Today Apple announced the new iPod Shuffle and the big “new” feature on it is the absence of buttons. Apparently the solution for those using the shuffle is to navigate music via the headphones, which is great if you like wearing sub-par plastic pieces of trash in your ears.

Now, I realize that some people actually enjoy the feel of the standard Apple earbuds, and I realize they are very popular. However, I have seen a LOT of people that use 3rd party headphones with their iPod/iPhone (a brief office poll here at Imulus came up with over half of us using non-Apple headphones). So let’s just be honest, what this really feels like is a ploy to make you purchase the high-end Apple earbuds. And if you’re like me and hate earbuds in general because they hurt your ears, you’re basically out of luck.

Even if Apple decides to release their headphone control technology to 3rd parties I still have to purchase a new set of headphones to use while running, or at minimum a new control cord add-on for my current phones, which is sure to be a minimum of $20. Now suddenly to get a lightweight mp3 player for running I am dropping $79 plus $20.

This is a great example of how Apple’s want to simplify can be taken too far. In theory it sounds great, but in practice it ends up creating a mess for everyone but the most default basic customers. And worse, it makes Apple look greedy and out of touch.

Has the world gone insane? Who are these designers making these new logos for these huge companies and why aren’t they being tarred and feathered? Pepsi recently redesigned their logo and their overall packages. I feel I have been somewhat harsh in my previous blogs so, fine, I will be diplomatic and focus on some positives along with the negatives.

It is noticeable. I was in the grocery store meandering up the drink aisle and amongst the highly decorated soda designs a simple dark blue design snatched my attention. It took me a brief moment to understand that it is Pepsi with a deformed logo… but I’ll get into that later.

It is new. Change is good… when it’s done correctly.

I don’t mind the idea of slightly changing the logo to convey different concepts. For example, the diet soda has a smaller ’smile’ to illustrate the idea that it is slimmer. But wait, aren’t we mixing concepts? Why would you have a smaller smile? Because it doesn’t taste as good but you choke it down anyway to feel less guilty about carbs?

The logo looks like someone took the original and melted it. I discovered through some digging that the logo is supposed to resemble a smile. Um what? Would you have seen that if I hadn’t said so? Why is it these companies with plenty of money at their disposal keep missing the mark on logo redesign? As much as I feel I am repeating my other blogs, it needs to be said again: streamlining is good and necessary when it is done right. Sometimes the smaller the change the better! Don’t force it people!

To see more packaging design, check out Under Consideration.

Just another story about how we, the American Consumer, needs to consume less, purchase wiser and be mindful of our disposal methods. This past Sunday night 60 Minutes produced an excellent piece looking at how the US is exporting electronic waste to China where peasants have to chose between poverty or poison.

There really isn’t a need to write more about this, just watch it for yourself.

Let me start out by saying that I would call myself an independent as politics go. This isn’t about who’s right about this issue or that. As a design professional I am just struck by Democratic party’s continued inability to understand the power of branding. I cannot think of a single coherent message or brand that the Democratic party has articulated in the last decade or more. The Republicans, on the other hand, appear to have this mastered. If I asked 20 people on the street what the Republican party was about I would probably hear very similar things: “They’re about family values.” “They believe in lower taxes and smaller government.” “Strong military.”

Whether you agree with these policies or not, they are consistent and haven’t really changed in decades. Repeated over and over by Republican candidates in hundreds of campaigns around the country. Just as powerful as how they have branded themselves is how they have branded the Democrats. “Tax and spend.” “Elitists, out of touch with regular folks.” “Big government.”

While these messages may or may not be true (The Republicans say they are for smaller government and lower spending, they have increased government spending at a historic rate over the last 8 years) people remember and believe them because they are so consistent.

Recent events show the Democrat’s continued inability to use this powerful tool. With the recent failures of financial institutions brought on by the sub-prime mortgage industry, is there any better time for the Democrats to rebrand the Republican party? The most basic branding of the Republican party is “conservative.” Over the last 8 years the Republicans have presided over an economy that has been anything but conservative. The word that comes to mind is reckless. If the Democrats would seize the opportunity to brand the republicans as “Reckless” they might be able to turn the Republican’s own branding against itself. A reckless party can’t have very good values. Would you trust your tax dollars to someone who is reckless? Trust them with the military?

As I said, I’m not saying either party is right or better, it’s just interesting to watch the campaign from the perspective of marketing and branding.

I’m a long time Apple fan, but the system they created for checking iPhone availability is a complete disaster. The way they have it set up sounds really great. You go online to apple.com/retail after 9pm each night and check your closest store and the next closest group for availability the next day. The problem is the stores don’t get shipments at the end of the day. They get shipments at some point during the day and put the phones on sale. Therefore when the website told me that my store would not have iPhones tomorrow, that was not true. Then they inevitably sell out of the phones before closing and once again at 9pm when you check the site it says they will have no iPhones the next day.

The situation Apple has created for themselves is that they only way to determine if your store has stock is to either go to the store, or more likely call them constantly to find out if they have gotten a shipment. This has got to be really fun for the employees at the store!

There is a simple fix for this situation. All the stores have to do is keep the shipments that they get during the day in the back until the following day. Then at 9pm the site would be correct in saying the the store will have iPhones in stock the next day. That way you don’t have to call the store, and if you really want a phone, you can show up when the store opens and your likely to get one. This is a simple fix. I would have expected more from Apple.