Three things I'm loving… and it's only Monday!


1. The Evening Standard
Yes, this little Fame Whore got another slice of the action in tonight's Standard on the subject of snow in fashion. According to me, "snow lay flat on the ground in the Nineties". Don't understand? no, neither do I. Oh well.



2. PhotoSwap
Next time the chat dwindles in a group-outing scenario, whip this baby out. Take a picture, get one back. What could be more fun? Oh, I know… visually abusing people who send you penis photos, that's what. Fun times.

3. Krrb
The "commerce enabler". Are you an arty, hipster-type living in a pocket of urban cool? Why not connect with your neighbors by selling, swapping and giving away trinkets? Another lovely example of the online going offline.

Digital strategy explained

For anyone not quite clear on what it is I do everyday, here's a little insight.

digital ninja from moon stuff on Vimeo.

...time to re-train I think!

Current affairs

For all those of you who missed my shameless bragging across platforms (on and offline, I'll have you know), I was pleased as punch to be quoted in last night's Evening Standard.



Ok, so the piece was on the topic of designer raisins, but we've all got to start somewhere. News Night… I'm waiting for my call!

Molotov Jukebox launch their first single

My old friend Nat and her band Molotov Jukebox launched their first single at Cargo on Wednesday night and it is a goodie! Nat is one of those people who has been a star since she could first hold a microphone - and it's great to see her become a part of such a class act that is Molotov Jukebox. They absolutely kill it live and have just released their first official epic and sexalicious music video here...



Go! Please tweet it, blog it, buy it!!

Neglect

Oompht! How time does pass! As someone who is incredibly condescending of "Dead" blogs, I am ruthlessly negligent of tending to this one. I guess the unfortunate demise of various guinea-pigs, rabbits and hamsters in my youth are indicative of that.

Anyways, a little update and boast to say that I was asked to contribute to the latest edition of Eye Magazine in a piece they did on iPad apps. I was honoured to be asked and it is great to be in print as well as their blog - even if it does mean I can't link to it!! ...Seems odd writing a piece about iPad apps which you can't read on an iPad.



Speaking of which, I've been gathering a few iPad vids together this week and here's one great one and one awkward and weird one. Enjoy!

Help them, help you

What happens to brands when the sun never sets online? How can they possibly manage an audience that comes on and offline with the turn of the earth? The Gap Logo 'event' unfolded over four days, but with Brits, New Yorkers and West Coasters all waking up and weighing in every 6 hours, there could be no respite, no time for Gap to gather their thoughts and work out what to do. Exhausted and defeated, they wound up retracting and apologizing - letting more people down than if they'd come back fighting.



By the same token, Foursquare had an unfortunate outage which no doubt gave Facebook Places an unprecedented boost and marked the end of the era when we were happy just to show up someplace without broadcasting it.



Maybe, however, check-in services will be the salvation for brands. As people check into emotions and feelings as well as places, events, products and services, brands will be able to get a hold on what's really going on out there. People feeling angry after lunch in Manchester? Say something funny or wait till 6pm. Everyone jumped up in Austin - give them somewhere to let off some steam.

Powerful global brands of the future will be able to monitor their worldwide audience in real-time via a range of new techniques and advanced date visualization. Brands will discover a broad visibility which allows them to respond and react to their customers on a minute to minute, nation to nation, moving world basis. Big Brother really is watching you now.

The long journey

So, I'm back in San Francisco with Moving Brands. I'm here doing strategy work for our new US clients, as well as to attend the launch of a new brand we created the identity for. You can see their new website here.



This is my 7th week in SF for 2010 - it's great to have the opportunity to really get inside a city and lose the tourist feeling. The MB studio is based in SOMA - a Shoreditch type area downtown of the main city centre. From the studio you can see the Bay on one side and West SF on the other. The famous fog literally rolls in and out depending on the wind direction - either plunging the city into clouds, or revealing that crisp Californian sunshine.

Gertrude Stein apparently said that "Wherever you go, you meet yourself" and, though in many ways she is quite right, getting away from it all also gives you the space to come to terms with the big changes and mentally grow into the 'you' you have become.



