We thought we’d take the best of what we have shared over the past two weeks and throw it all together in one post every other Friday for you to, er, ‘reflect’ upon. Or procrastinate. It all comes down to where you work, which way your computer faces, and what bit you’re reading/watching when the boss walks in. Some is nonsense, some is genuinely interesting.

So what has caught our eye this past fortnight? From IKEA to the Copenhagen Philharmonic, we’ve got it all!

First up are Penguin Book’s redesigned classics. Six titles with their covers redesigned by tattoo artists. Beautiful.

IKEA Australia go all Braveheart on us – successfully if you ask us. We wish we could have been there taking part.

The INDEX (what’s with all the capitals!) Awards are coming along soon, so don’t forget to get your vote in for the People’s Choice Award. “The 60 finalists for INDEX: Award 2011 have been carefully selected by the international INDEX: Jury as the best of the best Design to Improve Life. As a whole, the finalist group offers unique proof of the wide reach and huge potential of Design to Improve Life in terms of challenges addressed, solutions created and people affected.”

Ben Stiller, whose foundation, The Stiller Foundation, raises money to help build schools in poverty stricken areas, takes a new approach to getting people to the site. If you liked Zoolander and Envy as much as we did, you’ll like this.

From Danish bank, Jyske Bank, comes The Woodward Report. Dedicated to hunting down knowledge and cool stuff, this great 16 minute report focuses about the mobile industry, smartphones, the battle of Android and Apple, and where it’s all heading.

Another tip we shared this fortnight (OK, the only tip we shared) was for Prey. A free, open-source programme to install on your phone or laptop that tracks it wherever it is. We’ve heard a number of occassions where owners have been able to find their stolen goods through this programme, from phones stolen in bars, to computers stolen in burglaries. It’s free. Just, as they say, do it!

This brilliant article from 2010 discusses skeuomorphic design – things like the shutter sound on our mobile phones, or brass rivets on jeans covering the steel ones beneath – basically anything that retains design from the original that were once necessary or an unavoidable result of mechanisms etc.

One the best 404 pages we’ve seen in a long time came to our attention over the past few days. Danish agency Wasabi made theirs into a bit of an Easter Egg. Space Invaders FTW! Coded by Sune Lundby.

To round things off on a more mature note, here’s a flashmob from Copenhagen Central Station that really gets us going.

If you like what you see, let us know, and maybe we’ll do another one in another fortnight!

Summer is coming to an end (at least it looks like it in Denmark!) and the Danish offices are back from their two week holiday, ready to jump back into projects, old and new, with vigour and general enthusiasm. We’re also opening our arms to meet and greet some new faces both in Denmark and Munich. Here they are.

Jesper Jønsson joins Copenhagen as a Research and Strategy Intern. He’s currently studying Industrial Design at Aalborg University and will be taking his internship in Copenhagen as part of his 9th semester. He’s being working at the university, helping with graphic design, and designing and hosting workshops. Last year, he took a breather from the student life and completed an internship at Hatch & Bloom. He has come to Designit as he’s ready for a challenge, and knows that we’ll push his skills to the limit. He is an active kinda guy, and likes, er, underwater rugby (I think we’ll have to ask him about that), and free dive hunting (and that).

In Aarhus, Kasper Laigaard joins the ranks as a Graphic Design Intern. Kasper not only bears a resemblance to a certain Twitter celebrity (at least, this writer thinks so), but he is also a big geek when it comes to his work. His work is his hobby, and loves to bring innovation and some dark humour to the table. Since 2009 he has been working as a Graphic Design Intern at JaHallo, working on various on-and-offline creative solutions such as web design, app design, graphic design, concept development and user experience.

And so to Munich, where Annette Roy joins us as the new Industrial Designer!

Annette holds a degree in Industrial Design from the University of Applied Sciences in Coburg, Germany. She’s been working from the Grohe AG In-House Design Team in Dusseldorf as Senior Designer, and is mostly into contemporary product design, and graphic and interior design. She has moved to Designit as she felt it was time to try a design consultancy rather than an in-house design team. She’s ready for variety of clients and challenges, as part of a multidisciplinary team with international clients. She’s motivated, passionate, and kicks back by riding the waves (that’s surfing, dude).

