having some distance from the world that you can see it whole, and understand what you should be doing with it.”