House of bubbles

I love fashion. There’s nothing wrong with that, the only thing is, fashion changes in quite a rapid pace. Some items can last for a few years, mostly basics, but when I buy an item with an outstanding colour or design, after a few months I get tired of it and I won’t wear It any more (unless I’m in a specific mood). A waste of money and the environment. House of bubbles takes a different approach on this matter.

House of bubbles is a shop in brazil that’s part of a group of four collaborative houses that all have the same philosophy: promoting community exchange and creative expression. A well-known statement of todays society is “sharing is caring”. This Principle is now also beginning to integrate in the fashion scene.

House of bubbles is a shop where fashionistas can, with a monthly subscription, borrow pieces from famous designers as well as from specially curated brands. This is a perfect alternative for wearing designers clothes and accessories when you have a small budget and when you want to help out the environment a bit.

Customers are able to rent a maximum of 6 pieces for 10 days. After this period they can bring them back to the shop so other people can rent them (or you’ll borrow them for another 6 days if you can not say goodbye to them). And what is also really cool is that the shop has a Laundromat so you can wash them in-store before returning!

These types of concepts are becoming very popular. You can even rent a different car for each week, depending on the type of activities you are planning to do that week (called Clutch). For me that’s a little bit to extreme (and expensive), but it surely is a signal of changing needs.

It is al about community building and social connection. It might be a backlash on individualism, because whenever there’s a trend, there’s a contra trend. Maybe we miss the community feeling, the feeling of belonging to a group. Maybe we are a little bit sick of the individual life where we put the focus on ourselves. Maybe we want to put more meaning in our day to day life and the little things. I like that way of thinking.

Bron: http://www.wgsn.com/blogs/house-of-bubbles-the-new-wardrobe-sharing-concept-shop-in-brazil/

Droponic

In one of my posts earlier I mentioned that I moved to Antwerp for an internship. I already used to help out around the house when I was living with my parents so the household wasn’t such an issue. But I do have trouble with keeping things alive in my new house, especially regarding plants… The 3^rd week I already gave up keeping flowers. But what is really hard is having fresh herbs in your kitchen and keeping them alive. I love the look and taste of fresh herbs but they obviously need care. I’m always in a hurry and regularly forget to give them water, and they need that, a lot! So, when I saw this article a few days ago I was very exited about this cool concept.

Droponic is a garden system that uses hydroponic technology. It is like a cup without soil (so you won’t make a mess in your kitchen), the plant roots are suspended in water which, through a device in the cup, contains nutrients that the plant needs.

But that’s not all, this jar is smart. With an app linked to your Droponic, you can monitor the growth of your plant. This app will also tell you when it’s time to give the plant water and nutrients (very helpful) and tells you if the plant is getting enough sunlight.

 

This is part of a phenomenon called ‘the internet of things’. We are beginning to manage the daily stuff with technology to make everything easier, faster, clearer and to become more conscious of things. The internet of things is already integrated in every sector, we now have the ability to monitor and manage our health, our home devices and now our plants, but still there’s many more.

This is also a good example of urban farming, people like me without a garden can now also feel like a chef working, with our self-planted, fresh herbs. It also saves water up to 70% so it is very sustainable.

I looked on the website of Droponic and i saw that they have 10 herbs, for each herb they have described what health benefits the herb supports. I think that is really cool. We want to know what food does to our body and how to take best care of it, fit and healthy are the new ‘standard’.

 

Bronnen: https://www.droponic.com/ http://www.psfk.com/2015/11/kitchen-garden-hydroponic-technology-droponic.html

SamplingLab

Free stuff, Dutch people love it.., they say. Well if that is true we all have to move to Portland right now!

A new store called ‘SamplingLab’ appears to know exactly what todays consumer wants, needs and expects from retailers.

SamplingLab is a store where customers can buy a product and pay with there opinion. They have to register on a platform and then, once a day, they can stop by the shop to test samples of food, beverages but also wellness and living products, at the end they have to give their honest opinion on the online platform as pay method, voila. SamplingLab redefines the shopper’s experience in a way that is favourable for both parties.

Consumers are increasingly disappointed by companies and their products. The last few months has been full of disappointments about processed meat, raw meat, horse meat etc. We want honesty and transparency.We want to know exactly what we are consuming and what not. People now have a voice about what’s produced. Our opinions matter now. We used to live is a world where we only had what fabricants chose to produce, but now we are the ones who demand the market. Co-creation is more popular then ever before. By giving customers the opportunity to co-create, consumers will bond with the brand and will create high brand loyalty. SamplingLab will constantly improve their products based on the needs and opinions of the consumers. This way their products will fulfil the needs of the customer.

