fun

Red Bull HQ London: Whoohoooo!!!

Posted by _tango! on August 22, 2006
Posted in: brand, design, fun, ideas, information, inspiration, style, thoughts. 126 comments
Redbull office

Whooohoooo!!! That’s the sound of someone blazing down this new slick carbon slide in the Red Bull office in London right before a meeting! Jump-Studios has created a dynamic interactive space pumped full of adrenaline in this 3 floor escapade for employees of Red Bull filled with stimulating features and activities for everyone to experience! Any tie wearing client is bound to transform into a cool craving stunt junkie after a quick plunge here.

I’m not sure when the last time I was pumped to go to an office, but I’d think a fun environment like this filled with a few cases of Red Bull would do the trick! From ping pong table meeting rooms, to floating staircases, a slick slide, to a modern bar and cafe, and a comfy lounge area… I’d wonder if the balcony had a bungee jump bridge for adrenaline breaks.

For more info on the Red Bull HQ and other sweet projects, hit up Jump-Studios website.  More sweet pics after the jump…
Continue Reading

clickdensity!

Posted by _tango! on August 4, 2006
Posted in: design, experience, fun, ideas, information, inspiration, tech, thoughts. Leave a Comment
clickdensity

Did you ever want to figure out where people clicked on your GUI webpage and where people did not? Clickdensity documents a users every click on your webpage allowing you to monitor and understand your audience more in a information visualization format (heat map). What is clicked on the most, what is not, where do users come from, how long are they on, what are usability issues, etc. You can filter the clicks by browsers, screen resolution, dates, time of day, source, and a few other things. It’s the digital finger grease!

This reminds me of my post on Google Eyed and how Googles changed the way we view webpages. It’s also much like those elevator buttons that obviously show major use on certain floors. Same for cellphones, keyboards(the shiny keys..my f1-f10 buttons seem untouched), remote controls, etc. We’ve all seen the heat maps on weather channels, but why not turn your webpage into a weather channel of usage! Be a fun piece to make art out of from your website.

Catch your own sushi experience!

Posted by _tango! on August 1, 2006
Posted in: experience, fun, ideas, me. 3 comments

catch your own fish restaurant experience“At the restaurant Zauo you can help yourself, no really, you HAVE to help yourself.

The middle of the restaurant is shaped like a boat and there are plenty of rooms alongside where catching can be a satisfying if unnerving experience for those will little experience fishing.

In the water are 10 different kinds of fish from lobsters to mackerel.

And once you get it on board, there’s the waitress and now the fun really begins.

Your catch of the day is whisked to the kitchen where no time is wasted turning that swimming critter into a sushi delight.

In minutes it’s gone from fish to a fancy course that costs more than $30.

So here even the most dedicated city dweller can learn what every fisherman knows the pleasure of the catch is often equal to the pleasure of the meal when you re angling for the freshest fish there is.”

Sounds like fun! yummm.

via cbs (watch video!)

Sony Bravia Ad: Paint Balls

Posted by _tango! on July 31, 2006
Posted in: entertainment, fun, information, inspiration. Leave a Comment
sony bravia picture

Seems like Sony is masterminding yet another colorful commerical after their famous bouncing balls commerical, but this time, their using colored paint balls, and TONS of it:

70,000 litres of paint
358 single bottle bombs
33 sextuple air cluster bombs
22 Triple hung cluster bombs
268 mortars
33 Triple Mortars
22 Double mortars
358 meters of weld
330 meters of steel pipe
57 km of copper wire

Sounds like fun:
Sony Bravia Advert
Flickr pics 

update: an interview with David Patton on the making of the video, on PSFK’s IF here. (thanks jeff)

Cursor Kite!