Back to Copenhagen to welcome our much needed new Office Assistant, Oda-Kange.

Oda is taking a break between high school and going on to study Anthropology, and has come to Designit to keep things/us under control. She’s a passionate and positive person, and channels this energy in to dancing (since she was 8. I won’t be standing next to her on the dancefloor…), and also by being the Chair of Plan Denmark’s youth board where she works with projects concerned with youth in developing countries, and gives lectures in Danish schools. Kudos, Oda!

We’re looking forward to getting to know them better!

Yes! Our latest briefing arrived in many, many boxes yesterday, and it’s beautiful! Not only does it look beautiful, it is also full of great articles discussing tablet apps, how the fill the void between phones and laptops, and also takes a good look at the value they create. It also feels lovely and smooth.

Here’s a peek under the cover.

If you’d like a copy, just send your email or home/office address to socialmedia@designit.com and we’ll send one out to you asap!

It seems like we’re posting something about new people every week, but that’s probably because we practically are. It’s brilliant to keep welcoming new faces in to the fold, and watching their talent add to the creative zoo. It keeps us on our toes, and of course, gives us even more to offer clients. Welcome to the following…

Anja Hansen joins Designit Eyewear in Aarhus as part of the sales team. For the past five years Anja has been in charge of her own company which designed and manufactured graphic textiles for children around the world. She has spent nine years in New York City, working for the UN and for The Danish Ministry of Culture, promoting Danish culture in New York. Anja is a people person, and brings determination, motivation and vision to Designit Eyewear.

Over in Copenhagen, we open our arms to Jimmy Ege Pedersen, the new Design Researcher. Jimmy’s background is in anthropology from The University of Copenhagen, with options studies in philosophy and rhetorics. He has always wanted to work with corporate anthropology, and found the chance with yours truly (we’re very happy about that). Jimmy previously worked at Red Associates, Stagis & Copenhagen Living Lab, and G10 – Centre for User-Driven Innovation for Southern Denmark. Needless to say, he’s an extremely talented researcher, with valuable experience in user insights, social science theory, and field data. He’s also a music geek and a lover of a good glass of wine. He’ll fit right in.

Back in Aarhus, we say hello to Kristina Kristiansen, as our new Accounting Trainee. Kristina will be finishing at The Aarhus School of Business this summer, and will then start as an economics trainee at Designit. She is a handball freak, but when she’s not smacking a ball around she’ll be spending time with family and friends. Kristina brings enthusiasm, curiosity, and a big helping of team spirit.

You might have seen this video recently:

It’s a great little collection of ways by which you can keep the juices flowing, and to stop your mind getting stuck in the quicksand of lethargy and monotony.

Creativity and innovation are hot topics right now. As a creative and innovative company, we have quite a lot of good stuff floating about the place, from room to room, and from inside to hanging outside with a cup of coffee. It’s not something you can keep inside, certainly not when it comes to the kind of people creative and innovative companies tend to hire.

In Frog Design’s article ‘Finding Creative People is Easy (and Here’s How)‘, Kate Canales talks about how creative people are not as hard to come by as we might think. She defines a creative person as one who “has the ability to identify and deeply understand a problem, and then solve that problem by breaking the conventions of the status quo.” She goes on to discuss how creativity can be encouraged in employees, and how you can bring out the creative in many different kinds of people. While this is something I believe it – we all have imaginations, and we should all use them – I think I’d like to add that creative people and places should not be afraid to fail. We (and many others) believe failure is a big part of creativity, and it certainly shouldn’t be frowned upon. Perhaps this is what defines a different type of people?

Failure is always an option. If you don’t succeed, try, try and try again – it’s something we’re told from our earliest days, but as the years go by, we are taught to be cautious, and to think before we act. We like to think that risk goes a long way. If it doesn’t work – start again. No failure is wasted.

