IKEA Train

I want to ride this train.

To promote the opening of their new store, IKEA has decorated the seats and curtains of this Portliner Monorail in Kobe, Japan.

via Pink Tentacle

Bank of America goes pink

Here's why basic color theory is important. I've been seeing some changes at some of my local Bank of America branches lately. The corporate banners have changed, from the old high-visibility blue text on white background:

to this godawful clashing, eye-searing blue text on a red background:

The letters are now very difficult to read, because of the dissonant combination of colors. Moreover you can't even see the American flag anymore, now that it's drowning in that sea of red.

The banner went from being that which is fitting for a respectable commercial institution to that of... I dunno... my first thought was along the lines of... "Where did my bank go? Did it get replaced by a gaudy gay sex shop?"

Who approved this design? Did they have even the faintest grasp of color theory? The color red, when you stand next to blue like that of the "Bank of America" text, will appear to be pink. PINK!

While pink is a fun color for little girls' birthday parties, it is not a color you want to be associated with an institution that's going to safeguard your life savings.

If you were to open a new savings account and you saw the two following banks next to each other, which one would you entrust with your hard-earned cash?

This Bank

That Bank

If you were most people, you'd probably avert your eyes from the one on the left , and once you finish your epileptic vomiting, head for the one on the right (sporting the color scheme of Washington Mutual btw).

Poor Bank of America. I wonder if BofA are now going to give out free hot pink dildos to new customers when they open a new savings account.

Virgin America's in-flight system

Engadget has a LOT of photos and a pretty thorough writeup on Red, which is Virgin America's in-flight entertainment system. My thoughts on some of the features:

• 9-inch touchscreen. Nice, but will I need to bring my own alcohol screen wipes to clean snotty finger trails from the kid who had previously been in my seat?
  
• Plane-wide chat system. Each TV channel also has its own chatroom, so you can make snarky comments about Keanu's acting. Or see if the cute blonde in seat 14C is lurking in another chatroom.
  
• Order food and drinks (and SkyMall, soon) and pay using your credit card. The system also keeps tabs on inventory, so it will tell you when the galley has run out of salmon.
  
• Streaming MP3 playback. I like this, and I'll probably be getting a lot of use out of it. I don't suppose they'll have any of the music that I like, though?
  
• Streaming pay-per-view movies. At $6-8 per movie it's almost as expensive as going to see it on the big screen, but at least you have a choice if you'd rather not watch Happy Feet for the barf-teenth time.
  
• Play other games, including Doom. Speaking of barf. Is playing a motion-sickness-inducing FPS (or racing games for that matter) on an airplane a good idea? Better make sure you have your airsick bag ready.
  

They'll be starting their LA-DC route in a couple of months! I can use visiting my friends as an excuse to fly VA. :)

Link

Pee for Speed!

Take a urinal, fit it with pressure-sensitive sensors and then hook it up to an LCD screen, what you get is a pee-controlled driving game. Brilliant!


Saatchi & Saatchi was asked by the Frankfurt Taxi Services company for a fun way to remind bar revelers to take a taxi instead of driving home. What they came up with was a quick game in the mens room to test the user's quick reflexes. Crash your car and a message would pop up along with the taxi company's phone number.

On the downside, guys with small bladders like me would likely have to drink another two beers just to be able to write their initials in the hi score.

What about a game for the ladies?

Link via Designspotter