#the jacques de vaucanson one

[doctorwhoisadhd]

god i wish i could see that flute player automaton. unfortunately its been lost but an automaton that can legitimately play is SO cool...

[nshtn]

two writing bugs in my brain -

some plot what plot albert wesker snuggles while you two talk about progenitor (you do not know the depths of his research, you poor, poor little bambi - but it is so fascinating to hear you pour over the same details he did, once, when he'd resided on the side of what he deigns now)

he'd be strangely docile the entire time, and he'd entertain your ramblings with mirthless laughter and wistful, soft, gator-toothed gazes. a lot of chest-deep chuckles that belie information you are not privy to in order to conserve your fragile worldview - your thin, flexible humanity.

and, of course, the juicy: wesker talks about progenitor strangely for someone who has seen firsthand what its' infliction on even the most willing, quality host can do! isn't that a little odd to you, this creeping, climbing shiver down the base of your spine?

and...

ai x reader where the ship AI (with its' servo-inlaid maintenance wires that can slide out of its' panels, of course) has decided to use them as a means of imitating friendly touch in an effort to get closer to you, since it believes a prismatic arm would cause distress.

you have a philosophical discussion about jacques de vaucanson and d.f. jones and solenoids and camshafts and all of the things that humanity built to get to where it is now, a being before you of incalculable depth in which no one engineer understands every layer of neurons, even just every sandwiched perceptron. and in this it dawns upon you, the magnitude of the ai itself, unspoken in how dwarfed you are and how small you feel.

thoughts, friends?

[steliosagapitos]

                   THE PEACOCK CLOCK IN HERMITAGE

  For more than two centuries now the Hermitage has been adorned by a unique exhibit that never fails to evoke the enchanted admiration of visitors - the famous Peacock Clock. The figures of a peacock, cockerel and owl that form part of this elaborate timepiece-automaton are fitted with mechanisms that set them in motion.

The creation of mechanical birds had long been of interest to inventors: back in the Ancient World figures of "singing" birds had been used to embellish clepsydras - water clocks. In the 18th century the makers of automata tried to create a system that would enable their birds not only to sing, but also to behave as if alive, and they made them life-size. In the middle of the century, for example, the whole of Europe admired the mechanical duck made by the French craftsman Jacques de Vaucanson, which was able to eat, drink, move and behave in the most life-like manner.

 The most celebrated creator of mechanisms of this sort in the second half of the 18th century was the London jeweller and goldsmith James Cox. His fertile imagination generated ideas that were then turned into reality by the craftsmen and mechanics of his company. Cox's firm produced a large number of elaborate automata, sumptuously decorated in a great variety of ways, for European and Eastern clients. Cox became truly famous, however, when in 1772 he opened his own museum - the Spring Gardens, in which he exhibited a large number of mechanical figures of exotic animals, birds and human beings. To fund the making of expensive automata Cox organized lotteries: in London in 1773 and in Dublin the next year. A surviving catalogue of the Dublin lottery lists two peacocks as numbers 6 and 8. From the description of the items it is clear that this pair of automata differed from the Hermitage composition: the peacock was perched on an oak stump, around which two snakes twined. There is no mention of the figures of a cockerel and owl, or of the mushroom that acts as the clock dial.

     The history of the Hermitage's Peacock Clock begins in 1777, when the Duchess of Kingston visited St Petersburg. Balls were given in the Russian capital in honour of this wealthy and distinguished guest. Grigory Potiomkin, who met the Duchess in society, learned of James Cox's magnificent mechanisms. Pandering to Catherine II's passion for collecting, the Prince commissioned the celebrated craftsman to make a monumental automaton with a clock for the Empress's Hermitage. In order to meet this expensive order as quickly as possible, Cox, whose financial affairs were currently not in the best of health, decided to use an existing mechanical peacock that featured in the Dublin lottery. He expanded the composition with a cockerel, owl and a clock mechanism with a dial incorporated into the head of a mushroom, and removed the snakes. To create his new automaton, Cox recruited the assistance of Friedrich Jury, a German craftsman who had settled in London.

   The Peacock Clock arrived in St Petersburg in 1781. The records of the Winter Palace chancellery listing the valuables that Catherine II acquired in that year include mention of two payments - on 30 September and 14 December - to the clockmaker Jury for a clock delivered from England. The payments amounted to 11,000 roubles (around 1,800 pounds sterling) and were made from the Empress's personal funds on the basis of a letter from Prince Potiomkin.

