Posts from smithery for 06/18/2012

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                June 18, 2012
                
            
            Posts from smithery for 06/18/2012
            

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Rivetings: June 17, 2012 at 10:41AM
Jun 17, 2012 09:49 am | john v willshire
I followed a QR code, and I’m glad I did. An eighteen minute video of a
cupping (tasting session) of the coffee I’m drinking. Very worthwhile.
rivetings
Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/_r/Smithery/3/MJQgtpbLneE/
Comments: http://smithery.co/uncategorized/rivetings-june-17-2012-at-1041am/#comments
Rivetings: June 16, 2012 at 09:55AM
Jun 16, 2012 09:04 am | john v willshire
A present from Royal Mail #rivetings
Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/_r/Smithery/3/KU5vd-a-FJY/
Comments: http://smithery.co/uncategorized/rivetings-june-16-2012-at-0955am/#comments
A nation of shopkeepers
Jun 15, 2012 11:11 am | john v willshire
Today, I opened the [1]Smithery Shop to the general public.
  Links:
    1. https://smithery.myshopify.com
Which is quite exciting.
The first thing in there is the limited edition Artefact bundle (2
boxes of cards, pens, instruction booklet, badge, sticker).
Artefact cards, as you’ll no doubt know if you read this blog
regularly, are a vcard-based thinking system, to improve how you craft
you own ideas, how you work with others, and how you share stories and
structures.
They’re born of my massive dislike of post-it notes (transitory,
disposable flimsy nonsense that no idea worth its salt would be seen
dead on) and frustration with the ‘stickiness’ of digital working (it’s
much harder to live inside ideas, move elements around, create new
connections and so on).
Artefact Cards help you craft ideas that have a greater permanence, and
find their own perfect shape a lot more readily.  “Like playing with
ideas on an air hockey table” as James Box from Clearleft said.
I’ve also written a new instruction booklet to go with these limited
edition orders, the template for which is here:
IFRAME:
[2]http://www.scribd.com/embeds/97185074/content?start_page=1&view_mode
=list&access_key=key-15j9qr5vqmwlxx8jhqlq
  Links:
    2. http://www.scribd.com/embeds/97185074/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-15j9qr5vqmwlxx8jhqlq
[3]View this document on Scribd
  Links:
    3. http://www.scribd.com/doc/97185074
It’s brilliant to move out of the concept testing stage of the project
and into a real thing.
Of course, there are still many things I want to do with Artefact as an
idea (quarterly subscriptions, different patterns & devices on cards,
bulk orders for partnering companies etc etc), but this really the
first stage to fuel those next ones, a proof-of-concept to myself that
this really is a useful thing that other people buy into, and get a lot
of value from.
To get here, it’s been through the hands of lots of people already.
I’d like to thank them all publically, actually, because all of their
feedback and assistance has really helped shape this next iteration.
Thank you, you clever, generous people:
Tom Abba, Toby Barnes, Ben Bashford, David Bausola, James Box, Kevin
Brown, Rachel Coldicott, William Corke, Russell Davies, Graeme Douglas,
Mark Earls, Mark Elwood, Stefan Erschwender, Mel Exon, Chloe Gottlieb,
Robin Grant, Tim Hamill, Anthony Harris, Henry Hicks, Kala Horvitz,
Adam Hoyle, Mo Husseini, Clare Hutchinson, Curtis James, Gareth Kay,
Deb Khan, Matthew Knight, Peter J Law, Matt Locke, Ben Maxwell, Matt J
McDonald, Matthew McGuinness, Tim Milne,  Johnnie Moore, Anthony
Nelson, Neil Perkin, Cara Poirier, Damian Proctor, Anjali Ramachandran,
Ben Richards, Ian Sanders, Matthew Scott, Philip Shepherd, Matt Sheret,
Dan Shute, Sarah Sutton, Ben Terrett, Clare Townhill, David Wilding,
Faris Yakob
What’s also been really apparent over the last week or so in making the
shop (using the excellent Shopify) is how easy it is to be a shopkeeper
nowadays.
Which should suit our national psyche, surely?  After all, wasn’t it
Napolean who called us ‘a nation of shopkeepers’..?
Well, it turns out no.  It’s from Smith’s Wealth of Nations, originally
([4]back to Adam Smith again, eh?) -
  Links:
    4. http://smithery.co/uncategorized/adam-smith-on-the-state-of-modern-marketing
“To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of
customers may at first sight appear a project fit only for a nation of
shopkeepers.  It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation
of shopkeepers; but extremely fit for a nation whose government is
influenced by shopkeepers.”
In short, the empire existed to great a big enough customer base.
Britain is just a small island, so finding lots more people elsewhere
means that the products we create can find a bigger audience across the
globe.
We don’t need an empire nowadays.  The internet provides a global
customer base.  Maybe the ‘shopkeeping’ thing was only a means to an
end.  I think we’re more of a nation of tweakers and tinkerers that
[5]Gladwell referred to in his review of the Steve Jobs bio.  We only
needed the shop front to sell the ideas.  Britain had to build an
internet of customers by using wooden ships and vast armies, rather
than superfast broadband and next-day delivery.
  Links:
    5. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/11/14/111114fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all
Anyway, I digress slightly.  The empire can wait for another day.
Pop on over to the [6]Smithery Shop and have a look.  And please, if
you feel inclined, share it with the world.
  Links:
    6. https://smithery.myshopify.com
Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/_r/Smithery/3/BHscS79Ma8s/
Comments: http://smithery.co/artefact/a-nation-of-shopkeepers/#comments
Rivetings: the trappings of nostalgia
Jun 11, 2012 03:00 pm | john v willshire
[1]20120611-160010.jpg
  Links:
    1. http://smithery.co/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/20120611-160010.jpg
Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/_r/Smithery/3/5OEGISR0Vig/
Comments: http://smithery.co/brand-2/rivetings-the-trappings-of-nostalgia/#comments

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