In order for heritage brands to be successful, it is essential for them to constantly remain relevant to a consumer audience that is constantly changing and evolving. Heritage brands can have the upper hand when it comes to evolving their brand as they have a history and a story to tell that newer brands don’t.

So when heritage brand, Sperry Top-Sider, decided it was time for a bit of a makeover, they strategically took a long hard look at what it was that was working for the brand, what was not, and what from it’s past could be used as the building blocks for its future.

Today, boat shoes are very fashionable and therefore extremely popular. Walk into any shoe store and you’re guaranteed to find a boat shoe on display. So what makes Sperry Top-Sider different than all these other boat shoe brands? Their heritage and vision for the future. They are the professionals, the originators of the boat shoe and therefore have permission to be the trend setters and the leaders of the category. They have quickly learned that to keep up with it’s competitors they need to appeal to multi-generations. Collaborating with brands such as Band of Brothers, Milly and Penfield has proven to be very successful and differentiates them from all the other boat shoes. Sperry Top-Sider is able to speak to those of us who like the Classic Authentic Originals or to those of us who want a touch of vibrancy which you find in their Milly design patterns.

If you would have asked me 5 years ago if I would ever consider buying a pair of boat shoes, I would have said no with certainty. 5 years ago I didn’t know anyone my age that wore them. They were shoes my uncle wore at family picnics. Today, I own 3 pair of boat shoes. Sperry Top-Sider boat shoes to be precise. Sperry Top-Sider has done an amazing job at expanding their target audience so that not only can my 55 year old uncle wear them with confidence, but so can college kids and young adults.

Bottom line, Sperry Top-Sider is a brand that both inspires and endures. Sperry Top-Sider has deliberately built a brand on heritage and it’s what keeps people coming back for more.

To read more on Sperry Top-Sider, check out http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/fashion/articles/2012/04/05/reviving_sperry/?p1=Upbox_links

photographs by Ben Baker / Redux

Around 15 years ago Sara Blakely had a problem. She’d just bought a pair of cream pants and didn’t want an underwear line—so she cut the toes off a pair of pantyhose and wore them. Unfortunately they rolled up all night, presumably creating more of a problem than the original. But great idea starts with a problem, which Sara’s pantyhose had proven to be, it just takes someone willing to put in the time and a ton of hard work to create a solution. With $5,000, countless hours of research and perseverance, Sara Blakely founded the company Spanx, doing much of the work in the evenings after she’d spent the day selling printers and fax machines. She ended up creating a brand that revolutionized the undergarment industry and recently made Ms. Blakely, at age 41, the youngest female, self-made billionaire.

Check out this article over on Forbes and be prepared to be inspired!

Visitors can tour the participating firms at their leisure; perusing architectural models, drawings, photographs; exploring the creative work-spaces; and enjoying presentations by the architects themselves. At the end of the day there will be a reception at the Garrison Architects’ studio featuring drinks, snacks, and the chance to snag some one-on-one time with some of the city’s most brilliant designers.

This event will give visitors an understanding of the design process and a greater appreciation of the buildings that surround them!

Click here to see a list of the participating firms http://openstudiosdumbo.eventbrite.com/

For many people who carry their cares to bed, the answer can be “quite a lot.” From reliving the day to worrying about tomorrow, our thoughts can haunt us as soon as we have quiet time to ourselves, making it hard to fall asleep.

So how do you block out the world and get a good night’s rest? Here are a few tricks to try.

1)   Same time to bed, same time to rise. Park yourself in bed at the same time every night and schedule your alarm for the same time every morning. We’re creatures of habit and you can train your body to understand “sleep time.”

2)   Close the bedroom door and close out the world. Signal that the day is over and it’s sleep time by physically closing off your space.

3)   Read before bed. But no newspapers, self-help books, or business journals. It should be a mental escape that gives you distance from your concerns. It shouldn’t remind you of the world you just closed out.

4)   Turn on a sound machine to block out noise. Or even just turn on a fan or air conditioner for the white noise.

5)   Play a sleep game. Counting sheep is too boring to hold your attention, and you’ll find your pesky thoughts getting chatty again. Find a game that is just barely interesting enough to distract you. My favorite is the color game. I pick a color (e.g. orange) and then try to list everything in that color, starting with flowers, then fruits, then vegetables, etc. I’m usually asleep before Butternut Squash.