This concept is a mix of transparency and the experience economy. But also there is a little bit of individualism integrated is this concept. People nowadays’s don’t want to be seen as part of the mass. They want to be seen as a individual with an own opinion on things not the opinion of the great mass. And the ideal way to create your own opinion on things is to experience them, SamplingLab gives them that opportunity.

 

Eatsa

 

Sustainability, technologization, digitalisation and individualisation, these are long term trends which have been around for quite some time now, but they are still developing at a rapid pace. We also see more people trying to live healthier and take better care of themselves. We nowadays live in a fast world where everybody is constantly rushing. A new concept called ‘Eatsa’ has made ​​clever use of all the developments mentioned above.

 

Eatsa is a restaurant that has been launched last month in San Francisco. This restaurant has no busboys, cashiers or waiters. You have to order on one of the I Pads. The meals which you can choose of are all based on quinoa, you can ‘cutomize’ your meal to your own taste and preferences. Once you meal is ready, which will take 8 minutes, you van take your meal out of one of the cubbies on the other side. Because Eatsa doesn’t serve meat it’s way more eco friendly. Also the customer doesn’t has to pay so much because there are no waiters and busboys.

 

Only 7 people work at Eatsa, they work behind the wall with the cubbies. Once your meal is ready, they place your bowl with Quinoa in one of the cubbies, these cubbies are made of LCD screen. If your name pops up on one of the cubbies you are ready to eat. There are no lines, it’s cheap, healthy and very cool!

Bron: https://www.eatsa.com/

Do Eat

 

Sometimes, when I’m walking in the city I look around and wonder…, why do people throw all their garbage out on the streets? and I’m like..there’s a trashcan just 2 meters away. Especially during festivals it’s even worse, an event produces an average of 62 tons of waste! Most of it are drink and food packages. I know that already there are a lot of initiatives to make and keep the world a clean and healthy place. All these initiatives to make the world a better place, are part of the trend named sustainability. We see a huge increase is these initiatives because we are all aware of the damage. But however, avoidance is still better than solve right ? ‘Do Eat’ tries to avoid pollution.

Do Eat is a new concept launched on Kick Starter. It fabricates Paper from a mix of potato starch and water. This paper can be formed into , for example, edible plates. But also it can make your birth day a lot more eco friendly by using edible Birthday plates , garlands , candy bag and accessories. If you don’t feel like it can be composted, since it is naturally biodegradable. A little rain is enough to make it vanish. And the best of all, no more waste and no more dishes! If this concept will be used all over the world, we won’t be having massive pollution anymore and the world will be much eco friendlier because we won’t be needing plastic and paper as much as we do now.

These kinds of concepts definitely have future growth potential. We have to avoid pollution instead of solving it. The amount of plastic in the world is only getting bigger and bigger. In the north of the Pacific Ocean there even has arise an island made out of plastic. Here, all the garbage had gathered togheter and created a big floating plastic area in the ocean. That’s why these concepts are needed so bad. Click the link below and look at kickstarter to see the whole project.

 

Bron: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1853848332/do-eat-and-you-can-eat-it-too?ref=nav_search

 

 

PRINT ALL OVER ME

 

I think many of us went trough that fase in life when you wanted to change your whole style of clothing. That moment when you wanted your own style. In the beginning you want to stand out, but not to much, you want to be unique, but not weird. In this fase we are looking for ourselves and who we want to be. Well, if I knew about ‘print all over me’ when I went through this fase it would be a lot easier.

‘Print all over me’ is a digital community who’s in the business of creating clothing and objects. But there is something special to it. On the website you can find different designs of, for example, a t-shirt. The prints on these designs are consistently moving, the consumer can click on the designs and the prints will stop moving and you can immediately let that design print on your t-shirt. So, everyone has a unique design but still in a familiar pattern.

But of course, I don’t think its only for people who are in ‘the fase’. It is I also something that marks this time, the way we think and the way we live. We live in a time where individualism is high. We want to be seen as unique persons with unique qualities and personalities, and that also includes clothing. We want design, but our own customized design.

Oh, and I forgot to mention it is also for a good cause. Print all over me uses a nonprofit program dedicated to offering software literacy to artists and visual literacy to techies. Consumers get a sample of the software the artists are working with and which the foundation will ultimately provide to other participants. So artist can be creative for free!

Bron: http://www.psfk.com/2015/11/algorithmic-clothing-print-all-over-me-processing-foundation.html#expand\