When I was growing up my Dad spent many months away on location. To me, his trips only represented the tan and presents he returned home with. Now, I know what he experienced - the exhilaration of travel and working abroad but also the jet lag and the boring nights in with room service. I wouldn't change these experiences for anything and feel like I have worked hard to get these opportunities. My Dad had a family to get back to - but apart from friends, I am gloriously free to skip town and try something new for a while.

One of my friends from the London studio arrives tomorrow and I can't wait to show him around and have a pal to enjoy the city with. From the buzzy, hippy Mission district to posh shops on Fillmore, San Francisco is a fabulous, fabulous place to be. I just hope I can get back to Stokey by Christmas!!

She Decos

Well, work is nearly finished on the S&M Barbie Palace in Stoke Newington. The white goods have arrived, the paint colours have been chosen and the new floor is ready to go down. Time now, to start thinking about what's going to go IN it!

As a girl geek, I'm entranced by this QR code wallpaper. How cool to link to my latest thoughts, to-do notes and inspirations simply by holding up my iPhone!



Lighting-wise, the designers around me have been whipped up into a frenzy over the Plumen Bulb Loop - an aesthetically sensitive response to the energy-saving light bulb. Gorgeous.

Plumen Bulb Loop from Plumen on Vimeo.

Lastly, I must give a nod to the new Ikea viral which launched last week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one moggy crawled into my oven and is going to come live with me!



Check back soon for the Design Sponge orientated "sneak peek" shots. Work with me here, Grace!

Fashion Night Out 2010

Last night my friends and I struck a pose and catwalked it over to Vogue's Fashion Night Out. Conduit and Bond Street were packed to the shearling gills with uber-fashionistas rocking every look imaginable.




We tottered down Conduit street, passing an over-crowded Kurt Geiger, to check out the crowds outside Armani. Skinny celebs kept turning up to a flash of paparazzi camera's making for an interesting scene of cool-looking passers-by watching well-dressed paps and bloggers watching fashioned-out D listers. Such is the hierarchy of the fashion world.



Mulberry was by far the most fun place of the night - with cocktails for everyone, a prize draw and loud, loud pop music. Everyone was happy, the staff were jolly to everyone and the bags were gorgeous. Over at Matthew Williamson, the man was welcoming - clearly enjoying the assembled masses swoon over his new, tribal inspired line. Even Vogue Editor, Alex Shulman, cracked a smile!

It was great to see a usually calm and collected area let its hair down for the night. Despite the price-tags, there was no one to stop you pausing to stroke the odd furry accessory (although I did have a Westwood coat prised from my hand at one point). Most of the stores had made a proper effort and it felt buzzy, cool and exactly what London fashion should be about.



Finally, to end the night, we felt it only appropriate to inhale a tiny, overpriced sandwich at Sketch. By 10pm, the place was teeming with anorexic, trustafarian teenagers in couture and Doc Martens. Feeling very much like my Bedalian school days were a too distant memory, it was time to head home and dream of Vivienne Westwood coats.

Fail whale

Much has been written on the transformational power of social media and its groundbreaking successes. We often read of the massive boost to followers, friends and, ultimately, sales, that mark a truly engaging campaign that crosses and merges platforms. Even social media fluffs can make headline news and still manage to reach a huge audience. What we rarely hear of, however, are the ones left behind - the stragglers who never seem to get off the ground in this new digital world.

A great social media campaign can't spring to life simply because you have signed up to Twitter and uploaded a YouTube video. It is easy to think that social networks, because they are free to join and use, require little material or financial investment. Far from it. Unlike traditional advertising, which is placed before the viewer, social media relies on the 'viewer' to take a far more active role. You are looking for conversation, engagement and buzz. Here are my Top 5 elements which can make or break a social media campaign.



1/ Brand. No matter whether you are an individual, a small company or a global brand, it is vital that you are "joined up" across platforms. From Flickr to Facebook, the way you look, speak and communicate needs to be recognisable, so that no matter where people 'meet' you, they know it's you.

