Skype Reunion Family Photo by John Clang

an image from the series 'be here now' by john clang, 2012
'paris (and, projected, singapore): stephanie chi-weng tsui; her mothr, alexia wai-chun tye: alexia-s partner, pierre de fouquet'

Wow! I love this awesome project, Be Here Now, by john clang. As more and more of us are choosing to be 'Urban Nomads' for work or in my husband's case love we often find ourselves hopping on Skype talking to our loved ones one the other side of the world. When I was travelling around the world to produce my book, RETHINK - The Way You Live, coming out November 2012, Skype was my lifeline at the end of each day where it was possible to speak and most importantly see my husband. A crucial moment when I was in Antwerp and I injured myself and felt alone.

bellevue, washington (and singapore): edwin goh; his sisters alvina goh and siew lin goh; their parents, per ching goh
and pe chou sui; edwin's sister alina goh and her husband, justin woo'

Singapore-born and New York-based photographer  developed the collection of images by photographing several groups of relatives originally from Singapore with all members of the family unit included in one shot.

'hong kong (and singapore): back row: brandon wong and his wife, belinda leong; belinda's brother, donald leong;
front row: donald's daughter, jeanette leong; belinda's mother and father, helen ang and robert leong; belinda's sister, jessie leong,
and her daughter megan marsh'

 

 

'tokyo (and singapore): ros lee; her brother, kelvin lee, and his wife, hazuki lee nakano; ros's mother and father, tan gek kee
and lee choong kean; ros's sister, melissa lee'

 

'london (and singapore): simon milward and jacqueline lim (husband and wife) and their son, oscar milward;
jacqueline's sister gwendoline lim; jacqueline and gwendoline's parents, irene lim and cheng hoe lim'

 

 

'new york (and singapore): john clang, the photographer for this project; his parents, ang ching seong and NG gek choo;
his brother, joe ang; and, in the chat window on the laptop at the bottom of the photo, john-s wife, elin tew'

'seattle (and singapore): lee siew tim and chua chim sim, her son'

One of the hardest things in the world I think when you live away from your family is not seeing them but "The Jetsons" futuristic telephone helps a little when loved ones are so far away. This is a wonderful way to capture complete families in a photo even when geographically challenged. My husband's parents live in France and his brother & sisters live in the UK. This has so inspired me to capture us in a Clang inspired photo.

via the new york times 

2 Reasons Why Jamie Hayon & WTHR Have Focused On Old School Simplicity

Jamie Hayon's Orolog Watch | WTHR app

 

 

 

One is a luxury wrist watch and the other is a weather app worth 99 cents on itunes.  The common feature is both designers have focused capturing clean and simple design by exploring the combination of classical elements and modern details to create a contemporary classic design. Austerity seems to be still puffing it's chest in what we want from design. They both seem to be unashamedly influenced by Dieter Rams one of the worlds greatest design icons.

The Diamond Jubilee Color Guide, A Queen Elizabeth II Pantone Deck

This Queen Eizabeath II Pantone ice-cream colour fan deck came through my Facebook feed today and I knew you SnOOpers would love it.

Pantone, the global authority on color and provider of professional colour standards for the design industries, and leading advertising agency Leo Burnett, have teamed up to launch a limited edition color guide to mark the Queen’s fashion color statements.  So limited, that as far as I can tell, the only person to receive the fandeck is HRM!

Pantone and Leo Burnett, London.

The Diamond Jubilee Color Guide, A Queen Elizabeth II Pantone Deck,  includes consists of 60 colors that include Crystal Blue, Pink Carnation, Primrose Yellow and Ice Green.

British Vogue

HRM knows a lot about color and how to wear it.

Blue is her best (and apparently favorite) color.

She favors monochromatic colors. They  make a person look taller (she is only 5'4").

She knows so much about color that British Vogue has studied every outfit she has worn for the past 12 months. Blue is the most frequent color worn and beige is at the bottom of the list. Perhaps we will see her bring out her own paint range next? I would love to see what the names of HRM paints would be called...

I Love a Brand in Uniform

Palmer & Co, Sydney Australia via Time Out

I have been really lucky lately to work with some of Australia's biggest brands to help engage customers back into store and fall in love with product found in store.  Hopefully I can share some of this in more detail with you later in the year.