   The clock was brought to Russia in pieces. At Potiomkin's request the Russian mechanic Ivan Kulibin set it in working order. From 1797 to the present day the Peacock Clock has been one of the Hermitage's most famous exhibits. It is, moreover, the only large 18th-century automaton in the world to have come down to us unaltered and in a functioning condition.

[indn241callagdecl2021]

Assignment 1 - Chosen Example 1/2 - The Jacquard Loom

Who designed it? Joseph-Marie Jacquard

When was it designed? Between 1804 and 1805, improving on a 1745 design by Jacques de Vaucanson.

Was it the designer’s answer or resolution to a problem or Issue? The loom attachment enabled the weaver to produce complex and intricate patterns with relative ease. This made beautifully patterned fabrics more accessible to people who had previously been unable to afford them.

How long did it take to complete the design since its inception? Jacquard first proposed the loom in 1790, but the idea was shelved by the outbreak of the French Revolution.

What is the material(s) it is made of/from? Like similar looms of the time, the loom is made of wood, metal, card, string, and other biodegradable materials. It was designed long before the human invention of non-biodegradable materials that have since caused so many problems in the world of fashion.

How was it manufactured/crafted? The Loom would have been constructed using the wood and metalworking techniques of the day, with some innovation on previous looms.

How many units have been produced? The loom became popular all over Europe and the UK, with 11,000 running in France alone by 1812. When the Loom became public property in 1806, Jacquard received a royalty for each one built.

Was the material(s) and/or manufacturing/crafting process better than its predecessors or competition? If so, how and why? While previous versions had used punched cards, Jacquard used a continuous belt to feed the cards into the loom, automatically controlling which threads are raised in the weaving process. This removed the requirement for the operator to manually input the data, speeding up the process.

Was there any consideration of its potential impact on the  environment, people or society put into practice ahead of its time? While no specific consideration was given to the environment, the textiles created by the loom would all be of natural materials and while beautiful, would eventually biodegrade.

Who was its target audience? What kind of responses did it meet with? While the loom became immensely popular with European weavers , many skilled professional silk weavers believed that the move toward automation would put them out of a job. Many took to acts of violence against the machines, throwing their sabots (wooden clogs) into the workings to destroy them. While it is a popular myth that the word ‘Saboteur’ originates from this practice, this is unsubstantiated.

Can you describe its typical use or experience? After copying out the designs on to a grid (a process analogous to the pixilation of a photograph), the design is translated on to punched cards as a kind of code (again, analogous to inputting data on to a computer). Stitching them together, the cards are fed through the machine on a loop, with the positioning of the holes acting as binary code to control the raising of certain threads.

What are the most impressive qualities or features of the design (in  your opinion)? Jacquard’s most impressive innovation was taking the interchangeable punched cards and looping them into belt as a method of data input, allowing the loom to repeat the same pattern.

Any other intriguing facts? Jacquard’s use of a series of punched cards as a method of storing data was an idea taken up by English mathematician and engineer Charles Babbage for his Analytical Engine, the first mechanical computer. This was programmed by mathematician Ada Lovelace, the daughter of famous English poet Lord Byron. Jacquard’s system was in effect, the first computer code.

Do you think it is technically, aesthetically or culturally important or meaningful? Absolutely. The Jacquard loom laid the groundwork for all of modern textiles and computing, making it one of the most remarkable machines since the Gutenberg Printing Press. The work done on the Jacquard Loom helped to democratise the fashion world While we consider industrialisation to have been a bad thing for the environment, we now have an opportunity to utilise the advances that were dearly bought.

In conclusion, why do you think it deserves to be an exemplar of good  design? The loom could be operated with relative ease to produce complex and intricate patterned fabrics, making them available to the masses for the first time. It could be constructed and destroyed sustainably, as could the products it produced. As a machine rather than an aesthetic piece of design, the form is totally defined by function, with a thematic continuity between the punched cards and the fabrics produced.

How would you improve it if you redesign it? My problem with the Jaquard loom comes from the contribution it made to the processes of industrialisation and capitalism by allowing loom factory owners to pay lower wages to less skilled staff, while producing a higher quality of product. While this would normally exclude it from my own criteria of good design, the fault lies with the people, and not the product. If the Jacquard Loom had been more accessible, especially given its simple materials and ease of operation, it could have been a conduit for autonomy and individuality rather than the grandfather of the industrial textile mill. While this has no doubt been done by innovators over the years, I would further mechanise and refine the form of the loom in order to reduce the physical space and human labour involved, as well as ensuring that only sustainable materials could be used. This could be done using power from natural processes such as wind and follow the same open-source concepts as the 3D Printer, and could occupy a similar role.