2/ Investment. Creating a Facebook page for your company may be free but ensuring it is well-managed and regularly updated takes carefully dedicated resource. Finding social media professionals who know what they're doing and can authentically become the voice of the brand is key. That's why there's little point in spending thousands on a super-hot, ultra-branded website and then leaving your intern to look after Twitter.



3/ Content pt1. Engagement is built on relationships. Like any friendship, you start out finding out what you have in common. Think about who you are trying to connect with and work out what will draw them in. Become a "go-to" place for the latest updates in your industry, or a unique voice on the state of the sector. Be selective about what keywords you are using to ensure you are search-tastic, and start a dialogue with those already doing it well in your area.

4/ Content pt2. Be appropriate. No, I don't mean laying off the curse words, although that's also recommended. Be conscious of what content you generate for each platform. Social Media users are like shoals of fish, you just need to guide them in the right direction. On Twitter it's about persuading someone to click a link in 140 characters. On Facebook it's about being liked. And on YouTube it's about being too good to keep to yourself. Copywriters, producers, editors... they're your new best friends!

5/ Holism. Nothing and noone exists in isolation. At least, noone with a decent internet connection. Striding into a room saying 'we need to be on Foursquare' will make you sound important, but it won't necessarily make you rich. Stride in saying 'My restaurant is choc full of people on dates, how can we make the most of this?', however, and it's time to start paying more tax. Suddenly you're inviting singles on Twitter to check-in via Foursquare and connect with other singles in your restaurant. Next thing you know you're sorting out a Facebook page dedicated to your hub of hook ups. And before you can say "poke me" you've got a YouTube channel full of love stories. Make each platform work for your audience and they'll work for you.




...Contrary to popular belief, it's not easy. Social media takes time and hard work but, if your product is good and you know your audience, there's really no reason why it can't be an integral part of your business.

Brostitutes, Icing and Getting Stoked

So we live in our techy geeky little worlds, smugly feeling that, because we own iPads, read Mashable and have over 3,000 followers on Twitter, we have somehow transcended from being the dorky, unpopular kids we once were. Yes we have probably acquired some semblance of social skills and, by moving only within Shoreditch, managed to make our retarded approach to getting dressed seem like a "look" but that does not mean we are not above poking some geeky fun at the kind of people who once made our lives miserable.

First up is this hilarious mockumentary from Funny or Die, which looks at the dark underbelly of Brostitutes. Urban Dictionary describes "bro's" as such... 'An alpha male idiot. This is the derogatory sense of the word (common usage in the western US): white, 16-25 years old, inarticulate, belligerent, talks about nothing but chicks and beer, drives a jacked up truck that’s plastered with stickers, has rich dad that owns a dealership or construction business and constantly tells this to chicks at parties, is into extreme sports that might be fun to do but are uncool to claim (wakeboarding, dirt biking, lacrosse), identifies excessively with brand names, spends a female amount of money on clothes and obsesses over his appearance to a degree that is not socially acceptable for a heterosexual male.'

Brostitute with Tim Roth from Tim Roth

Recently, bro's had a moment in the digital limelight over 'Icing' - a drinking game that requires the person who has been 'iced' to drop to one knee and chug a bottle of Smirnoff Ice. In a reverse application of a trend - 'Icing' spread from being a predominantly bro recreational pastime, to be adopted by hipsters. I'm assuming purely in a post-modern ironic sense, of course. In this next video you can see some bro's experiencing some h-core icing in the city of sin.



In the final installment of bro's experiencing a rare nod of acknowledgment from their hipster counterparts, we have this piece from The Onion...


Report: Most College Males Admit To Regularly Getting Stoked

Now available for weddings and bar mitzvahs

SXSW is a Music, Film and Interactive festival held every March in Austin Texas. Austin's history as a hub for musicians has long made it the mecca for bands and artists around the world. They say that 6th Street - Austin's downtown area - is the live music capital of the world and where you can see a different artist perform every night of the week. SXSW started as a music festival, to encourage new audiences to visit the southern state. The website explains how "In 1994 as the entertainment business adjusted to issues of future growth and development, SXSW added conferences and festivals for the film industry (SXSW Film) as well as for the blossoming interactive media (SXSW Interactive Festival). Now three industry events converge in Austin during a Texas-sized week, mirroring the ever increasing convergence of entertainment/media outlets."



