When a problem becomes the solution

This is just amazing - now here are two inspiring young ladies, they are engineering graduates from the Islamic University of Gaza and they have defied all stereotypes with their design of an affordable new building block made from the rubble of war, and they're about to scale operations for mass production. Subverting a crippling Israeli blockade that makes importing construction materials a demeaning, expensive, and time-consuming process, Majd Mashharawi and Rawan Abddllaht overcame a litany of obstacles to develop their green bricks. Their goal is to help Gaza residents rebuild their homes after three wars in 10 years have left thousands of buildings in ruins. Brilliant beating men at their own game.

Fashion Tech Innovation

BOLT from Thomas Kool Creations on Vimeo.

Bolt is a jacket that lets people carry and charge their various electronics without the need for an outlet Thanks to Amsterdam-based designer Thomas Kool, the Bolt collection merges fashion and function by providing a stylish parka that lets users charge their devices inside the pockets. Apart from the skinny jeans I think this Parka is very Kool

This 360-treadmill is the future of virtual reality gaming

Love this - if it means getting the kids of the couch when it comes to gaming this has now gone to the next level.VUE VR Treadmill is a first-of-its-kind active virtual reality motion platform in which your actions in the virtual world are controlled by first-person navigation like walking ,running, creating an unprecedented sense of immersion that cannot be experienced with sitting down. VUE VR Treadmill lets you walk, run, sit and crouch with 360-degree freedom of movement allowing you to control your avatar without restraints.

Customers With Even More Power

Interesting to see how yet again more evidence that the customer is taking ownership and more control from brands, I love this idea as you can see where the clothes and products you are buying are sound ethically, this is something I have always struggled with when shopping offline or online - in do we really know how a product has been manufactured? Well now you can thanks to co founders of DoneGood Cullen Schwarz and Scott Jacobson who developed this chrome extension

As you browse, DoneGood will tell you that there's a better option that fits your buying criteria, like a union factory or a woman-owned company. A Google search for "men's dress shirts" yields a list of ads and results from the most expected brands. But if you install a new Chrome extension called DoneGood, you'll also get a lesser-known suggestion: 'Tuckerman, a startup that makes organic cotton shirts in a union factory in Massachusetts'. This approach really benefits the SME businesses who are making products of high quality and managed correctly in treating their staff etc. In this instance the company DoneGood, very clever and something that is really useful for shoppers, I love the fact that the internet gives the power to the customer and can dictate where they spend their money, brands who think they can hide with sub standard working practises will eventually get found out.

Lights, Action, Lights

Latest IKEA from Mother - very simple idea, beautifully shot, location looks like Thamesmead (Seems to be of a director's shooting mecca for edgy urban landscapes) the cast and the music makes the spot complete. If you're wondering who's the track by it's Patrick Watson -Lighthouse - proper old school TV spot that stands out in a dire landscape of TV spots

Great art direction craft is truly an art form

This post is going back to old skool _well I'm listening to some old skool Soul so it seems quite fitting, but I wanted to share as I think it's vital for young art directors, designers or budding photographers the importance of craft. In an age where time is money and money is time and most people have neither this is a great case study in how to save money and time but still create something magically. Step forward Felix Hernandez Rodriguez who was commissioned by Audi to shoot their top of the range sports car retail price at a tidy $200,000 and what does he do? He shoots a toy $40 model of the car.

Now mere mortals would seriously struggle in making this look slick and something that could be used in print in fact even for online we would struggle, but this cat by using props, clever angles and lighting has produced something truly incredible. Now I don't know this photographer but looking at the shots this guy is highly trained and knows how to art direct, it's not just a job title. Not only is he talented but smart too. Could you imagine getting the real car on different locations? I know from experience of working on many car brands just getting the car on set is an issue and when you do, you have a time slot.

It reminded me of a shoot I did for Castrol the concept was a visual of one of those old fashioned chimney sweeps coming out of the exhaust. (Castrol stopped the build-up of soot in your engine apparently) So everything was signed-off and as a young art director everything was planned out, re-sizing my crops etc. But I had over looked one thing; the exhaust was too short so you couldn't fit the sweep in. Slight panic on my face started to appear as I wss in the studio that was charging 10K a day!! The photographer Kevin Summers at the time saw my face of horror and smiled, he went away and then 10 minutes later he returned with a cardboard tube sprayed black - he walked over to the BMW and whacked it on the back, at that point even more look of horror spread across my face, he smiled further and said he would light it and no one would know, I was nervous but he was right. No one ever knew till now. This was a great learning curve in my career, in you must really learn your trade to break the rules, this principle still applies today even in the tech world we live in You can see the full joyous piece here

Amazing use of 3D printing

How cool is this, somewhere you and kids could visit, making your own cakes but using 3D printing, idessert where you create and select your cake via a touchscreen, and then voila it is then made via 3D printing. Now you can enjoy not just eating cake but watching it been made. More Cake Off than Bake Off.