So how do we keep these devil-may-care creative people under control in our zoo? As David Kelley so rightly states, “Leadership is […] building empathy for the people that you’re entrusted to help.” You want things done? Find out what will make those people happy, and let them do it. Between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, intrinsic will come out trumps almost every time.

Our hiring process at Designit is, as we like to say, chemistry, chemistry, and then competences. Sure it matters that you have skills, or came top in your class, but we’d much rather hire someone we like, and someone who will add to the team, and definitely like us.

Once we’ve found that certain someone, we like to let them do their things, their way. Some people like late mornings, others early, and our hours reflect that. Work when you want. If you’re tired during the day, much rather you take a nap and work with a fresh mind than produce sloppy work. Needless to say, clients come first, and we’ll always be there if they call or need us. We’re not that lazy.

Our sofa-bed downstairs (please note the Post-its for those great ideas you get first thing in the morning!)

You could think of it as a bit like Google’s 80/20 rule, in that as long as you put in the hours and get the job done, how you do it is really up to you. Everyone works in different ways, whether you like a straight-up 9 to 5, or whether you like to doodle and stare out the window from 7 to 3, it’s up to you. We want our zoo to be happy, to work hard, and to be proud.

More friendly faces have joined our ever increasing ranks recently. In Copenhagen, we’ve welcomed Christina Hauge Lauritsen, as a Brand Design Intern. Christina is studying a BA in Brand Design at The Copenhagen School of Design & Technology.
Previous to this, she studied E-Design with a focus on graphic design and business approach. She’s a creative soul, who values her family and when it all gets too much, she can be found out pounding the tarmac. That’s running, not with her fists.

Also in Copenhagen, we’re finally getting our own IT guy! He’s a gift from above, as poor Morten in Aarhus can finally stop running back and forth between the two cities, and rest in peace, knowing that we won’t be calling him at all hours asking what are probably pretty silly questions. Instead, we can call Daniel!

Daniel Michalik, our new IT Support dude, studied English Linguistics at Aalborg University, and took a 6 month business school course. Although starting out as a shipping trainee, his natural ability for IT skills began to shine through, and he was soon offered a full-time job in the IT Department. When he’s not working his magic with computers, he can be found out kitesurfing or speed skating.

No doubt more will follow :)

On the weekend of the 28th May, Designits gathered from around the world for some serious celebrating. Not only was Designit celebrating everyone’s birthdays (at Designit we don’t celebrate birthdays individually – barring sweeties and general well wishes – which means about 180 birthdays to celebrate each year), but we were also celebrating our 20th anniversary. Needless to say, that’s a lot of celebrating to be done.

So we did it in style. If it’s one thing Designit does well, it’s celebrating.

Everyone was invited, and many came. Aarhus was the location – it is after-all the birthplace. It all began on the Friday night.

A ‘quiet’ BBQ, a few drinks – nothing too much – you know, just the kind of thing that means a pile of ice stuffed with beer and bed at 6am….

Saturday started late, but was a day dedicated to our Red Cross workshop – a great opportunity for the whole of Designit to dedicate themselves to one task – on this occasion, Red Cross. Check out the post about the workshop. It’s a yearly event, and produces fantastic work.

After all that hard work, it was time to really start the celebrations. After some drinks at the office, we went out for some amazing food, and then the music started. We were incredibly lucky to have Le Gammeltoft and Mads Laumann, two very cool Danish DJs, who play very, very good music. There was dancing, oh Lord, was there dancing.

The only thing more of than dancing, were sore heads the next day. It was a sorry group of Designits that made their way back to their hometowns later that Sunday. A sorry group, but a celebrated group. A reminder than if you work hard, you really have to play hard.

For more pictures, check out Facebook or Flickr :)

Over the weekend, Designit celebrated. A lot. Not only did we celebrate our birthdays (all 180+!) but we also celebrated Designit’s 20th anniversary! But it wasn’t all partying. We spent all Saturday in a massive workshop which centered around the Danish Red Cross (Danish link).

We’ve recently become partners with the Danish Red Cross, a partnership we’re proud of, and we’re sure will produce some great work. We’ve donated a total of 5000 working hours to be used over the next 3 years on projects.

