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January 26, 2010
 

The Colour of the Inner Content

Interactive_cd_cover_1

CDs are on the way out (or already long gone for me) as a form factor for music delivery, but one of the innocent bystanders in this shift to digital is album art. Sure you can still get album art and packaging as a digital image, but it's not the same, obviously. There's just something about the smell of the aromatic dyes of a nice glossy album cover that is very familiar and rewarding when you open up your new disc. Sigh. 

That said, CDs and their covers aren't dead yet. Hubero Kororo recently worked with the band Uceroz to come up with a very interesting CD package. Initially the packaging is white with only the black text on it, but when you open the package up, an ink packet is ruptured causing the ink to bleed out onto the white canvas of the CD, resulting in unique album art on each disc. That's how I would explain it, but I personally like Hubero's version. 

Hubero remarks:
The design of the cover also reflects [the  musical] motif. Like when you are listening to this piece of music for the first time being still untouched by the unique experience of Ivan Palacky´s peculiar performance, also the album cover makes you feel like that. After opening (tearing off the seal), the outer minimalistic graphic of the snow-white package is irretrievably disturbed by a stain, which turns to the colour of the inner content.

Irretrievably disturbed by a stain. Nice 

Some additional interesting info about the project and the band via Hubero's description:
  • Uceroz is a new music brand by Ivan Palacký, a musician playing an amplified knitting machine called Dopleta 160 (180). 
  • The title "Uceroz" is an abbreviation created from two Czech words : „učesán a rozcuchán“. It consists of two editions, where „učesán“ represents a smoother kind of musical expressiveness however „rozcuchán“ tends to be more experimental.
  • Depending on the technique of opening, (some extreme technics of opening have already been noticed, like using a drill in order to create a peculiar mark.) some patterns arise, which give each piece a certain uniqueness.
Here's the video of the opening:

Filed under  //   art   design   music   packaging   visual  

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December 19, 2009
 

Music, Mail and Waiting in Line

The post office by my house is notorious. No one I know really wants to go there. Ever. It's simply dreadful. It's always understaffed. The line is always outrageously long. The staff is seemingly perpetually in a bad mood (probably because they are always dealing with people who have been waiting in line for too long). Confrontations at the counter are commonplace. So it was with a sense of dread that I headed into the post office yesterday to send a package. 

This time was different though. When I walked into the lobby and looked through the glass to the main post office, there was a shorter than usual 10 person line and 2 USPS employees working. Pretty typical post office visit office visit for me though I was happy about the shorter line. Even so, I could already feel my frustration rising before I had even entered the main office. Sensing the cloud descending on me, I lumbered through the glass doors. Something was different. Out of the din of background, I was struck by something very unusual. Music! Clear and cheery. Silent Night being sung by a crooner. 

Never in any of my previous visits had there been any other sound in the Post Office other than sighs, muffled obscenities and the barking of USPS employees "NEXT PERSON IN LINE PLEASE!!!" Music! What a delight. Apparently, one of the employees, probably operating against USPS code and soon to be reprimanded, had set up a radio on one of the un-used checkout stations and had tuned it to a station playing some very pleasant Christmas music. The music had an immediate softening effect on the experience. 

Now Christmas music is generally relaxing to those who listen to it, but in this context it seemed twice as potent. The dread of standing in line was immediately lifted. The entire experience changed because of something totally unexpected. In a good way. Looking at the people in line, two of the ten, a full 20% of the current customer base, were visibly keeping beat in some fashion with the music. One was humming . . . joyfully humming as they stood in line. Humming! At the Post Office!

When I got to the counter I found my USPS employee, Wanda, to be in a very good mood. Surprisingly good. Sensing her amiable demeanor, I went out on a ledge to make small talk by commenting on the music. "I like the music, it really makes the whole line a lot more enjoyable." She looked at me and smiled and said "I know, it just makes it go a little bit faster doesn't it?" "It does," I agreed." She paused for a moment and then finished her though, "Music just calms everybody down." I followed up with "I bet you too." She smiled, her eyes agreeing. And that was that. 

People need pleasant distraction. Pleasant distraction helps us forget why we're in such a rush. Did the music alone really transform the Post Office?I think so. It's no surprise, many companies (most notably Disney) have long known that distracting people in line is a great way to make time pass more quickly and improve their experience. It's just interesting to see the dramatic difference one small change can make in customer satisfaction and brand.

Filed under  //   USPS   cx   line   music   ux  

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