One Day, One Job » Italy

Minimal Inc.

Willy Franzen — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:58:41 +0000

There are two ways to go about your job search. You can push or you can be pulled. You can seek out companies that you want to be a part of, or you can wait passively for companies to blast their job openings out to the world. The former will lead to far more rejection, but it can be well worth it. This is why I occasionally like to cover companies that don’t appear to have any opportunities posted for new or recent grads. If they’re doing something fascinating, they’re worth looking at regardless of what they have posted. One of the coolest things that I’ve seen lately is the iPod Nano watch made by LunaTik. It’s simple, elegant, and totally awesome. Basically it’s a watch band that you can slip a 6th generation iPod Nano into–totally putting calculator watches, game watches, and every other kind of watch to shame. Not only can you tell the time and use it as a stopwatch (with a multitouch interface), but you can listen to music and track your runs with Nike+. If I didn’t hate wearing watches, I’d totally buy an iPod Nano just so that I could get one of these watches. Now, LunaTik is the brand that these watches come from, but it seems that the whole product line came out of a Chicago, IL based product design shop called Minimal Inc.. Both are founded by a guy named Scott Wilson, so they seem to be very closely related if not formally connected.

Watch Out for Minimal Inc.

The whole TikTok + LunaTik thing started when Scott Wilson saw the newest release of iPod Nanos. As the former Global Creative Director for Nike Watches he was inspired by what Apple had done, so he riffed on the design and came up with a really cool way to make the product even more functional (and achieve what watchmakers have been trying to achieve for a long time). He went to a site called Kickstarter to raise some money for the project so that he could build it out and start selling it. His goal was to raise $15,000 in 30 days, but he ended up raising nearly $1 million (making it the most successful project in Kickstarter’s history). His idea was validated, and he went to work producing watches and expanding the product line. Here’s a good video on the whole story (e-mail readers may need to click through):

Minimal Inc. is about more than just these watches, but this project is a perfect example of the kind of work that they do. They’ve designed all kinds of cool products with the same care and style that you see in TikTok + LunaTik. I have to think that the popularity of the watches may have somewhat altered the direction of the business. Like I said before, it’s unclear how intertwined Minimal Inc. and LunaTik are, but they both seem like they’d be cool to work for. Minimal does have a Jobs page (which I can’t link to because it’s a Flash site) that lists a Senior Designer position while also encouraging “talented product designers, image designers, engineers, and project managers” to “send a resume and samples to: info@mnml-jobs.com.” My guess is that things are changing quickly at Minimal, and now might be the right time to reach out to them about working for them. They also have offices in Portland and Milan, so there could be options there too.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you buy one of these watches?

Vibram

Willy Franzen — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:12:51 +0000

On Saturday I played in a beach volleyball tournament with my girlfriend. We ended up winning our division of co-ed doubles which came with a $60 prize (we got our entrance fee back). It was a great day despite the 94 degree heat, but it was definitely exhausting… and painful. The pain only came during my last match when I realized that I had developed some pretty nasty burns/blisters on the arches of my feet from playing barefoot for 9 hours on the scalding hot sand. Obviously I need to purchases something to protect my feet for my next tournament, and I was considering the Fivefingers shoes from Vibram (it turns out that they don’t do all that well in the sand, so I’ll need to get sand socks). Vibram is an Italian company (their U.S. office is in Concord, MA) that is the “world leader in high performance rubber soles, targeted to the outdoor, work, recreation, fashion, repair and orthopedic markets.” They’ve been around for 73 years, but they seem to have recently hit a tipping point in terms of brand recognition. The Fivefingers shoes are totally odd looking, but they apparently offer some really great benefits for your feet. I saw my first pair on a good friend who has recommended quite a few companies that we’ve featured (so he’s an in the know kind of guy), and since I saw them on him, I keep spotting them all over the place. I also know of Vibram because they make the soles that are used for my fishing boots (they grip slippery rocks that other soles would slip on).

Get a Grip on Vibram

Vibram is already producing 35 million soles each year, which makes sense because they truly are a technological leader in the footwear category. The interesting development is Vibram’s increased focus on its own brand. Most of the soles that they produce are for partners who manufacture and brand their own shoes. Now that Vibram has had such a big success with the Fivefingers, I imagine that they’ll look to expand their own consumer product line. I’ve been meaning to feature Vibram for at least a year, but only now have I found enough information to give you a good start on learning about jobs with them. Most of their operations are based at their headquarters in Italy, but the U.S. office in Concord, MA does seem to be growing. There isn’t a specific Jobs page for it, but on Vibram’s Contact page they list staff@vibram.com as an address to which you can send a job application. Additionally, there is a Jobs page for Brookfield, MA based Quabaug Corporation, which is the exclusive North American manufacturer for Vibram. It’s hard to say what kind of opportunities might be available, so I’ll leave it up to you to find out by reaching out to the folks at Vibram.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own any Vibram products?

Moleskine

Willy Franzen — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 13:10:30 +0000

If there is ever a day to get organized, it’s New Year’s Day. Not only is it a traditional practice to adopt resolutions to better yourself, but you are also forced into using a new datebook or calendar by the date change (unless you live a digital lifestyle, of course). The first week of January is almost always the biggest week of the year for job search related web traffic, which means that competition for jobs is probably at its annual peak right now. You need to give yourself every advantage that you can, and organization is one of the best ways to do that. My preference is to do everything online, but if you’re one of those people who still knows how to use a pen and paper, then you might want to check out Moleskine. They’re an Italian company with a U.S. headquarters in New York City that makes “legendary notebooks.” Whether you’re looking for blank pages to write down your New Year’s resolutions and ideas for the new year or you need to replace your datebook, they’ve got it.