Posted by _tango! on July 26, 2006
Posted in: art, entertainment, fun, ideas, inspiration, thoughts. Leave a Comment
cursor kite burning man

I love it when things in the digital world are brought back into the physical world. There’s the Scroller Scarf, The Mario Brothers Coin Boxes, The Bubble Project quotes, Unnecessary Censorship Shirts, character costumes, the Sims floating diamond, tons of others, and now perhaps my favorite, the Cursor Kite!!! Fly this bad boy over your cityscape and navigate your virtual physical world. It would be cool if you could actually click or drag objects much like that one cursor commercial some years ago, but I’m sure you can easily crash this huge kite into standbys only to knock them over. Perhaps latch on to the tip a fake body and drag them throughout the sky!
Anyhow, I love it when the digital meets the physical world…keep them ideas rollin out!! buh yeah!

Sense of play!

Posted by _tango! on July 20, 2006
Posted in: design, experience, fun, information, inspiration, thoughts. Leave a Comment

Chicago. water. led

During my visit to Chicago, I got to experience Millennium Park. One project that stood out was Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa. You can read more about it at their site, but what I want to point out was how happy, joyful, and excited kids were to interact with, play, and to get wet at this particular piece. Kids would run around, line up, learn the art pieces routine. At times, kids would start talking to the projected faces, telling them to hurry up(get them wet). Kids lined up in anticipation right where the fountain would hit. The projected images would hint and tease onlookers of the next event. Once the water started to spill outwards, kids would scream, run around, smile, and be in such delight.

One thing I noticed however was that the only people doing all of this were kids… parents and others would just watch, with an occasional couple treading through the water. Why were there only kids having such fun. Why do we as humans lose our sense of play as we age. I’m not saying all of us lose this amazing ability to play with anything, but many do.

In design, play is one of those things that keeps me inspired, it’s an excuse to rip apart, throw, and crash products together, and I’m allowed to be goofy, cause that’s where great ideas usually come from. On the other side of things, perhaps we as adults do not like to get wet, as tons of adults would act goofy around the big bean(cloud gates, or pics here) mirrored sculpture. Anyhow, this is just a brief thought and reminder of how curious, goofy, and joyful we are, especially as a child. More fun pics I took at this fountain after the jump! Continue Reading

Wrangler Jeans: Extra Points!

Posted by _tango! on July 14, 2006
Posted in: experience, fun, information, me, thoughts. Leave a Comment
Wrangler Jean Instructions

I love it when products add that lil extra something to refreshen themselves after some time. In this instant, I’m talking about some smart and whimsical instructional graphics on the inside of Wrangler Jeans, which depict the proper way to slip into that special pair of jeans. (via ettf, more examples there)
I’ve recently been rediscovering elements in products that add that extra flare for extra kudo points after some years. An old book I bought, fell apart, only to discover hidden images inside the pages, some new jeans by puma slowly reveal several logos the more you wash it, the good ole hidden tracks in the music CD or now some DVD’s, and now these jeans with awesome instructional graphics which I would never notice until later on. It’s these little experiences that make me smile about that particular brand, label, or product.

The Big Umbrella

Posted by _tango! on June 22, 2006
Posted in: fun, ideas. Leave a Comment
big umbrella

Talk about a HUGE umbrella! “The Big Umbrella is a big umbrella designed to shield a large group of people from the rain. A typical big umbrella can shield approximately 4 tightly squeezed people from the rain. ‘The Big Umbrella’ is twice as big (240 x 160 cm) as the biggest men’s umbrella found on the consumer market and can in turn potentially shield 16 people from the rain. ”

I’d love to get my hands on one of these head turning monsters for fun. I best not get wet!

“Shoot me if you can” game

Posted by _tango! on June 20, 2006
Posted in: experience, fun, ideas, inspiration, thoughts. 1 comment
shootmeifyoucan

“Shoot me if you can” is a fun urban game inspired by first person shooting video games. A gun is replaced by a phone camera, players wear bright labels with their numbers on them, players track down opponents, snap pictures, and SMS the opposing teams when they are shot. First team with shots of all the other team members wins! Different rules exist for variations in the game.

I love it when creative uses in technology allow people to return to the physical landscape, though, anyone playing this game may seem like a krazy James Bond nut on the street with a bright barcode on their shirt. This game brings awareness to the mind-boggling abundance of cameras throughout our culture everywhere we go. Whichever the case, I’d be curious to give this game a go if I can convince a dozen of my local friends to give it a run. Check out their webpage for more info!