360angles

This has to be one of my all time favorite articles about design, branding and how that affects interaction with consumers and vice-versa…

Sandwiches can be Complicated at Times

While checking out (paying), I decide to go through with this thought, and look closely at the cheeseburger, and yes, indeed. The cheeseburger as has the easiest food interface one could think of. No forks, no knives, no spoons, no plates, no chopsticks. Like a sandwich, but softer and sweeter and above all: Standardized. No alarms and no surprises when eating a cheeseburger. Almost as simple as “the only intuitive interface” – the nipple. Sandwiches can be complicated at times.

The standardization makes the cheeseburger’s interface a branded one. Only a McDonald’s cheeseburger looks like a McDonald’s cheeseburger…

The Interface of a Cheeseburger by Information Architects in Japan.

Independent dairies are finding a classic solution to a classic problem – how to differentiate their products. For inspiration, they hearken back to a time when ice cream was made on the farm, and milk was sold in glass bottles. For older people it’s a taste of nostalgia, for younger people it’s a novelty.

The appeal is simple – many aficionados swear milk tastes better from a glass bottle, and looks fresher too. Unlike plastic or cardboard, glass doesn’t alter the true taste of milk and it looks amazing on the shelf. “The glass, it just jumps out at you,” says Leroy Shatto, maker of Shatto Milk (shown above.) One thing is very clear. This old-time design approach is so retro, it’s trendy. To keep this trend alive, support your local dairy farmers by enjoying their yummy milk in glass bottles. But, most importantly – rinse, return and repeat the process.

Baking a personality into your product with design like this doesn’t cost anything. Why wouldn’t you ? Innocent Drinks, UK.

Careful with that font, Eugene…

In a gas station today.
The candy bar doesn’t scan, so the cashier holds up the bar and, in a thick accent, calls to the other employee:

“Spunow is same price as Snickers?”

It took me and the other employee about a minute to get what she was talking about.

via Blogdilla

Juicer looks nice, but is not for the clumsy. Wouldn’t want to accidentally juice your head after a slip and fall.

[via The Kitchn]