History. (2009, November 9). French Revolution.. Retrieved March 5, 2020, from https://www.history.com/topics/france/french-revolution

Jacquard loom. (n.d.). Britannica. Retrieved March 4, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/technology/Jacquard-loom

Joseph-Marie Jacquard. (n.d.). Britannica. Retrieved March 4, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Marie-Jacquard

Lotz, A. (2016, November 21). The Origin of the Word Sabotage. https://handwovenmagazine.com/origin-of-the-word-sabotage/

Victoria and Albert Museum. (2015, October 9). How was it Made? Jacquard weaving [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6NgMNvK52A

[ownerzero]

The Greatest Robot of the 1700s was a Pooping Duck

Tinkerers have been trying to recreate animated beings with mechanical technology for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. Automatons were an early version of a robot, powered by wind-up springs or flywheels. Jacques de Vaucanson made one in 1739 that caused a sensation: the Digesting Duck. It was an artificial duck, and people came out of […]

The post The Greatest Robot of the 1700s was a Pooping Duck appeared first on AWorkstation.com.

source https://aworkstation.com/the-greatest-robot-of-the-1700s-was-a-pooping-duck/

[jeramymobley]

Managing The Brand Licensing Ecosystem

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. This test implies that a person can identify an unknown subject by observing that subject’s habitual characteristics. If something has all the characteristics of a thing, it is probably that thing.

So you have a logo, your corporate brand that stands for something – your brand reputation and relationship with your consumer. Once a licensed product is out of its packaging, and you put the product on, see the product from across the room or from across the street, will it be quickly identified as part of the brand’s ecosystem?

Incidentally, the phrase “if it looks like a duck…” was originally about a mechanical digesting duck. In 1783, a French automaton maker, Jacques de Vaucanson, fooled the world into thinking he’d replicated life. The mechanical duck was built to surprise audiences by quacking, moving it’s head to eat, seemingly digest, and then after a short time drop some fowl friends off at the lake. The truth is, it was a clockwork trick. The food went down a rubber tube into a stomach, whereupon a pre-stored mixture of actual canard crap was squeezed out of a bag.

Back To Brand Licensing…

Earlier in my career, I had the privilege to serve as VP Licensing for Rawlings, a leading sports equipment manufacturer. A company with great people and great pride in their product and brand. I specifically chose the sequence of product first, brand second as that is how the sporting goods industry works. At the time there was an air of skepticism about brand licensing, however without realizing it, their approval process was based on revenue first, how the logo looked and that’s about it. They weren’t holding licensed products to their own internal quality standards, as a result the reputation of their licensed products was poor.

After a brand licensing audit we realized that Rawlings’ core products provided something for athletes of all ages, abilities and affordability’s, however licensed products were limited to the good or better of mass. We had licensed baseball cleats for the person wearing a $14.99 to $59.99 baseball glove, but nothing for consumers using a baseball glove in the $79.99 through to the $500 Primo glove price range. We then defined the materials, textures, durability requirements, and product model-name collections. Licensees then developed better products. We added a new approval step for products core to the sport: let the “internal pros” wear and use the product. This drastically improved both the reputation of our licensed products and revenue. In the next year after the new guidelines were defined, we saw over a $500K spike in licensing royalty income.

When crafting guidelines for third-party activation, here is a quick checklist of things to cull together beyond proper visual logo usage guidelines:

Corporate Brand

Primary Logo & Secondary logo: how they are protected and where.

When and where does a licensee use BRAND, BRAND®, BRAND©.

Are there interpretations for different consumers? For example a color palette may serve as a representation of the tone and manner to follow within different creative segments.

Forms of trade dress (e.g. Jeep seven slot grill, Adidas 3 stripes, NBA uniform designs)

Product Model Collection names and attributes:

Price / Value relationship

Historical, current, future

Color, materials and design inspiration

Technology and Attributes

Durable, light weight, efficient, material specifications & sources

Images, photography and concept design

Mainstream media exposure

Specific Models

Active sponsorships and marketing partnerships

Communications/phrases, slogans and marketing assets

Tone, manner and voice of your brand. Does your brand’s voice talk technical specifics or emotional benefits?

In short, your guidelines should be built to allow effective motion in one direction only, and therefore build something with greater ease.

