Real Case Stories

Mail was the internet before the internet. The mail-order firms like Sears were able to penetrate underserved rural areas by leaning on the then-new infrastructures, such as the railroads that linked far-flung regions of the country.  One of the first mail-order launched in 1872, sixteen years before the famous Sears catalog , was Montgomery Ward.  Aaron Montgomery Ward  conceived of the idea of dry goods mail-order business in Chicago, Illinois, after he observed that rural customers often wanted "city" goods. The first catalog consisted of an 8 in × 12 in (20 cm × 30 cm) single-sheet price list, listing 163 items for sale with ordering instructions for which Ward had written the copy. By 1883, the company's catalog, which became popularly known as the "Wish Book", had grown to 240 pages and 10,000 items.  In 1888, Richard Wareen Sears started a business selling watches through mail order catalogs. The ...

This designer  Fernando Abellanas built a secret studio beneath a bridge in Valencia, Spain. More on Fast Co Design and Dezeen

In this study  "Physical Order Produces Healthy Choices,Generosity, and Conventionality, Whereas Disorder Produces Creativity" 3 experiments were conducted  Experiment 1 showed that relative to participants in a disorderly room, participants in an orderly room chose healthier snacks and donated more money. Experiment 2 showed that participants in a disorderly room were more creative than participants in an orderly room Experiment 3 showed a predicted crossover effect: Participants in an orderly room preferred an option labeled as classic, but those in a disorderly room preferred an option labeled as new Experiment 2 Forty-eight American students participated in a two-condition (orderly vs. disorderly environment) design. Participants completed tasks in a room arranged to be either orderly or disorderly. Participants imagined that a company wanted to create new uses for the ping-pong balls that it manufactured. They were instructed to list up to 10 ne...