Five years since I was a "study abroad' student at UT, I find it hard to believe that my name is on the SXSW Panel Picker list. Five years since my American friends introduced me to this new thing called "Facebook" and I got my first Wi-fi card, it's incredible that I'm planning to talk about Digital Instinctives - the babies seizing our iPads and approaching technology without reservation.



Please click HERE to check out the talk and vote for the entry! Thank you.

A whole new world of consumption.

On Wednesday I get the keys to my first flat. It's pretty damn scary. Not because of the huge, great mortgage. Or because I've never lived on my own. Or because Stoke Newington is choc full of yummy mummies and doesn't have a tube station. No, my real cause for concern is that most of my shopping experience lies in clothes, shoes, bags and food. Kitchen work surfaces, wood flooring and sofas, however, I have no experience in at all. Re-enforced by the fact that recent trips to Habitat, Heals and Ikea have all lead to unsightly sweating and panic attacks.

Nevertheless, if I can get through jeggings, I can get through re-decorating a flat. Here's my inspiration... thoughts?





Or maybe this?



Thanks to Design Sponge and The Kitchn

I knew the new cycling scheme would come in useful!

All I wanna do is invest my monaaay

Having just bought my first flat in Stoke Newington aka Clapham-of-the-North, this new vid from Funny or Die perfectly sums up the trouble I'm having reconciling my Shoreditch lifestyle with my new-found fascination with Ikea kitchens. Boo ya.

MIA -- Paper Planes Brentwood Redux - watch more funny videos

What's going on in there?

I just found myself watching a skype-skype interview on mobile apps online while simultaneously watching Gok's Fashion Fix on mute on the TV. Yesterday I found myself reading two newspapers at the breakfast table. What is going on in my brain?

Am I so conditioned to multi-tab browsing? So used to reading emails as I talk on the phone? When did tweeting, facebooking and watching television become second nature?

I'm fascinated because if that's me - and at 26 I'm old in digital terms - what is going on with "the kids"? My boss recently found his two year old son - who, I hasten to add, cannot yet talk - watching iPhone videos of himself in one hand while playing on the iPad with his toes. And it really makes me realise - his approach to learning, multitasking and problem solving is going to be unrecognisable to his elders, to the people trying to teach him when he hits school.



This week I was lucky enough to be part of a panel on "How to... Be part of the next cool thing" as part of LCC's Futurising festival. After the panel Martin Raymond (The Future Laboratory), Jaana Jatyri (Trendstop), Maggie Norden (LCF) and I went for a coffee. We were all gobsmacked by the seeming lack of curiosity from the assembled graduate audience. How could they even consider a career in trend forecasting if they were not brimming with questions for the panel? Maggie, a lecturer, voiced her concerns at the total and utter lack of investigative nous amongst her students. While Martin said interns that limit their research to page one of the Google results don't stick around long at FL.

But I'm concerned we're looking at it from the wrong point of view. Our way of thinking, our way of finding stuff out, is not the future. The extinction signs are there and we should be warned - we already don't remember telephone numbers anymore or since when did you turn to an encyclopedia? My boss's two year old will one day need to be taught by someone who understands that his brain is going to be wired in a totally different way. He is going to have skills and abilities that were once rare, just as he will have blank spots where his father is an expert.



I'm looking forward to spending the next few months figuring out what this is going to mean for brands wanting to make products and services that will thrive in the hands of these "Digital Instinctives". But until then I'm off back to my work iPhone, my personal Nokia, my 7 open tabs on Firefox, my Spotify playlist, the rest of that vid and the last 10 minutes of Gok. Wild times.

Camillastore goes Stateside.
"who were burned alive in their innocent flannel suits on Madison Avenue
amid blasts of leaden verse & the tanked-up clatter of the iron regi-
ments of fashion & the nitroglycerine shrieks of the fairies of advertis-
ing & the mustard gas of sinister intelligent editors, or were run down
by the drunken taxicabs of Absolute Reality"


It is my second day in the uber-cool San Francisco and, now I'm over the jet lag (For me, it's Tylenol Nighttime every time!), am able to finally string two lines together. Further evidence of my being bombed on the time difference emerged last night when I returned from a wander round the shops still wearing some unpaid for merchandise. A felony within 24 hours of landing. Awesome.

