Hasta La Ideas

Sure to boost compliance in double-blinded clinical trials the world over are these streamlined pill keepers from Sabi, a new company that is looking “to transform life’s small tasks into moments of joy” through lifestyle and wellness products designed by Yves Behar and his Fuseproject team. “We designed the Sabi brand, products, and packaging to express smarter ergonomic functionality, and instill pride of use rather than the stigma of being singled out by daily physical challenges,” says Behar. “I believe Sabi will make sense to an older generation in need of solutions, but also to a younger set of users that simply expect good design everywhere.” Named for the Japanese aesthetic construct (think “wabi-sabi”), the Palo Alto-based company was founded by entrepreneur Assaf Wand, who points to Method, Bang & Olufsen, OXO, and Dyson as brands that inspire him. His idea for Sabi came as he watched his then-pregnant wife struggle to find an easy-to-use and visually appealing prenatal vitamin case. Pill organizers and related accessories (vitamin pulverizers, sleek carafes) comprise the company’s first line of products, Vitality. In the works are Agility, products designed to alleviate the pain and inconvenience of lifting, reaching, and carrying everyday items around the house, as well as Mobility, a line of travel accessories and gadgets that assist in transporting health and wellness essentials. Grab a Sabi Holster ($8.99) and take a chill pill, as the second two lines—including, at long last, a shower caddy that you won’t be ashamed to show houseguests—will debut later this year.

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Last July, after the freshly launched design flash sale site Fab.com had landed its first round of venture funding (a cool $8 million, led by Menlo Ventures), founder Jason Goldberg touted the site’s diverse mix of merch, from chairs and stationery to bikes and biscotti. There was just one category he said that the company would steer clear of: fashion. “We don’t have any ambition in the fashion category,” Goldberg told Venturebeat, in what sounded like an attempt to differentiate his site from the flash-sale fray (read: Gilt Groupe). “That’s more about liquidation; our model is more about opening a new channel for suppliers.” Five months and $40 million in Series B funding later, Fab.com has flip-flopped on fashion and acquired FashionStake, which launched in the fall of 2010 as a kind of Kickstarter-style fundraising platform for independent fashion designers and evolved into an Etsy-like marketplace for their wares. “We’re going to do the exact same thing we’ve done with design products to fashion,” wrote Goldberg today in a blog post announcing the deal. “Make no mistake, we’re keenly aware that there are plenty of sites that sell high-end fashion for a discount. That’s not Fab. We’re doing fashion the Fab way; designed to make you smile.” Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but FashionStake founders Vivian Weng and Daniel Gulati will be joining Fab.com. According to Weng and Gulati, FashionStake will relaunch on Fab.com in mid-February.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

No one really seems to actually know what the vaguely named Motorola Solutions does, but Frank Lawlor is working to change that. As Global Brand Creative Director, Lawlor is taking Motorola Solutions from misunderstood anonymity to a company known for developing cutting-edge public safety and industrial communications… as well as bad-ass police cars.

Judging from Lawlor’s case study, he had his work cut out for him when rebranding Motorola Solutions. The old identity was centered around cheesy, staged photographs that look culled from a stock images website, while the supporting graphics are more like sci-fi interpretations than reality.

The new collection of videos and photographs supporting the rebranded identity works quite well. Lawlor describes the goal as developing a “design language that tells a powerful story of a company that has been ‘helping people in the moments that matter’ for over 80 years.” The working man/woman is the centerpiece of the campaign, focusing on real situations, not sexy ones. Likewise, communications and radios are not terribly sexy technologies, so it makes sense to play them up as the backbones of public safety departments.

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In just a few weeks, Ikea will enact a massive design change that will be largely invisible to consumers: They’re ditching wooden shipping pallets in favor of cardboard ones. The furniture giant has designed a way to fold corrugated cardboard into a structure that is far thinner than a traditional wooden pallet, yet can still support the 1,650 pounds necessary to transport their goods. According to Bloomberg Businessweek,

One-third the height of wooden trays at 5 centimeters (2 inches) and 90 percent lighter at 2.5 kilos, they’ll save thousands of truck trips and cut transport bills by 140 million euros ($193 million) a year at a cost of 90 million euros for paper purchases and new forklifts, Ikea says.

As Ikea uses some 10 million pallets a year, if the experiment is a success it’s a good bet that other retail giants will take notice. But the thing that has analysts skeptical is that the pallets can only be used once. While they’ll surely be recycled afterwards, perhaps on-site at each facility, this bucks the industry trend of “pooling,” whereby used wooden pallets are collected by companies dedicated to the task who then redistribute them to other retailers, prolonging the pallets’ lives. We’re curious to see how the green balance shakes out on this one.

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In July 2012 General Motors Advanced Studio will cut the ribbon on their new Shanghai design facility, which will be headed up by Wulin Gaowa (pictured above). Gaowa is GM’s first female design studio chief, having been appointed Design Director of GM China Advanced Studio in September of this year.

A press release from this morning features a Q&A with Gaowa, who previously worked for the Mercedes-Benz Technology Center in Germany and Italdesign Giugiaro in Italy, on the new facility. Here’s an excerpt on the “crewing up” process:

Q: How is it going with the hiring process? What kind of talents are you seeking to hire for the Advanced Design Studio?

A: We have found some qualified candidates here in China. We’re looking for people that have a passion and superior talent in the area of car design, and are willing to challenge the status quo. Hiring locally is important for us as the designers’ Chinese cultural background will help us better understand how to design mobile products that meet the needs of our customers in China. Overseas experience will be a plus and good support to achieve global standard.

I’ve been visiting design universities and colleges all over China and the U.S. since I arrived in September, looking for designers who will fit into our organization. I’ve been to Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Detroit and Los Angeles so far….

Read the rest here.

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