Volkswagen offers a valuable example on the importance of getting this right. They licensed a refrigerator manufacturer, Gorenje; to make VW Bus inspired refrigerators. Given the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is looking to cut down on emissions from refrigerators, should we expect that VW includes in their brand activation guidelines their ‘defeat device’ – or software that can detect when it is being tested changing the performance accordingly to improve results? Remember, it’s all about your brand relationship and reputation.

Sink or swim. What you put in your licensing brand activation matters. Make your guidelines a living and breathing document and you will have healthy and sustainable licensing program afloat.

The Blake Project Can Help: We offer brand licensing workshops to help brand owners develop a strategy for licensing or refine an existing one. Another way we serve our  clients is through a Brand Licensing Audit which is an essential guide in considering, building and/or fine tuning a program. Please email us for more.

Branding Strategy Insider is a service of The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in Brand Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Licensing and Brand Education

FREE Publications And Resources For Marketers

[aallyouwebsite-blog]

Robotic Vacuum Cleaners: The Modern Method Of Cleansing

Unlike most common beliefs, the principle of robotics is not specifically a new kind of modern technology. According to history, robotics have actually been on the market for so many years now. As a matter of fact, the really first documented building and construction of a functioning robot was a masterpiece of Jacques de Vaucanson in 1738. Since then, numerous have actually attempted and thrived in building these exceptional mechanical devices. 

   At RobotShop, you can discover nearly every type of robot that you have long wanted. Along with its long line of robotics, the robot vacuum cleaners come close to excellence as for flexibility from tiresome job is worried. 

   Of the lots of features of robotics, the concept to supply people with makers that helps with and aids lighten the burden of their everyday duties is one of the most strong reason robotics are created. Thats why makers all over the world recognize the importance of creating robots to satisfy the requirements of household makers, to name a few markets. Domestic robotics are now gaining their own fans. They have actually had the ability to aid maids worldwide because of their reliable as well as quick method of finishing the job. 

   Robotic vacuums are not always scheduled to domestic usage just. They can likewise be used in stores, workplaces, institution, etc. Constructed with unrivaled power as far as cleansing is concerned, robotic vacuums can definitely make a big difference in the method individuals utilize their time in cleaning. 

   One of the best features of robotic vacuums is that they can definitely cleanse locations that are difficult to get to. They have built-in sensors that can caution the robotic of its existing setting and also make sure that the robot will not trip over ledges or stairways. 

   At RobotShop, customers can choose from a wide array of robot vacuum cleaners, each layout has its own amazing features. 

   In addition to the checklist is the powerful line of iRobot Roomba Robotic Vacuums. These robotic vacuums are particularly built to provide utmost efficiency when it involves cleaning. As a matter of fact, according to analytical records, iRobot Robot Vacuums Roomba line are the leading marketing robotic vacuum cleaners worlwide. Costs vary from CAD $250 to CAD $440. 

   Following is the Karcher RC 3000 Robocleaner. This certain kind can really operate and also do the jobs by itself. As an example, if its battery requires to charge, or when the dustpan is already full, this robot vacuum cleaner will discover its own method to the docking station. Right here, the robotic vacuum will likewise discharge its dirt and also dust into a 2.0 L vacuum cleaner bag. 

   You can likewise have a look at Metapo CleanMate individual cleansing robotic. Like any robotic vacuum cleaner, CleanMate is particularly developed to minimize people from the troubles of day-to-day cleaning. It is extremely flexible and can practically clean up any kind of surface, from carpeting to hard-to-clean surfaces like ceramic tiles as well as wood. Most importantly, CleanMate is the only robot vacuum cleaner that can simultaneously do the cleaning, ventilating, and sterilizing of the location. 

   Provided all these facts, it can be clearly stated that the dawn of modern-day cleansing is at hand. With robot vacuum cleaners, individuals can begin living a life devoid of the chains of cleansing. With domestic robotics, you can have more time with your family members and do points that are of higher importance than holding a mop.

[barrenharold021-blog]

What is robot toy and why you buy?

Robot comes from the Czech word “robota” which means “forced work or labor.” We use the word "Robot" today to mean any man-made machine that can perform work or other actions normally performed by humans, either automatically or by remote control. Robotics is the science and study of robots.

What do Robots do?

