Hasta La Ideas

After some 195 projectors were stolen from London schools in the first three months of 2005, the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) proposed a simple and low-cost design solution. It suggested that all educational equipment could be produced in a bright and distinctive orange color so that they would be easily identifiable and more difficult for criminals to sell on. Potential customers, it was thought, were likely to find the orange units less desirable and might also know that the orange color meant it was stolen property. According to Becta, the orange idea had an immediate beneficial impact. In the London Borough of Havering annual thefts of projectors and other electronics from schools had exceeded GBP 150,000:- (about USD 293,000:-) in one year. But with the orange projectors and other security measures, such as etched and forensic marking on the equipment, burglary rates fell substantially. Brilliant! More on British Design Council.brbr