Notes about Teens/Tweens

There's a ton of demographic info about teens and tweens out there.. i shall post my gathered material here later; However, I found that it was eye opening just to observe the teen environment out there: MuchMusic Teen Choice awards, TeenVogue, Sports Magazine, Chapter's Top 10 Teen music/video downloads, current movies, etc.

Banana Research

Funny youtube banana videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wa95CvhESQ

General list of benefits from various websites:

Fights depression (makes up all the proteins that the body converts to serotonin), contains vitamin B6 which can be good for pms moods, high in iron so it helps anemia cases, high in potassium but low in salt so great for moderating blood pressure, potassium can help keep alert aiding learning, fiber is good for relieving constipation, banana milkshake with honey great for hangovers, natural antacid for hearburn, banana skin can be effective for soothing mosquito bits, good for moderating body weight (ie. Substituting candy), only fruit that can be eaten in over-chronic ulcer cases, contains tryptophan which helps Seasonal Affective Disorder suffers, B6 B12 potassium and magnesium can help smokers recover from nicotine withdrawal… etc!


From Wikipedia:

Banana is the common name for a fruit and also the herbaceous plants of the genus Musa which produce this commonly eaten fruit. They are native to the tropical region of Southeast Asia. Bananas are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea.[1] Today, they are cultivated throughout the tropics.[2]

Banana plants are of the family Musaceae. They are cultivated primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent for the production of fibre and as ornamental plants. As the bananas are mainly tall, upright, and fairly sturdy, they are often mistaken for trees, when the truth is the main or upright stem is called a pseudostem, literally meaning "fake stem", which for some species can obtain a height of up to 2–8 m, with leaves of up to 3.5 m in length. Each pseudostem can produce a bunch of yellow, green, or even red bananas before dying and being replaced by another pseudostem.

The banana fruit grow in hanging clusters, with up to 20 fruit to a tier (called a hand), and 3-20 tiers to a bunch. The total of the hanging clusters is known as a bunch, or commercially as a "banana stem", and can weigh from 30–50 kg. The fruit averages 125 g, of which approximately 75% is water and 25% dry matter content. Each individual fruit (known as a banana or 'finger') has a protective outer layer (a peel or skin) with a fleshy edible inner portion. Both skin and inner part can be eaten raw or cooked. Western cultures generally eat the inside raw and throw away the skin while some Asian cultures generally eat both the skin and inside cooked. Typically, the fruit has numerous strings (called 'phloem bundles') which run between the skin and inner part. Bananas are a valuable source of vitamin B6, vitamin C, and potassium.

Bananas are grown in at least 107 countries.[3] In popular culture and commerce, "banana" usually refers to soft, sweet "dessert" bananas. The bananas from a group of cultivars with firmer, starchier fruit are called plantains. Bananas may also be cut and dried and eaten as a type of chip. Dried bananas are also ground into banana flour.

Although the wild species have fruits with numerous large, hard seeds, virtually all culinary bananas have seedless fruits. Bananas are classified either as dessert bananas (meaning they are yellow and fully ripe when eaten) or as green cooking bananas. Almost all export bananas are of the dessert types; however, only about 10-15% of all production is for export, with the United States and European Union being the dominant buyers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana


A selection of interesting information: - the common edible banana (Cavendish) could go extinct due to large mono-cultures colliding with disease, it's happened before with the predecessor Gros Michel
- Fibre uses: parts of the plant used for clothing and household use in Japan (ie. kimono). In Nepal, the truck is used to make rug fibres.
- Fibre use: paper can be made from the bark of the plant or from the stem
- careful refrigeration and transport suppress banana spoilage.
- can be indefinitely frozen and eaten like a popsicle or eaten as a banana mush

Usage in Culture
- banana peel slipping humour
- song "Yes, We Have No Bananas" very popular
- humorous phallic symbol due to similarities in size and shape (ie. Velvet Underground cover)
- sauce, cream pie, ketchup, pudding...

Banana: Initial Concepts

CONCEPTS

1. Ultimate pranks
-youtube competition, funny pranks, ski shoes, ultimate furniture slider, mentos and coke, slippery, be responsible with your wrapper, b/w spot with englishmans voice

2. Art work
-andy Warhol paints Hana Montana in banana style?, incorporate with cartoons?, clothing buttons, perhaps this can be our stylistic approach paired with another concept?

3. Day in the Life of a Banana
- banana journey
- worried about skincare

4. Candy Kid and Banana Kid 50 yrs old
- Candy Kid, very big with very bad teeth
- banana kids with banana smile…

5. Compare with other fruit
- orange - sourpuss, sour, chubby
- apple – geek, loner, wax statue look
- banana – cool tropical voice, sunny and happy, hangs out in bunches

6. Banana Hip Hop
- create new sticker label (repackage)
- associate with hip hop culture

7. Every Athlete’s Favorite Fruit
“My favorite snack is a banana because it gives me all the energy I need to before a big match.”
- Karri Walsh, gold medalist women’s volleyball 2008 olympics
Potential is huge here. We can get male and female athletes involved here. Sidney Crosby etc.
I can envision a online game where you can feed your athlete bananas or candy and see how he/she performs afterwards. Perhaps some gross stuff too…

8. Banana is a battery for humans… and animals
- bright yellow background, black silhouette foreground
- yellow background rises like a charger
- look to Nike ads for inspiration?

