Details, including map: http://idsala.wordpress.com/duncan-anderson-lecture-series/

Hope to see you there!

Joey Zeledon with his Coat Check concept chair

Joey Zeledon ’s Coat Check Concept Chair took away Design Distinction at I.D. Magazine’s Annual Design Review. The Coat Check Chair concept uses plastic hangers and a steel bar from a standard closet, and is designed to encourage people to hang their coats up properly. 

“This is just a brilliant idea. Simple, useful, clear.” –Judge Jack Bredenfoerder

Congratulations Joey!

Working in small, cross-disciplinary teams with coaches, Continuum will be leading fellowship participants to develop actionable solutions to real-world design challenges driven by Pepsi’s strategic plans. The workshop series will culminate with participants presenting their work to members of Pepsi’s senior leadership team.

We’re accepting applications for the program until September 15th. Our “Innovation Fellowship” will begin a month later, on October 15, and will meet on Fridays for eight consecutive weeks. In addition to the opportunity to participate in the workshop, fellows will receive a $4,000 stipend to cover travel expenses.  The workshop will be held in three different locations including New York City, PepsiCo’s Purchase New York campus, and Continuum’s Boston office.

If you’re interested in receiving an application, contact innovationfellows@pepsico.com <mailto:innovationfellows@pepsico.com> . And be sure to check back here in the coming weeks to learn more about it.

Rule #7 of great service: this one may seem odd, but just plain actually provide service.

Our challenge? How do you create an identity for an organization that is constantly changing? Fortunately for us, we’ll have your help to find the answer. For the next six weeks, we’re partnering with Core77 on a blog series that will reveal our process and progress as we take on the challenge. Think you know what the Design Museum Boston identity should be? Let us know, we look forward to working with you.

R-Day is the first day of training for the new class of recruits, done each year in the summer. The real R-day is run partially by the more senior cadets, so for a rehearsal, West Point opens up their doors once a year to a select few brave civilians, who allow themselves to be the guinea pigs for a dry run.

The Continuum team wasn’t just in it for the extraordinary stories they’d get to tell us when they got back. Klein and Toombs were interested in how R-Day—so tough that you are supposed to fail and fail fast—could affect behavior change. After all, change is hard. And the military knows a thing or two about effectively managing behavioral change.

How can going to extremes, beyond your personal limit, help you make dramatic changes in your life? What could they teach us about adherence and compliance—and, more importantly, about human behavior?

Find out what they learned in Devorah Klein’s video.

Designing from the Trenches from Continuum on Vimeo.

Combining sustainability practices with brand experience expertise, Continuum developed concepts that led to the creation of the innovative new packaging for Preserve. The lightweight package encases the toothbrush, protects it during shipments, presents it well at point of sale, and doubles as a return envelope. Consumers simply return the toothbrush after use in the envelope and mail it back to Preserve, so it can begin its next life stage. Preserve then turns the returned toothbrushes into plastic lumber that can be used for things such as picnic tables and boardwalks.

Read more  about the sustainability, packaging, and brand work Continuum did on this project and the dramatic sales increase Preserve has experienced because of it.

I got to experience some visual eye-candy this morning. Well, it was more than just eye-candy. It gave me that warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy; like mom’s chicken soup. Commuting into Boston, the pool of white and red plates darting in front of me, lining up like soldiers, still feels foreign after all these years. But, this morning, in the sea of white and red plates, a refreshing flash of empire gold & navy caught my eye. I awoke from my commuting coma. “Is this real?” It’s on a brand new car and the plate itself looks brand new, but I seem to remember these plates from the 1970s and early 8os, during my childhood in NY.

Nostalgia—a theme we’ve been seeing for many years—creates positive consumer associations. Those that lived through the era enjoy being connected back to their youth – during simpler times. Those that weren’t born yet find it cool. Mixing nostalgia with what’s next is a win-win for a brand refresh.

Check out this short video, showing the production process and be sure to visit 826 Boston’s online store to get a limited edition poster of your very own.

Words Matter. from Continuum on Vimeo.

This city that once was so hazardous to foreigners that it was literally synonymous with kidnapping had become a largely coddling environment for visitors, both in and out of the typical ex-pat areas. Every big city is a branded entity in the global economy, and it would seem that being Shanghai’d now means being taken care of by generous hosts and kindly citizens.

Rule # 6 of great service: great rebrands come from changes on the inside.