Are You Legendary?

If you do end up purchasing a Moleskine for an early 2010 gift to yourself, you’ll probably want to buy one on Amazon.com (we get a small referral fee). Then you’ll see what all of the fanaticism is all about. Many great artists and authors have used Moleskine type notebooks over the past couple centuries, but it was only in 1999 that a company named Modo & Modo Spa trademarked Moleskine and started producing these types of notebooks again. They were a hit, and the demand for notebooks exceeded the companies capacity for production. They were bought out by a French investment firm and renamed Moleskine Srl in 2007. They are based in Milan and have grown to more than 50 employees in a very short time. Despite the fact that digitization is killing off a lot of paper based industries, Moleskine is thriving because of the story that they tell and the attention to detail in their products. They’re another company that doesn’t list jobs on their website, but their rapid growth along with the profiles of some of their employees on LinkedIn (there seems to be a publishing industry connection) indicate to me that reaching out to them through their Contact page about a possible job is a great way to start off a well organized year.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own a Moleskine?

frog design

Willy Franzen — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:51:42 +0000

We’re big on innovation here. We don’t like talking about companies that are doing things the way that they’ve always done. They’re not only boring, but they’re also destined for failure. Look at the auto industry. You can blame the downfall of the Big 3 on a lot of things, but a lack of innovation has to be a big part of your argument. We’re trying to bring innovation to the way that you find jobs, and there are hundreds of startups out there that are defined by innovation. It’s all around us. frog design is a global innovation firm. They “work with the world’s leading companies, helping them create and bring to market meaningful products, services, and experiences,” and they’ve been doing it for almost 40 years. They’ve worked with clients as vaired as Disney, GE, HP, Logitech, Microsoft, MTV, Seagate, Yahoo!, which goes to show you that they’re not easy to pigeonhole. frog design is based out of San Francisco, and they have offices (or as they call them, studios) in Austin, New York, San Jose, Seattle, Milan, Amsterdam, Stuttgart, and Shanghai

These Jobs Might Give You Warts

It seems that on most days the companies that we feature need a little help telling their story, so we do our research and try to make it easier for you to understand what exactly they do. That’s not the case today. Frog Design tells their story perfectly on their About page with the following image. That’s why we’re just reposting it.

I have nothing to add, except of course what kind of jobs at frog design might appeal to new college grads. Considering that they have a ton of internships, you might expect them to have some sort of college recruiting program, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Their Internships page actually says that they “occasionally have internship opportunities for entry-level,” but that’s in reference to internships. It seems like they might do all of the entry level hiring through internships, so you may want to check out our post about frog design’s internships on One Day, One Internship.

On the other hand, if you’ve developed some serious skills relevant to frog design’s core strengths, you might want to take a look at some of their “mid-level” jobs that could be attainable for top entry level candidates. Online Marketing Specialist / Web Developer (San Francisco), Digital Designer II (San Francisco), or Temp Model Maker (San Jose). These are probably stretches for new grads, so go read the Top 10 Reasons to Work at frog to get yourself amped up before you apply. Maybe you’ll just blow them away with your passion.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you love innovation as much as we do?

Trendstop

Willy Franzen — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:29:31 +0000

What you wear is important. Whether it’s for a job interview or your first day of work, there’s no debating that your appearance is essential to your success. It may not be fair, and it often isn’t legal, but it’s true. For many it’s enough trouble just to wear something appropriate, but for others being trendy is extremely important. They want to give the impression that they are at the cutting edge of what’s cool. It takes a lot of work for an individual to keep up with the latest trends (unless you sign up for trend alerts, of course). Now, imagine being responsible for putting out an entire line of trendy clothes. Many companies can’t do this on their own, that’s why they sign up for Trendstop, a fashion forecasting and trend watching service.

What’s Trendy in Trend Watching?

Trendstop specializes in trend analysis with a focus on color trends, fabric trends, trend silhouettes, store window trends, street fashion trends, runway trends, and fast fashion trends. Designers, manufacturers, retailers, and consultants all use the information provided by Trendstop to make key business decisions. Whether it’s what to make or what to buy, people in the fashion industry need to be in touch with what’s next. Trendstop is one of the best in the industry when it comes to providing this up to date information. How do we know? We’re not fashionistas, but we trust Infomat’s list of top trend forecasting services, which gave Trendstop an A+ rating.

Trend Spot for Trendstop

It’s only four words, but that’s quite a tongue twister! Trendstop doesn’t appear to be hiring for full-time positions in their London office, but they do have a number of part-time and freelance jobs available. Opportunities that are currently listed on their website include: Global Trend Spotters, New Business / Account Manager, Menswear Retail Reporter, Fashion Writers, and CAD Designer (Garments, Artwork). Only two of these jobs are linked to descriptions, so it’s hard to get a read on what qualifications are necessary for the jobs. We can say that we’re pretty sure that the New Business / Account Manager opportunity is reserved for people with experience in Account Management.

We’re not sure what the logistics are of working for Trendstop since they’re located in the UK (and most of our readers are US students). We do know that the Global Trend Spotter jobs are freelance positions that are available in Milan, Los Angeles, Moscow, Antwerp, Barcelona, Berlin and New York. We would imagine that the Menswear Retail Reporter and Fashion Writer jobs are also freelance positions, but we could be wrong about that. Your best bet is probably to contact Trendstop yourself and see what they’re looking for in each of these positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Want to keep up with the trends in entry-level employment? Subscribe.