9. The banana is beautiful, you can be too.
The banana is tall and slim. Lots of tweens and teens have idols that are tall and slim. Candy? Not so tall and slim. Also the nutritional benefits of bananas can keep you tall and slim. Probably better for your skin than candy too. Big potential here?

10. The banana never lies.
The skin is a built in ripeness indicator that no other fruit or candy has (well, candy has an expiration date). Isn’t that cool?

11. Focus on ARTIFICIAL Candy vs. Natural Banana
- candy has deep ARTIFICIAL colours and flavoring like some Californians
- banana is as natural as can be
- show obviously artificial people eating candy, show everyday cool kid eating a banana
- Candy is FAKE
- Candy is like that fake friend that you had in high school
- You’re Disgusting Mr. Candy. Here’s why.

12. Repackage swap (HEIST)
- wrap up a banana nicely like candy or McDonalds
- remove the wrapping and artificial colouring from candy
- see who is gross, mirror with real life human styles? Eat Real!
- perhaps the VW engineers can do the honours?

13. Banana Phone
- seems popular on youtube….

14. You are what eat T.V. show spoof
- basically layout all the junk that people eat in one year all at once on a table spread

15. Super Size Me
- have two teens have an eating competition. One has to eat bananas everyday for a month, the other has to eat Cadbury Caramilk for a month. Stats collected (weight, mood, blood sugar, pressure, etc), also check for skin condition and hair condition. At the end, a trip to the dentist.

16. The wonderful world of banana pairings
- banana pancakes, banana cake, banana chips, banana split, peanut butter and banana… etc

17. Yellow is Better
- this is a bit more conceptual, but we can take advantage of the positive happy colour of yellow and associate all good things with it.

18. Teenagers making a banana movie of some sort
- youtube, home ground stuff… there are a few but rather crude. Can they be shaped to keep the energy but change the message?

19. Banana on Much Music with all teen idols during the Much Music Teen Choice Awards
- dunno where this is going…

20. Teen Idols singing “Banana Chips” Karaoke
- just fun and silly, possibly memorable?
- encourage many celebrities to upload to youtube?

21. Banana Art
- can show someone making the art on a banana to cool music
- teen banana art competition, while using everything cradle to grave.

Banana: In class brainstorming

The Players

Banana
-silly, pranks, jokes, yellow, green, brown, monkey, tropical, happy, smile shape, sad face goofy, goofy, peel, great packaging, slippery, tool, bundle, healthy, groups, breakfast, snack, cereal, taste, bruising, mushy, banana chips, pancakes, soft, yellow on outside, white on the inside, potassium, bruise easily

fast and easy source of carbohydrates needed for energy for brain and muscles, favorite among sporting people (especially pro athletes)

Apple
Red, green, yellow, religion, every day, fiber, sweet or sour, pie, goodness, education, smart, technology, gravity, science, good evil

Orange
Orange, sweet, sunny, sun, breakfast, California, Sunkist, bluejay, vitamin C, wedges, green mould

Candy
Bright, fun, cartoon, artificial colour, artificial sweeteners, too bright, chemicals, sweet, overweight, rotten teeth, cavities, cheap, easy to get, plenty of commercials, plenty of advertising, like a cheap drug, gives you quick pleasure (through sweetness), high school students are starting to sell it outside their schools

Tweens
11-12, hanna montana, olsen twins, becoming individuals, search for personal style, rejects childlike images and associations and wishes to be like a teen, money through parents, allowances, gifts, parents still hold the keys to purchasing, bridging group. Girls still like dolls, guys like gross. Examples of current products: American girl, Groovy Girls, Riot Media. Still attracted to something that at least appears authentic.
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/oct2005/id20051012_606473.htm
http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/

Teens
13-18, music, hip hop, rebellion, search for acceptance from peers, after school jobs for money, cosmogirl, girl’s-eye view, a part of the economy, big consumers of ipods, cell phones, girl made girl approved, myspace, facebook, content sharing

Banana New Media Project

PROBLEM: Not enough teens are eating fruits (bananas, apples, oranges) these days. They're eating too much candy.

SOLUTION: Get kids to eat more fruits (specifically the great banana). Create a heightened experience to sell the banana (through EMOTION, FUNCTION = VALUE) using New Media as the vehicle.