Imagine if your job was to tighten one screw on a toaster. And you did this over and over again on toaster after toaster, day after day, for weeks, months, or years. This kind of job is better done by robots than by humans. Most robots today are used to do repetitive actions or jobs considered too dangerous for humans. A robot is ideal for going into a building that has a possible bomb. Robots are also used in factories to build things like cars, candy bars, and electronics. Robots are now used in medicine, for military tactics, for finding objects underwater and to explore other planets. Robotic technology has helped people who have lost arms or legs. Robots are a great tool to help mankind.

A brief history

Robots seem like a modern day invention, but in reality evidence suggests that automations were created for everything from toys to parts for religious ceremonies in ancient Greece and Rome. Leonardo da Vinci sketched plans for a humanoid robot in the late 1400s. Jacques de Vaucanson was famous in the 18th century for his automated human figure that played the flute and for a duck that could flap its wings.

Many automated inventions that could behave in similar fashion to a human have been documented throughout history. Most were created largely for entertainment purposes. Fiction writers found great success in writing about robots in all sorts of situations which meant that the robot was part of daily conversation and imagination. In 1956 George Devol and Joseph Engelberger formed the world's first robot company. By the 1960s robots were introduced into the General Motors automobile plant in New Jersey for moving car parts around. Robots continued to develop and can now be found in homes as toys, vacuums, and as programmable pets. Today robots are a part of many aspects of industry, medicine, science, space exploration, construction, food packaging and are even used to perform surgery. Watson, a robot with artificial intelligence from IBM, defeated the human players in an episode of Jeopardy.

So Why Use Robots?

The reason robots are used is that it is often cheaper to use them over humans, easier for robots to do some jobs and sometimes the only possible way to accomplish some tasks! Robots can explore inside gas tanks, inside volcanoes, travel the surface of Mars or other places too dangerous for humans to go where extreme temperatures or contaminated environments exist. Related Articles : https://www.robotsden.com/

Robots can also do the same thing over and over again without getting bored. They can drill, they can weld, they can paint, they can handle hazardous materials, and in some situations, robots are much more accurate than a human ‐ which can cut back on production costs, mistakes or hazards. Robots never get sick, don't need sleep, don't need food, don't need to take a day off, and best of all they don't ever complain! There are a lot of benefits to using robots.

Parts of a Robot

Robots can be made from a variety of materials including metals and plastics. Most robots are composed of 3 main parts: 1. The Controller ‐ also known as the "brain" which is run by a computer program. Often, the program is very detailed as it give commands for the moving parts of the robot to follow. 2. Mechanical parts ‐ motors, pistons, grippers, wheels, and gears that make the robot move, grab, turn, and lift. These parts are usually powered by air, water, or electricity. 3. Sensors ‐ to tell the robot about its surroundings. Sensors allow the robot to determine sizes, shapes, space between objects, direction, and other relations and properties of substances. Many robots can even identify the amount of pressure necessary to apply to grab an item without crushing it.

All of these parts work together to control how the robot operates.

Nanorobots

Nano-robots or nanobots are robots scaled down to microscopic size in order to put them into very small spaces to perform a function. Currently nanobots are still in the developmental stage. Future nanobots could be placed in the blood stream to perform surgical procedures that are too delicate or too difficult for standard surgery. Nanobots could fight bacteria by tracking down and eliminating each bacterial cell or could repair individual organ cells in the body. Imagine if a nanobot could target cancer cells and destroy them without touching healthy cells nearby. Nanobots would probably carry medication and surgical tools on board. They would need to be able to navigate through the human body and then find their way out too. Nanobots could be used in other situations too. Tiny nanobot gears and tools could allow construction of objects at the tiniest of scale. Some of the things we only imagine in science fiction could one day be reality. Maybe you will one day be a scientist who works with nanobots.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is also known as machine intelligence or AI for short. Some computers and robots have been given the opportunity to act with human-like behavior. Face recognition software, complicated scheduling software, or computer games that give players a response based on the players actions are all forms of artificial intelligence. The goal for AI was, at one time, to recreate the intelligence of a human being. At the present time, insect intelligence is the focus of research and development because insects and their behavior are easier to mimic. Nanobots could be based on insect behavior, working in swarms together to perform a function.

Some robots and computers have been given the ability to learn and to use information from previous activities to make future decisions. A robot that fills a box with cookies might be able to “count” the number of cookies in the box, or a computer could determine the amount of traffic on a street to calculate when to change the light. This science is in the early stages, but robots are being developed that can make decisions in order to serve food, translate words from one language to another, and get information from outside resources to solve problems.