What I can share with you is success for retail is investment in fantastic staff. Friendly, informative and knowledgeable staff is no secret in what helps to create a great shopping experience. For me it goes even further. Uniforming staff is a fantastic way to make a young company feel established and have a sense of heritage. The hospitality trade is catching onto this including Soho House Group, W Hotels, Mayfair Hotel, Ketttners, Zizi Group insuring their staff represent the brand. White top, black bottoms isn't enough to make it in this cut-throat world. I believe hand on heart retail needs to follow this example. Its about the details that stands an ordinary retail experience to one you want to go back and back again for. Here are some great examples how to do it:

Zizzi Group Uniforms designed by Uniform Studio

Zizzi Group Uniforms designed by Uniform Studio

W Hotel Uniforms designed by Uniform Studio

 Leather apron by Moore & Giles

The End for Print Magazines and Newspapers?

Via Paperonlie

We have exciting times ahead and those who jump on will succeed but those who refuse will be left behind. Just how the talkies came to film - online has come to publishing. We all know what happened to the actors and movie folk who didn't want to speak.

We are sentimental creatures and we do hate change. However we always feel better when we have a new haircut, buy a new outfit - or both. Could you imagine wearing the same hairstyle and outfit you wore, 10, 20, or 100 years ago. Most of us wouldn't. 

By Jo Meesters

Why do we expect businesses not to evolve and make changes for the future? To be honest it still baffles me why so many non-online retailers and publishers are resisting. It was announced last week in Australia Fairfax Media and News Limited two mega media publishers, would restructure and downsize their print newsrooms and invest online. Fairfax have stated they will switch The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age from broadsheet to tabloid format and introduce subscription fees for its digital readers. It has created an outcry on what the future of publishing will be. It has been put on the record a lot of journalist and printers jobs will be lost. I feel really sorry for those who will lose their jobs but this is what happens when evolution and revolution happens.

Let's face it those massive papers are a pain in the ass to read. Try reading it on a commute to work. My fellow passenger is never understanding when I display page 2 in front of his sophisticated, modern iPad. The fear is we will lose quality journalism. I disagree. No way will we not know what is going on in the world. We will always have great journalists who will uncover need-to-know-stories. I would encourage the journalists who lose their jobs to unite together and become their own online publisher. It is possible to become very profitable online. The more experienced those involved the quicker for success is likely. Huffington Post sound familiar?

Photo: Chill Hiro

 Brands have realised courting bloggers is a hell of a lot cheaper than advertising in traditional media. Usually all it takes is a gift, an invite to a runway show and for some a small amount of cash. I've been told social media is more valuable to a brand than advertising in a glossy magazine. Have you noticed the race for brand engagement with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest? It's now clear that its not only the numbers you have following you but the engagement in conversation you are getting from your followers. How many likes and shares are you getting? This is where the power is.

by Henny van Nistelrooy and Oscar Diaz via Dezeen

I really do believe once the big guys including Fairfax and News Limited puts their attention and investment online we will come and so will advertisers. Press gifts from a brand will not cut it when it comes to a company like Fairfax. Brands will have to pay. There will always be people who want quality journalism and photography. The current model for online is brands pay publishers for clicks. Every time we click on a brands advertisement the publisher gets paid. DINOSAUR. The only way for publishing to survive is working within the print model. X amount of readers = X amount of money.

Money Bowls by Arthur Analts and Rudolph Strelis via Flodeau

My belief from working on some high-profile online projects is banners and forced pop-up advertising doesn't work. An online reader will ignore or click it off straight away. It is fundamental for the future for brands and publishers to collaborate on advertising so it is more like an advertorial so we the reader can interact. The power remember is for readers to engage and share so they Facebook, Tweet, Instagram and Pin.  Brands need to work harder to make sure their online advertising is capturing the reader.  Fashion label Burberry have been a leading light in connecting online with consumers including their "Shop While You Watch" campaign.

Burberry - Shop While You Watch campaign

As technology continues to develop most bloggers will not be able to keep up. Of course there will be star bloggers but we will see the rise of professional media online. FINALLY editors will now focus their skills, creativity to online rather than have two separate divisions. I have never understood this. I always believed the online editor is the one with the real power.

Gen Y don't think twice in clicking $1 to access a cool app or whatever their online desires are. I was developing an online magazine earlier this year but sadly a couple of weeks before launch the team fell apart so we didn't launch. The content was the best I have seen because it was produced by the industries best and the technology was insane so it took reading online to a whole other level. One day soon I hope to show you. My point is yes up to this point we have had free media but magazines including Monocle prove it is possible to succeed with subscribers paying online and our Gen Y will pay for the content they want. Instead of bad and lazy journalism I believe for newspapers and magazines to survive they are going to have to offer the best in journalism, videography and photography.

Have you seen this video of a baby who thinks a magazine is a broken iPad. It speaks volumes in what the future holds. This video caused a lot of angry comments on YouTube. I will leave it up to you to decide.



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