REQUIREMENTS:
Choose 1 of 3 different fruits that are all competing to be eaten (great banana in our case)
· List all the advantages/disadvantages
· Consider all other fruits competition
· Students will work in groups of 2: get one fruit

New Media Goals:
· Create a New Media driven campaign that will make the banana irresistable to the target demographic (cool, tasty, awesome). Can your experience prove to be valuable and memorable.
· You have all the tools of New Media at your disposal (Web, Video, Audio, Viral Marketing) to create this fantastic, innovative experience.
· Remember the definition of New Media
· The sky is the limit. You have no budget. We will celebrate innovation, the cool and the fantastic! You have the best programmers at your disposal.

TARGET MARKET:
· Tweens and Teens
- Research strategies:
· What are kids into these days? How can we connect with them?

FINAL DELIVERABLES:
October 2:
- Get in your pairs and develop a strategy for the next 2 weeks
- Write down everything you know about this topic
- Immediately brainstorm 3-6 assumptions/ideas/ways of tackling/selling this problem
- After class, post to the blog

October 9:
- Research and validate your ideas that you generated in class
- Develop another 3 solid ideas/concepts
- Have all your research and develop posted on the blog before class (otherwise late)
- Class at my place next week (so we can use computers)
- Have multiple ideas (IN SKETCH FORM) generated and ready to present in class (NARRATIVE)
- Either on the process template or on screen (present a suitable narrative)

October 16th:
- Have all your developments posted on the blog before class
- Present refined visuals of your concept (to be determined with instructor)
- Hand in your process books

Malaria Metaphors

To conquer malaria, a society must become somewhat stable.
To solve the problem, it must be attacked from multiple angles
simultaneously. Below, I've illustrated a metaphor for segmenting
the malaria issue into distinct units. Of course, the units can
be divided in many different ways, but this is my first attempt. :)

The conquest of Malaria is similar to building a stable stool to sit on.
If you're missing any leg, the stool is unstable. Therefore, it is important
to work on each leg, or aspect.




















Each leg can be further subdivided into more detailed units. The doweling (that connects the legs together) can be thought of as dependencies or cross-pollinators.



















Malaria is considered a vector disease since the number of infections is directly effected by the number of primary infection carriers (in this case mosquitoes). More mosquitoes, more malaria cases. Simple.

Vector control attempts to either reduce the number of mosquitoes, or reduce the bad interactions with the mosquitoes. Solutions can include:

1. Education - existing technologies such as bed nets are not used probably more than 50% of the time. Perhaps some games can be developed to get kids excited about using bed nets at night.

2. Education - more health care staff are need to give mothers proper training for bed net use.

3. Incentive - perhaps give parents incentive to use the proper bed net procedures. Extra bedding or clothing perhaps.

4. Education - encourage specialists from nations who have defeated malaria (ie. Italy) come to communities that have be devastated by it to give hope to the locals.

5. R&D - issue Web 2.0 challenges for alternative vector control methods.

6. New systems - solar powered mosquito repellers (acoustic based?) combind with mosquito attractors. one can attach many mosquitoes into one location and then cull them.

7. Appeal to 1st world nations for more empathy and support. Perhaps commercials such as Stephen Lewis's foundation HIV/AIDs can be employed. another thought... a mother and child die every 5 seconds of Malaria - could be a spot for a TV commercial - picture a north american playground with many young families... every 5 secs, a mother and child fade out - appeal for monetary and other support.






















Possible solutions for Good Governance:

1. Educate the political leaders. Create a government 2.0 network of world leaders. Sounds crazy but you never know.

2. Create a specialized wikigoverment applications that all the leading thinkers of the world can moderate. Amazing solutions sometimes come from the most unlikely people. wikigovernment can harness those rare resourses.

3. Improve human rights for women by targeting them to become local business leaders. Kiva can be used to startup some small business. Business can start off related to fighting malaria (ie. for drugs or bed nets).

4. Create an informed citizen base (so that they can keep their leaders honest). Use of radio, orators (old style), or possibly internet (100 dollar laptop).

5. Build health infrastructure at all costs, even in the worst malarial zones. If malaria is controlled in a few places but not in others, it'll rise again.


















Won't elaborate too much here... please refer to diagram. :)

Apple machines continued

A few more ideas for the apple machines:

1. nanobot ants that can carry a the weight of an apple. release an army of them into the orchard.

2. Large Hadron Collider apple wormhole picking device: Create worm holes close to the apples, superimpose a mini black hole to suck it in, transport to N-th dimension. At a supermarket, use another Large hadron collider to open up another wormhole to the N-th dimension. Drop apple onto store display from N-th dimension... ok, way too crazy. :)

Here are few more detailed drawings of some earlier ideas:


For the Canada Arm design, the evolution of the idea would basically vary in terms of # of arms, cargo holding, placement of arms, and form of locomotion. For novelty, I've kept the basic form of the shuttle. :)







































Robot with Pneumatic Tubes: This idea would eventually evolve into the ultimate apple picking robot. Destructo (the robot below), stores apples in his belly. If the orchard becomes a target of an alien invasion, he can reverse the flow of his pneumatic arms an propel apples at scary speeds towards the aliens.




















The You Pick Juicer by Dr. Seuss, picks apples, makes juice, and makes children happy.