MIUZU

It’s not what it seems.  I see stories all the time that inspire me to post an entry here. Despite my blog silence here for months, I am constantly moved by things that remind me  that we’re in a world in flux, and that great things are happening.

So…

Have you heard about the homeless man in Beijing who has been seized by popular culture there as a fashion icon?  If you haven’t, then read it here.

Brother Sharp in Beijing

I think the Independent article does a very good job of describing the unlikely fever behind a random photo taken of a vagrant on the street of Beijing.  Basically, this fellow has been recast without the effort of any brand or ad agency. And although he may know about it by now, he wouldn’t have at the inception of this meme.

You gotta admit it – for someone who lives on the street, the guy looks pretty good.  But I extract another message from this phenomenon…

As social media plays an ever-increasing role in determining what we pay attention to, big media and well-financed agencies are steadily being forced aside as arbiters in our consumption of images and ideas.

I’m not one of those that presume “Madison Avenue” is inherently evil.  But I do believe that it is often commissioned by corrupt companies or political groups with innoble intent.  In some cases, consumers have paid a hefty toll – not just in buying poorly-designed or useless goods, but also in believing things that are intrinsically harmful.

In the case of Brother Sharp here, the outcome is innocuous enough.  It may even be beneficial: people are driven to think about the plight of the homeless more than they would normally.  I tend to think that there is more behind it than on top of it:  Power to the People!

Let’s hope the trend continues.

I don’t do a lot of free-association surfing.  But today I followed a link posted by one of my followees on Twitter.  What I landed on was breathtaking.

Today, I saw the future of film (or least what I long for it to be) – where a small creative time with a fantastic story can make something EPIC with a couple of cheap cameras.

Check this out:

If this production doesn’t affect you, check your pulse, ’cause you’re probably dead.

I think the video largely speaks for itself (in few words), but I have to add one thing: Sexy is about so much more than the pursuit of coitus. It’s about mystery, risk, and effort.

Dave

We have a proposition for you.

We at MIUZU are all about envisioning an experience.  To that end, we are building a collection of contemporary objects that help make an experience richer.

And…

We want to have those products visualized within stunning environments so that users can see the products in full bloom.

This has traditionally been the purview of staging designers.  This requires the use of an existing space, the acquisition of all the pieces involved, and a laborious effort in decorating that space with said furniture plus all the accessories necessary to dress it up.  And then there’s lighting….

But it’s a new world!  DIGITAL frees the imagination from many burdens.

YOUR DESIGNS:

• show  a sensual space, befitting memorable erotic moments
• show off your imagination
• express a modern aesthetic
• incorporate at least one piece from the collection featured on our site (more the better!)

• explore the boundaries of fantasy, or
• stick to a very “buildable” space and decoration

YOUR IMAGES:

• edit in high rez (we may need high rez later)
• production images should be 465 pixels x 250 pixels to suit our site layout.

PROCESS:

• we will review your images as quickly as we can get to them
• we will give you feedback where appropriate
• if we choose to use it, we will embed your image in a Flash widget that will both enable click through from the image of a catalog product through to the corresponding detail page AND enable user clickthrough tracking so the buy can be traced to your image.
• we will post the Flash widget on our site
• if your image is the LAST image visit prior to a user’s purchase, you will get credit for helping initiate the sale
• that credit will come in the way of a 5% of product sale payout (not on the total sale, but on the individual piece clicked on)

NOTES:

This process is in its infancy. It’s therefore inefficient and klunky.  It’ll take some time to smooth it out.  If the program really works well for all of stakeholders, then we’ll automate it so that you can do it easily yourself.  Until then, please be patient as we work through it.

Remember that the person viewing your design needs to believe what they’re looking it.  That does not mean that it needs to be a real-world space.  But the geometry needs to work.

Avoid just trying to jam products into a view in order to give them exposure and try to sell them.  Be clear on the emotional effect you’re looking to create.  If you do something exciting, unusual, sexy, erotic, or just simply beautiful, the image has a better chance of having a desirable long term commercial effect.  Go for that “wow” response.

If you want to capture a moment of fantasy, do it WITHOUT exploiting nude bodies.  At this fragile early stage, we want to be known for creative innovation and the erotic appeal of abstract form.

Make it yours!  What would turn YOU on?  Be bold and creative.  Have fun!

Here are a couple of samples of work from European designer Marlena Witek:

Dave

ps. I just HAD to post this.  Marlena took a little extra time to spice things up (with humour):

I make it a regular practice to scan the latest design magazines.  One of my faves is Wallpaper. I was overjoyed to see the July issue – the front cover of which promised a smorgasbord of tantalizing visuals and compelling content – where sex meets design.

Finding this incredible work in such a mainstream magazine is incredibly inspiring.  The things that Saville and his project partner Nick Knight say about this concept perfectly capture an important precept behind MIUZU. In Nick Knight’s words:

“You’re not just producing objects to be a part of your sex life, you’re actually sexualizing the whole of your environment.”

Some of the furnishings portrayed are quite scandalous.  I’ve held for a long time that fetish is too marginal and intimidating (dare I say unappetizing?) for most people.  That said, in the context of impeccably good taste, it can take on a very different erotic flavour.  Needless to say, I welcome feedback from anyone who cares to comment!

Please do follow the link to SHOWstudio.  The content there is delicious, intelligent, and plentiful.  While you’re at it, look around youtube for Peter Saville interviews.  The guy is a genius, and is notable for some monumental work in graphic design for pop music.  It’s fair to say that most designers worth their weight have been influenced by him.

Bonus points to anyone who knows him and adds some thoughts at the end of this post.  I’ll end it for now, but will most likely come back later to augment this entry.

This post may seem slightly orthogonal to our theme, but it’s not. Sometimes lessons in business come from the most unexpected places.

Here is one such place:

You may wince,

you may laugh,

you may cry,

But you will react.

Weddings can be mundane, and they can sure be stuffy.  Can you imagine anything less appealing than tuning in to a stranger’s wedding video on youtube?

Yet, I watched the whole thing, and loved it.

It’s not the setting.  It’s not the people, given I don’t know them.  It’s sure not the dance technique.

It’s the fact that these people had the courage to abandon tradition, and even risk sacrilege, to make the experience memorable.  What’s more, if you look at the comment stream, you can see that some people are even offended at the idea of it. Hurray!

Rhetorical Question: how often do we blindly grasp tradition and follow the “expected path?” And what might be possible if we didn’t?