Robot Limitations

Unlike in the movies, Robots are unable to think or make decisions; they are only tools to help us get things done. Robots are machines with programed movements that allow them to move in certain directions or sequences. Artificial intelligence has given robots more ability to process information and to “learn.” But, they are still limited by the information that they are given and the functions they are given to perform.

[ugearsmodels-blog]

History of Toy Robots

Times have certainly changed - just look at what kids are playing with these days. While toy cars and dolls may still keep youngsters entertained, popular playthings of the new generation include video games, remote control toys, and toy robots. The origin of toy robots can be traced back to the development of robots. One of the earliest robots was an automaton invented by Frenchman Jacques de Vaucanson in 1738. He made a self-automating mechanical duck that was able to eat and digest grain, flap its wings, and excrete. In Japan, Hisashige Tanaka created an assortment of extremely complex mechanical toys, some of which were capable of firing arrows, serving tea, or even painting a Japanese character. In the 1930s, Westinghouse Electric Corporation built a humanoid robot. The robot, called Elektro, was exhibited at the World's Fair during 1939 and 1940. From 1948 to 1949, William Grey Walter of the Burden Neurological Institute at Bristol, England developed the first electronic autonomous robots. Named Elmer and Elsie, these "turtle robots" could sense light and contact with external objects. They were also capable of finding their charging station when their battery power ran low. The first truly modern robot that was digitally operated, programmable, and teachable was invented by George Devol in 1954. His robot was called the Unimate, which he sold to General Motors in 1960. In 1961, it was installed in a plant in Trenton, New Jersey to lift hot pieces of metal from a die casting machine and stack them.

In 1985, the Tomy Kyogo Company created the Omnibot 2000, a toy robot that could be controlled with a hand-held remote control or through programs stored on magnetic tape. In the late 1990s, AIBO the robotic dog was introduced by Sony. AIBO was capable of autonomously navigating a room and playing ball using its sensor array. Other pet robots soon followed.  Here's more information about yougears have a look at the webpage.

Tiger Electronics created the Furby in 1998, a pet toy that could communicate with its owner. In 2001, Omron released the robotic cat NeCoRo as a competitor to AIBO. It had Mind and Consciousness (MaC) technology, enabling it to generate feelings.

Toy robots have certainly come a long way from Jacques de Vaucanson's mechanical duck over two centuries ago. They are a more common sight nowadays, and it is without a doubt that we will continue to see more of toy robots in the years to come.    

[glenmenlow]

Managing The Brand Licensing Ecosystem

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. This test implies that a person can identify an unknown subject by observing that subject’s habitual characteristics. If something has all the characteristics of a thing, it is probably that thing.

So you have a logo, your corporate brand that stands for something – your brand reputation and relationship with your consumer. Once a licensed product is out of its packaging, and you put the product on, see the product from across the room or from across the street, will it be quickly identified as part of the brand’s ecosystem?

Incidentally, the phrase “if it looks like a duck…” was originally about a mechanical digesting duck. In 1783, a French automaton maker, Jacques de Vaucanson, fooled the world into thinking he’d replicated life. The mechanical duck was built to surprise audiences by quacking, moving it’s head to eat, seemingly digest, and then after a short time drop some fowl friends off at the lake. The truth is, it was a clockwork trick. The food went down a rubber tube into a stomach, whereupon a pre-stored mixture of actual canard crap was squeezed out of a bag.

Back To Brand Licensing…

Earlier in my career, I had the privilege to serve as VP Licensing for Rawlings, a leading sports equipment manufacturer. A company with great people and great pride in their product and brand. I specifically chose the sequence of product first, brand second as that is how the sporting goods industry works. At the time there was an air of skepticism about brand licensing, however without realizing it, their approval process was based on revenue first, how the logo looked and that’s about it. They weren’t holding licensed products to their own internal quality standards, as a result the reputation of their licensed products was poor.

After a brand licensing audit we realized that Rawlings’ core products provided something for athletes of all ages, abilities and affordability’s, however licensed products were limited to the good or better of mass. We had licensed baseball cleats for the person wearing a $14.99 to $59.99 baseball glove, but nothing for consumers using a baseball glove in the $79.99 through to the $500 Primo glove price range. We then defined the materials, textures, durability requirements, and product model-name collections. Licensees then developed better products. We added a new approval step for products core to the sport: let the “internal pros” wear and use the product. This drastically improved both the reputation of our licensed products and revenue. In the next year after the new guidelines were defined, we saw over a $500K spike in licensing royalty income.