Anyway, today I am more coherent and with the weekend free to explore this great city. First up I headed over to the Ferry Building. A local foodie's heaven. a visiting, hotel-bound foodie's nightmare. Photos will follow, but picture row upon row of incredible produce set against the backdrop of San Francisco bay. Just spectacular. I also popped into Miette bakery. I first heard of Miette and got to know the owner, Meg, back when I worked for Rococo Chocolates. Meg wasn't around, but the Rococo was in prime position and the carrot cake cupcakes pretty special.



Next I sauntered - well, admittedly, heaved - my way up one of the infamous San Fran hills to make a pilgrimage to City Lights Bookshop. Though I may have sold my soul to branding and be more about power plates than Lucky Strikes these days, the Beat poets and writers still hold a very special place in my heart. I have always been fascinated by their courage and commitment to forging new forms of literature, of thinking even, in a time when America was vigilant against "non-conformist" behaviour. To finally set foot where founder Ferlinghetti hung out with Ginsberg, Kerouak and Cassidy realised a long-held dream of mine.

And now I'm back in my hotel room which overlooks the hot tub in a very Don Draper-esque manner and wondering whether a second burrito in as many days is pushing it slightly.

May the road come up to meet you

I know now is probably a rare opportunity to discuss the Party leaders' journey to the election, assessing brand strength, fashion choices and social networking capabilities. But two things launched this week to draw my eye from BBC News 24.

First up TopShop launched a MAKE UP RANGE! Put that in your pipe Gordon Brown! The dreamy, indie packaging makes great use of the TopShop spots, while the hand drawn element gives it an accessible-yet-aspirational feel. As someone who was beginning to feel that M.A.C's seat was in jeapardy, TopShop's range might just be the vote for change my makeup bag was looking for. And, yes, that metaphor just happened!



Secondly, and much more interestingly, Aubin and Wills are opening a CINEMA and gallery space in Shoreditch. This is lifestyle branding gone nuts. I'll happily buy a cute top and imagine myself into the A&W world vision. I'll even consider a bit of A&W homeware, because it's post-modern ironic. But is an events programme a step to far?

Thinking about it, little brother Jack Wills manages to get away with a yearly Polo fixture. But that's Jack Wills - ostentacious Sloanies love that shit. Aubin & Wills are meant to be cool, demure, subtle. People who wear A&W generally pick at their new cashmere jogging pants and say "oh this old thing!" between mouthfuls of organic porridge.



But have no fear Camillastore readers, I'll hit up the launch on 20th May and get back to you.

New horizons

Brilliant day yesterday getting away from Shoreditch and brands, brands, brands. First up, my friend and I were pleased to see that we could bring some "hot young thing" to a morning cookery class at Books for Cooks in Notting Hill. The class - an awesome birthday present from friends - was "A Taste of Spain". We sped through 5 recipes in 2 hours and then stuffed ourselves with chorizo, Andalucian salad, chicken with prawns, and a gorgeous apple cake. Who knew that one could roast peppers whole before peeling? Ooh!

Following a few mouthfuls of Pimm's, we ventured south of the river to check out Molotov Jukebox. The "up-beat reggae gypsy" band, fronted by my very old friend Nat Tena, absolutely smashed it and got everyone jigging around like it was going out of style. Nat brought some much needed sex appeal to the accordion by sporting suspenders and a captain's hat marked "H M Slut". She and her tricked out band steered the assembled cool kids through some incredible life lessons (ie. Don't live with your boyfriend) all set to a funky folk-hop beat.



If it weren't for the last tube home, we'd have also stuck around to check these guys out - The Correspondents.

Check out the Slideshare version of April's Project10 edition, with a contribution from me on p6.

Project10 Newspaper April (Ladies) issue

View more documents from Steve Price.

Next up, Steve's looking for people to help him explore the relationship and influence that design has on politics. If you're interested you can contact him via Twitter @planbstudio. Spread the love.