6)   Relax. Sleep is one of those things you can’t really control. You can set the stage for a good night’s sleep, but then you have to let go. The less you worry about missing sleep, the less you have to keep you up.

Many of the packages are modern and playfully, while others (mainly in the oil category) capture a beautiful classical look that links back to the heritage of olives central role in Mediterranean food and culture.

At the high end, olives and olive oil are treated like fine wines and can be quite expensive. The comparison to wine is relevant in packaging as well. Many of the structures and designs could be mistaken for a fine bottle of wine.

Interestingly, grape vines and olives share the same growing conditions and some grape makers have started producing olives as well.

Delancey Underground has responded with designs for a green space that employs fiber optics to reflect sunlight into the trolley terminal.  With enough sunlight for photosynthesis and plants to thrive, it’s got our vote.

It will be exciting to see what the MTA unearths next for redevelopment, but in the meantime we’ll dream of trees growing under Essex St.

Not trying to get preachy here, but as we are settling into 2012 and considering resolutions for the new year, getting exercise and healthy living is at the top of many lists. This article in Fast Company highlights how great creative thinkers often mistakenly trade-off healthy living for making great work. Feeling “too busy” or the “buzz of stress” can become an addictive part of the creative process, just like a double latte from LaCalombe. The author Murakami is just one example of success referenced in the article, for taking on a strict regimen of running and swimming when writing a new novel.

Here’s to more running, swimming, yoga-ing, or walks around the block in 2012!

Christmas Tree made of magnets

Christmas Tree made of books

Christmas Tree made of post-its

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. I love the festive atmosphere when walking down city streets, the cheerful music and the exquisite holiday displays on 5^th avenue. But most importantly, I love cutting down my very own Christmas tree, which has been a family tradition for the past 15 years and always a fun one.

It crossed my mind that despite the fact that a tree is such an iconic staple during the holidays, many who celebrate Christmas are unaware of the meaning behind the Christmas tree. Myself being one, until recently. So here’s the low-down.

The Christmas tree was founded by the Germans in the early 16^th century. Evergreens represented the ever-burning fire of life; so many Christians would bring them into their homes to protect them against evil and illness. Many Americans thought Christmas trees inside homes were an oddity and were not accepted as they were seen as pagan symbols. It wasn’t until Queen Victoria, who was beloved by all the people in England, was illustrated with her family around a Christmas tree in the London News, that the Christmas tree was seen as a fashionable necessity around the holidays.

Americans later adopted the Christmas tree, each family customizing and creating their own interpretation of the Christmas tree tradition. Like all things American, it was about taking something simple and making it unique. When you look at many American brands today, such as Ford, Nike, Converse and C. Wonder, they are all creating items that are customizable so that the consumer has the option to purchase something that is distinctive and exclusive to them. The product represents what the consumers are trying to say about themselves to the world.

Christmas trees are no different. Some people buy a potted tree they can plant, while others create non-traditional trees out of magnets, books or even post-its! In true American fashion, regardless of how the Christmas tree is interpreted, we have embraced the idea of taking something simple and traditional and making it our own. I love and embrace all of these clever ideas, but will always prefer my balsam fir tree cut from the mountains of Connecticut.

At Jones Tree Farm in Shelton, CT

But while we applauded Coke for taking such a bold step with their iconic red brand, Diet Coke drinkers disagreed. After complaints from diehard dieters that they accidentally picked up the white can instead of their usual silver Diet Coke can, this special edition design is being retired.

Perhaps the caffeinated complainers were just too busy rushing to the gym to inspect their beverage packaging carefully. Surely, Coke was expecting their customers to actually look at their packs, if not go to the trouble of reading the word “Diet” or lack thereof. However, color and shape are the two biggest visual distinguishers. With a choice between the red can and the white can, Diet Coke drinkers instinctively grabbed the lighter option.

How much is too much to ask from your customers? We often challenge ourselves with this question as we imagine the customer journey down the store aisle. It’s different for each category of course. Very few Lexus purchasers get home before realizing they mistakenly drove off in a Toyota. But is 5 seconds too much to expect in a grocery store aisle? According to Coke’s nearsighted naysayers, yes.