Scratch and sniff

If only you could scratch the screen and smell how good this shop did to me. Attention to display detail and divine product is what you expect on Rue St Honore.

Food Paris
25/10/2010

“Chocolate… I like it!”

At just 11 months old my niece Hannah announced to her mother, upon spying a chocky muffin on a cafe counter, "choc-lit, I LIKE it" (we were both speechless this had come from the mouth of a mere baby!). I said the same thing about this fab little shop in Paris. Love the moulds on the rear wall, copper pots and aged wooden counter ... and the smell as you stepped inside was just divine. If Juliette Binoche had been behind the counter it could have been straight from 'that' movie set. Patrice Chapon worked at Buckingham Palace, making ice-creams and sorbets for the royal family, before returning to Paris to open his laboratoire in 1984. The award wining label sells a wide range of beautifully packaged, single origin bars and filled chocolates and sweet treats. Chapon is located at 69 Rue du Bac, Paris.

Joy to the World … yes it’s 9 weeks till Christmas

"Traditional corporations, particularly large-scale service and manufacturing businesses, are organized for efficiency. Or consistency. But not joy. McDonalds, Hertz, Dell and others crank it out. They show up. They lower costs. They use a stopwatch to measure output. The problem with this mindset is that as you approach the asymptote of maximum efficiency, there's not a lot of room left for improvement. Making a Chicken McNugget for .00001 cents less isn't going to boost your profit a whole lot. Worse, the nature of the work is inherently un-remarkable. If you fear special requests, if you staff with cogs, if you have to put it all in a manual, then the chances of amazing someone are really quite low. These organizations have people who will try to patch problems over after the fact, instead of motivated people eager to delight on the spot.

The alternative, it seems, is to organize for joy. These are the companies that give their people the freedom (and yes, the expectation) that they will create, connect and surprise. These are the organizations that embrace someone who makes a difference, as opposed to searching for a clause in the employee handbook that was violated."  via Seth Godin

Other
25/10/2010

Stop motion fun

I don't know these people but I feel like I do after watching this. So much fun! Check it out here on YouTube. Video by photographers Bayly & Moore (Perth, Western Australia). via Design Sponge.

Design Other Perth
23/10/2010

Got a lemon? Make lemonade

I'm guessing this shop front is no more than 1.6m wide. Really it's just a set of stairs to a basement. But let's not focus on that.  We'll pop in some mirror, a few flat screens, lots of lights, dark paint to celebrate the depth, half a dozen mannequins and all of a sudden there's a lot going on and it looks like you're in business.  Naturally the target demographic is happy to schlep down the stairs to discover more (wish I'd snapped a pic a bit further back from the doorway ... but have you seen the crowds you have to dodge in Europe to get a single pic without a person in it?!  I'm telling you this blogging gig is not easy at times).  You can find this little doorway to denim on the Corso Vittorio Emmanuelle in Milan.

Design Fashion MIlan
18/10/2010

One hundred and eighty six

Pasticceria Marchesi was established in 1824.  To put that in perspective just 54 years earlier Captain Cook charted the east coast of Australia. I don't know if the display cases are original but I assume they are - such beautiful detail that stands the test of time (in fact I'm assuming most things about this place have been there for 186 years - this is sustainable design at its very best - naturally the "5 year lease and refit clause" scenario doesn't apply here!). Marchesi is an elegant Milanese location with a bustling counter where the beautiful people dash in for their morning cappucci ... and the pastries are as fresh as a daisy.

Marchesi Food MIlan
17/10/2010

A sweet heart in Paris

Whilst they are not a new idea, I loved these little sugar hearts and the way this tea was presented.

Can A Suc Food Paris
17/10/2010

It’s how you cut your cloth

A simple tailored window in Paris that is the perfect fit for the customised story this tailor has to tell.

VM Fashion Paris
17/10/2010

A piece from Paris

Vintage is everywhere these days and there is nowhere better than Paris for fabulous finds. I loved this Lanvin piece spotted in a tiny treasure trove of seriously collectable couture on the Left Bank. At 900 Euro I left it there. Sigh... (naturally I have the store's address and phone number if any fashion stylists need to know).

Vintage Fashion Paris
16/10/2010

Getting about

Loved these passing snaps taken in Paris which made me appreciate the 'relative ease' of parking and getting about in Melbourne. A young couple getting some hardware items home.  A window cleaner's tools compactly tied to the back of his bike.

Other Paris
16/10/2010