When crafting guidelines for third-party activation, here is a quick checklist of things to cull together beyond proper visual logo usage guidelines:

Corporate Brand

Primary Logo & Secondary logo: how they are protected and where.

When and where does a licensee use BRAND, BRAND®, BRAND©.

Are there interpretations for different consumers? For example a color palette may serve as a representation of the tone and manner to follow within different creative segments.

Forms of trade dress (e.g. Jeep seven slot grill, Adidas 3 stripes, NBA uniform designs)

Product Model Collection names and attributes:

Price / Value relationship

Historical, current, future

Color, materials and design inspiration

Technology and Attributes

Durable, light weight, efficient, material specifications & sources

Images, photography and concept design

Mainstream media exposure

Specific Models

Active sponsorships and marketing partnerships

Communications/phrases, slogans and marketing assets

Tone, manner and voice of your brand. Does your brand’s voice talk technical specifics or emotional benefits?

In short, your guidelines should be built to allow effective motion in one direction only, and therefore build something with greater ease.

Volkswagen offers a valuable example on the importance of getting this right. They licensed a refrigerator manufacturer, Gorenje; to make VW Bus inspired refrigerators. Given the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is looking to cut down on emissions from refrigerators, should we expect that VW includes in their brand activation guidelines their ‘defeat device’ – or software that can detect when it is being tested changing the performance accordingly to improve results? Remember, it’s all about your brand relationship and reputation.

Sink or swim. What you put in your licensing brand activation matters. Make your guidelines a living and breathing document and you will have healthy and sustainable licensing program afloat.

The Blake Project Can Help: We offer brand licensing workshops to help brand owners develop a strategy for licensing or refine an existing one. Another way we serve our  clients is through a Brand Licensing Audit which is an essential guide in considering, building and/or fine tuning a program. Please email us for more.

Branding Strategy Insider is a service of The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in Brand Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Licensing and Brand Education

FREE Publications And Resources For Marketers

from WordPress https://glenmenlow.wordpress.com/2018/08/15/managing-the-brand-licensing-ecosystem/ via IFTTT

[markjsousa]

Managing The Brand Licensing Ecosystem

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. This test implies that a person can identify an unknown subject by observing that subject’s habitual characteristics. If something has all the characteristics of a thing, it is probably that thing.

So you have a logo, your corporate brand that stands for something – your brand reputation and relationship with your consumer. Once a licensed product is out of its packaging, and you put the product on, see the product from across the room or from across the street, will it be quickly identified as part of the brand’s ecosystem?

Incidentally, the phrase “if it looks like a duck…” was originally about a mechanical digesting duck. In 1783, a French automaton maker, Jacques de Vaucanson, fooled the world into thinking he’d replicated life. The mechanical duck was built to surprise audiences by quacking, moving it’s head to eat, seemingly digest, and then after a short time drop some fowl friends off at the lake. The truth is, it was a clockwork trick. The food went down a rubber tube into a stomach, whereupon a pre-stored mixture of actual canard crap was squeezed out of a bag.

Back To Brand Licensing…

Earlier in my career, I had the privilege to serve as VP Licensing for Rawlings, a leading sports equipment manufacturer. A company with great people and great pride in their product and brand. I specifically chose the sequence of product first, brand second as that is how the sporting goods industry works. At the time there was an air of skepticism about brand licensing, however without realizing it, their approval process was based on revenue first, how the logo looked and that’s about it. They weren’t holding licensed products to their own internal quality standards, as a result the reputation of their licensed products was poor.

After a brand licensing audit we realized that Rawlings’ core products provided something for athletes of all ages, abilities and affordability’s, however licensed products were limited to the good or better of mass. We had licensed baseball cleats for the person wearing a $14.99 to $59.99 baseball glove, but nothing for consumers using a baseball glove in the $79.99 through to the $500 Primo glove price range. We then defined the materials, textures, durability requirements, and product model-name collections. Licensees then developed better products. We added a new approval step for products core to the sport: let the “internal pros” wear and use the product. This drastically improved both the reputation of our licensed products and revenue. In the next year after the new guidelines were defined, we saw over a $500K spike in licensing royalty income.

When crafting guidelines for third-party activation, here is a quick checklist of things to cull together beyond proper visual logo usage guidelines:

Corporate Brand

Primary Logo & Secondary logo: how they are protected and where.

When and where does a licensee use BRAND, BRAND®, BRAND©.

Are there interpretations for different consumers? For example a color palette may serve as a representation of the tone and manner to follow within different creative segments.

