Hasta La Ideas

After three months of sifting through more than 1,500 entries, then testing out the five finalists, the Museum of Science and Industry here in Chicago have finally made their pick for who will spend a whole month living in their museum for their aptly titled promotional experiment, Month at the Museum. Although they didn’t wind up picking either of our two favorites, they still went local, which wins them points, and selected Kate McGroarty. Here are the official details from the museum:

Beginning Oct. 20, 2010, McGroarty, 24, will become the Museum’s roommate for 30 days — taking in all the Museum has to offer, getting amazing behind-the-scenes access, sharing it all with the world — and taking home a $10,000 prize at the end of it all. McGroarty, a teacher and theatre artist, Minnesota native and 2008 Northwestern graduate who now lives in the Chicago neighborhood of Ravenswood, wowed the MSI judges with her natural curiosity, creative spirit, wit and writing skills. McGroarty was also the clear favorite with the public, garnering the top position after more than 20,000 online votes were cast in a week.

And before you start wondering/worrying about where exactly she’ll be living in a museum not usually accustomed to overnight visitors (except for ghosts and mummies), of course they made sure to shore up some choice sponsorship deals along the way:

As if getting to live in the Museum for 30 days wasn’t cool enough, Kate will be treated to sleek and modern living accommodations, delicious meals and a technology package she gets to keep. Both the winner’s office and private sleeping quarters will be designed and furnished by CB2. Sodexo Leisure Services, the Museum’s exclusive caterer, will provide the winner with breakfast and lunch daily, while Whole Foods Market will provide dinner and snacks. And the technology package to document the entire experiment is provided by Best Buy and supported by Geek Squad.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Customers sit at large wooden frames in this hair salon by Japanese studio Three.Ball.Cascade in Chiba, Japan.

Called Luce Hair, the salon is divided by the wooden structures, some of which contain mirrors to create work stations while others remain empty, framing the space.

Here’s some more information from the designers:

Kashiwa hairdresser

Local development still proceeds in a corner, where it is expected that future urbanization.

This plan, as beauty is in the relatively large space, placing four chairs were asked a simple space. The beauty of the common market because it was fairly low-cost.

Possible difficulty in making the space operations of an existing skeleton, with plans to build only the required minimum of functionality.

Surface set (haircut chair and mirror space), a 120 mm × architectural uses such as beams for structural use of laminated wood 450 mm, Kina Hiroshi produced the dresser.

Dresser and normal scale by using different, whether there is a mirror there, and you do not know which side is visible.

Making an ambiguous space.

LOCATION: Kashiwa, Chiba
TOTAL AREA: 125 sqm

See also:

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Hair salon by moomoo architects	Kilico hair salon by Makoto Yamaguchi	Boa Hairdressers Salon by Claudia Meier

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As Gap ditched its condensed serif and preppy blue square for something more default modern, design blogs lit up with comment yesterday. But in a strange social media-infused reaction to the various ‘reinterpretations’ of the logo that surfaced, Gap has implied there’s some crowd sourcing coming your way, based on those very designs…

Having unveiled the new identity with no fanfare whatsover, Gap’s ‘wall’ on Facebook seems to be the only place where the company has actually acknowledged its new Helvetian look. This, despite still proudly displaying its old logo as its profile image.

The reaction in the design community (see Armin’s write up on Brand New, and Mat Dolphin’s reasoned take on their blog) has largely been one of bewilderment; and this has also crossed over into more mainstream sites, like Facebook.

In gauging the reaction of those irked enough to comment on Gap’s Facebook page, it appears that while hundreds of Gap-fans are clearly venting some spleen, the brand itself just seems to be muddying the waters.

“We know this logo created a lot of buzz and we’re thrilled to see passionate debates unfolding!” chirps the Gap’s wall statement, which sits rather ungainly above a very long list of comments ranging from “terrible” and “tragedy” to “LOL” and the occasional, pertinent “dislike”.

Nevertheless, any user-generated visual ‘tributes’ to the new (or indeed old) Gap logo are, the company believes, all part of the plan. Here’s the post from Gap’s Facebook page:

Thanks for everyone’s input on the new logo! We’ve had the same logo for 20+ years, and this is just one of the things we’re changing. We know this logo created a lot of buzz and we’re thrilled to see passionate debates unfolding! So much so we’re asking you to share your designs. We love our version, but we’d like to see other ideas. Stay tuned for details in the next few days on this crowd sourcing project.

Of course, this being the interweb, there will be plenty of willing contributors to any potential crowd sourcing campaign. But by optimistically claiming that “we’re asking you to share your designs” – it’s as if they’re not only suggesting a response of “I could do better than that” was to be expected, but that it should be (in the way of social media) actively encouraged.

Laird + Partners in New York are apparently behind the new logo (we’ve contacted them for a comment about the design and are yet to hear back) but whether it’s all part of a larger participatory campaign is anyone’s guess.

In the meantime, the blogosphere rages on; design fans debate an identity campaign based on a tiny jpeg; ‘friends’ of Gap denounce the work hysterically on Facebook, and the brand itself resorts to the reckon-you-can-do-better? kind of line.

The end result seems to be a decidedly confused message. Which is surely the opposite of a great identity.

Unclutterer: Someone who chooses to get rid of the distractions that get in the way of a remarkable life.

There are three important words in this definition –

• Chooses. No one can be forced into being an unclutterer.
• Distractions. Usually referred to as clutter, distractions are the unwanted physical, mental, time, environmental, and emotional hurdles that get in the way of your remarkable life.
• Remarkable life. A life fully focused on what matters most to you.

Have you chosen to be an unclutterer? Is it actually something you want to be? Unless you’re putting yourself or others in danger, being an unclutterer might not be the best life for you. Maybe it is? Only you know if it’s your right path.

Have you identified all of the distractions that are keeping you from pursuing your remarkable life? What stands in your way? Is laundry, a toxic relationship, or something else sucking up your time and energy?

Do you know what is important, really important, to you? What would a perfect day be for you? How do you imagine spending your time when it is focused on what matters most? What is your definition of remarkable living?

If your children are on your list of what matters most to you, are you working the right job that allows you a symbiotic relationship of career happiness, reasonable financial compensation, flexible scheduling, and the ability to focus on your children when you’re not at work? Or, is your job impairing your relationship with your kids?

If your health is on your list of what matters most to you, are you regularly finding a way to have fun exercising? Or, are you sitting on your couch feeling guilty about not working out?

If your relationship with your spouse or partner is on your list of what matters most to you, do you have romantic dates together or write the love of your life silly poems of admiration? Or, do you just hold on to memories of the past when you did these things together?

If you want to be an unclutterer — choose to be one, get rid of the distractions, and pursue your remarkable life. Stop making excuses, formulating excuses wastes time and energy, and just start living in a way that focuses on what is really important to you.

Life is short, choose to live remarkably.

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