We’ve already held one workshop with them which took place around Christmas 2009 and as a result of that, we found our first project goal; to double last year’s result of money collected. Challenges have been identified, and ideas brainstormed, and the project is now taking shape.

This type of cooperation is new to us at Designit, and it’s proving to be an exciting opportunity to use our entire creative palette and crisscross all of our different competencies, in new and inspiring combinations. By increasing the focus on companies’ social awareness and responsibility we hope the initiative will spread.

There’s a lot of talk at the moment in the design community about whether or not design can change the world. We think it can. Sure, it might not do it directly, but it can certainly help. From simple tools to healthcare, from instructional guides to education, design can play a part in making life better for people around the world.

Below you can see some photos from our workshop. With a seriously good chunk of Designit working away all day on it, you can be sure we came up with some great ideas and proposals on how we can help the Red Cross achieve their target.

This was going to be a tweet, but let’s face it – 140 characters is never enough. Well, quite often, but not in this case anyway.

Over the 1st and 2nd of June, ExpoManagement 2011 is being held in Madrid. It’s the ninth of such meetings, and is designed especially for leaders who anticipate change. It’s a collective meeting of minds, where experts debate ideas and trends, and where those leaders who dare to act, and who are capable of generating new opportunities for driving change, meet to push these changes that can have profound effect on the future. You can check out the programme to the ExpoManagement 2011, although it’s only available in Spanish.

Designit is excited to have two guys heading to Madrid in June, Mikal Hallstrup, and Humberto Matas. The conference is divided into themes, and both our guys will be speaking on June 1st, under Marketing and Innovation. While Mikal focuses on inspiration for businesses, and design experiences, Humberto will concentrate on innovation and people, innovative educational experiences.

Ultimately, both are focusing on the importance of the user; user-centric design for services and experiences that can improve life, and society. Design is not just about a great product, or smart catalogue. More and more we’re seeing design popping up in everyday situations, examining how design can help us make the world a better place.

If you’re in Madrid, and like design, you should definitely check it out!

Yeah, there was no way that was going to be a tweet!

On Tuesday (10/05/11) we went along to Community Conference 2011 here in Copenhagen. Arranged by Seismonaut and Update, the day focused on the business value of social media and communities for both established brands and organisations, as well as emerging companies. We were lucky enough to hear from (deep breath); David Armano from Edelman, Bill Johnston from Dell, Astrid Haug from Berlingske, Max Schorr, from GOOD Magazine; Lars Damgaard Nielsen, from DR; Christian H. Kamhaug from SAS,Oliver Majumdar from Lufthansa, Benjamin Elberthfrom The Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterne), Susanna Rankenberg from DR, Mette Lykke from Endomondo, Rolf Ask Clausenfrom Ingeniøren, and Filip Rasmussen from Gyldendals. Every talk was inspiring and involving, and with an audience keen to be involved, the core conversations were highly interactive.

Mogens Dahl Concert Hall was the location, well-chosen for it’s wonderful acoustics. It also boasts a large courtyard, perfect for the glorious weather we were lucky enough to have. The mix of location, weather, audience and speakers meant that the day was a total success – we really hope they hold another conference in 2012.

The highlights for me were the keynote speakers, David Armano, Bill Johnston, and Max Schorr. They were passionate and clearly dedicated, and you couldn’t help but get caught up in their wake. They hammered home the point of community, and just how important it is in the digital age – which, in case you hadn’t realised – is now.

I won’t go into detail about the keynotes, as their presentations are available (below), suffice to say the importance of online communities has been realised (in the US), and the shift is moving from ‘should we have a community?’ to ‘how can we make this community even better?’ Reputation and trust are becoming measurable and are therefore becoming major factors that influence consumer decision making processes; companies must become more human, and therefore more social. Bring your customers in, take care of them, and they can make your company, your products and your brands better.

Check out David Armano’s presentation, Bill Johnston’s, and Max Schorr’s. You can also do a search on Twitter using #ccdk – hundreds of great tweets in both English and Danish.

Try to make the next one – it is most definitely worth it!