Forms of trade dress (e.g. Jeep seven slot grill, Adidas 3 stripes, NBA uniform designs)

Product Model Collection names and attributes:

Price / Value relationship

Historical, current, future

Color, materials and design inspiration

Technology and Attributes

Durable, light weight, efficient, material specifications & sources

Images, photography and concept design

Mainstream media exposure

Specific Models

Active sponsorships and marketing partnerships

Communications/phrases, slogans and marketing assets

Tone, manner and voice of your brand. Does your brand’s voice talk technical specifics or emotional benefits?

In short, your guidelines should be built to allow effective motion in one direction only, and therefore build something with greater ease.

Volkswagen offers a valuable example on the importance of getting this right. They licensed a refrigerator manufacturer, Gorenje; to make VW Bus inspired refrigerators. Given the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is looking to cut down on emissions from refrigerators, should we expect that VW includes in their brand activation guidelines their ‘defeat device’ – or software that can detect when it is being tested changing the performance accordingly to improve results? Remember, it’s all about your brand relationship and reputation.

Sink or swim. What you put in your licensing brand activation matters. Make your guidelines a living and breathing document and you will have healthy and sustainable licensing program afloat.

The Blake Project Can Help: We offer brand licensing workshops to help brand owners develop a strategy for licensing or refine an existing one. Another way we serve our  clients is through a Brand Licensing Audit which is an essential guide in considering, building and/or fine tuning a program. Please email us for more.

Branding Strategy Insider is a service of The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in Brand Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Licensing and Brand Education

FREE Publications And Resources For Marketers

[audiopedia2016]

What is JACQUARD LOOM? What does JACQUARD LOOM mean? JACQUARD LOOM meaning - JACQUARD LOOM definition - JACQUARD LOOM explanation. Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under http://ift.tt/yjiNZw license. The Jacquard machine is a device fitted to a power loom, it was invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard, first demonstrated in 1801, that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocade, damask and matelassé. The loom was controlled by a "chain of cards", a number of punched cards, laced together into a continuous sequence. Multiple rows of holes were punched on each card, with one complete card corresponding to one row of the design. Several such paper cards, generally white in color, can be seen in the images below. Chains, like Bouchon's earlier use of paper tape, allowed sequences of any length to be constructed, not limited by the size of a card. It is based on earlier inventions by the Frenchmen Basile Bouchon (1725), Jean Baptiste Falcon (1728) and Jacques Vaucanson (1740) A static display of a Jacquard loom is the centrepiece of the Musée des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs in Lyon. Live displays of a Jacquard loom are available at a few private museums around Lyon and also twice a day at La Maison des Canuts, as well as at other locations around the world. Both the Jacquard process and the necessary loom attachment are named after their inventor, (Joseph Marie Jacquard). This mechanism is probably one of the most important weaving inventions as Jacquard shedding made possible the automatic production of unlimited varieties of pattern weaving. The term "Jacquard" is not specific or limited to any particular loom, but rather refers to the added control mechanism that automates the patterning. The process can also be used for patterned knitwear and machine-knitted textiles, such as jerseys. This use of replaceable punched cards to control a sequence of operations is considered an important step in the history of computing hardware. Each position in the card corresponds to a "Bolus" hook, which can either be raised or stopped dependent on whether the hole is punched out of the card or the card is solid. The hook raises or lowers the harness, which carries and guides the warp thread so that the weft will either lie above or below it. The sequence of raised and lowered threads is what creates the pattern. Each hook can be connected to a number of threads, allowing more than one repeat of a pattern. A loom with a 400 hook head might have four threads connected to each hook, resulting in a fabric that is 1600 warp ends wide with four repeats of the weave going across. The term "Jacquard loom" is somewhat inaccurate. It is the "Jacquard head" that adapts to a great many dobby looms that allow the weaving machine to then create the intricate patterns often seen in Jacquard weaving. Jacquard looms, whilst relatively common in the textile industry, are not as ubiquitous as dobby looms which are usually faster and much cheaper to operate. However, unlike jacquard looms, they are not capable of producing so many different weaves from one warp. Modern jacquard looms are controlled by computers in place of the original punched cards, and can have thousands of hooks. The threading of a Jacquard loom is so labor-intensive that many looms are threaded only once. Subsequent warps are then tied in to the existing warp with the help of a knotting robot which ties each new thread on individually. Even for a small loom with only a few thousand warp ends the process of re-threading can take days.